by Sofia Daniel
McVittie hissed. “What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?”
With a jolt of shock, I snatched my hand away. “Right. Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”
“Have you had lunch yet?” he asked.
I rubbed my empty stomach. “Maybe I should get something to eat.”
“You’ll need all the strength you can muster if Prince August returns with his brothers,” said McVittie.
Despite my heartache, my core muscles fluttered at the thought of becoming the center of the princes’ attention. I stepped out of the room and headed for the kitchen.
After a hearty lunch of yesterday’s bread and some of Pokeweed’s rainbow salmon stew, I stood at the window, looking out into the orchard. A thin covering of grass had grown over the scorched earth, and the low branches now had a covering of bark.
“Looking for the duke?” McVittie jumped on the windowsill.
“You’re right about Pokeweed not being fully asleep,” I said.
“What makes you think that?”
“He’s repairing the damage to his tree. Maybe he’s also battling the poison in his dream state.”
McVittie turned around and stared in the direction of the stairs. “That doesn’t surprise me. Pokeweed has a lot of power, and unlike most young faeries, he knows how to use it.”
As a flower bud appeared on the branch, an idea landed into my head with a splash. “We need to meet him halfway.”
“How?”
“The life-water.”
McVittie sighed. “You heard what Healer Tarax said.”
“That someone powerful wanted Pokeweed dead? If you were him, would you interfere with the assassination plans of someone high up in the Royal Court?”
“Probably not,” muttered the cat.
I rubbed my temples. “Let’s just get the water and leave it at his bedside. If Pokeweed wakes up, we’ll tell him what happened, and he can make a choice on whether to drink it.”
“There’s no harm in that.” McVittie jumped down from the windowsill and headed to the clothes peg.
I clapped my hands together. “Alright, then.”
McVittie swept his gaze down my form. “Put on a cloak and fetch a pouch for the water.”
Instead of venturing out to the orchard, we navigated the academy grounds through Pokeweed’s trees. Flora and Mr. Whittaker had already shown me the direction of the life-water aquifer, and I needed to hurry so I could reach the safety of the tree before my next heat flared.
This time, I didn’t have Flora around to act as a decoy, and if there were any horny males around, I doubted that McVittie could make himself sound like a female in heat.
We stepped out of a huge sycamore tree, whose seeds rained down like mini helicopters, their wings glinting in the light of the moon. Owls screeched, setting my teeth on edge, and the high pitched buzz of cicadas made my eardrums tremble.
I glanced down at McVittie, who rolled around on the ground, batting the falling seeds.
“What are you doing?” I hissed.
He sprang to his feet, his eyes wide. “N-nothing.”
Hoofbeats echoed in the distance. “Is the forest this noisy at night?”
“It’s the bloody perigee moon tonight, isn’t it?”
I gazed up through the canopy of trees into a moon so bright, I needed to squint. Stars shone down like diamonds in an indigo sky, coloring the clouds silver and illuminating our patch of forest.
“Which way?” McVittie shouted over the roar of a bullfrog.
I turned in a circle, marveling at how different the forest looked at night. Gone were the arrays of greens and browns and yellows, replaced by a landscape of blue and silver.
“Ummm…” Earlier, I had heard the sounds of running water from behind densely-packed pepper trees. I stared between the trees into the dark and pointed at what appeared to be a wall. “This way?”
“Right then,” said the cat. “I’ll duck beneath the trees—”
“The berries are poisonous,” I said.
McVittie turned around and gave me one of those exasperated stares. It was the type my sister used to shoot at me whenever I told her that we couldn’t watch something together because Elijah would be coming over to visit. The only difference was that Sicily’s eyes didn’t glow in the dark.
I raised my shoulders in a shrug. “At least I didn’t let you touch the berries before telling you they were poisonous.”
“Yes,” said a familiar voice in the distance. “Take it all!”
McVittie and I exchanged puzzled looks.
I mouthed, “Coltrane?”
The cat nodded.
“What’s he doing in the academy?” I whispered.
“Is there a rutting post?”
I shook my head. There was no way a classy establishment like the Royal Fae Academy would install such a disgusting object. The last time we had seen the centaur, he had implied that he was plotting something and that our goals ran in the same direction. He had appeared dubious enough then, but hearing him in the academy grounds was suspicious.
McVittie and I headed in the direction of the sound, a romantic, moon-drenched clearing. Something moved from behind a clump of ferns, and I lay flat on the ground and peered through its leaves.
All I could see was the back of the centaur, who lay on his side, swishing his golden tail on the ground. The human part of his body sat upright and stared down toward his hindquarters at something or someone hidden.
Dried leaf litter crackled under my hands and knees as I edged closer. I’d already guessed it was Coltrane from his voice. No one could mistake the long, golden hair and lascivious grin for anyone else.
“Will you hurry up?” snapped another familiar voice. It was female, haughty and very English.
“Maybe if you didn’t keep numbing my cock with your freezing hands, I would give you a good spunking.”
“You’re disgusting,” she snapped.
Coltrane huffed. “And you’re the one desperate to stop me from cumming.”
A breeze blew through my dark strands and rustled the fern leaves. I gave McVittie a nudge and whispered in his ear, “Crawl around and investigate.”
“No, you go there.”
“I want to know what they’re doing.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” he snapped.
“No,” I hissed. “Female high faeries don’t have sexual contact with males outside their heats. If Lady Gala was in heat, do you think she’d be out there with Coltrane while the Princes are in their rooms with their cocks locked in chastity devices?”
“You’ve got a point,” said the cat.
I gave him another nudge. “Go on, then.”
McVittie shot me a venomous glare, but I ignored the cat and stared at Coltrane’s profile. Lust glazed his eyes, and he kept reaching down and stroking his flank.
For a moment, I felt sorry for the centaur, who was so desperate for sexual contact that he had to take it from a loathsome creature like Lady Gala.
The cat walked a wide circle around the trees, keeping low and darting from trunk to trunk until I lost sight of him. I turned back to where Coltrane murmured filthy words of encouragement.
“Why can’t you rub yourself against a tree like the last time?” Lady Gala whined.
Coltrane scowled. “I told you that was a one-time deal.”
I chewed my bottom lip—none of this made sense. I’d originally thought Lady Gala had some kind of horse fetish, but from her tone of voice, she wasn’t enjoying her time with Coltrane. I shifted in my hiding place and scratched my cheek. Why would she bother to perform such an act on a centaur? If it was practice she wanted, she could have used a human male.
“Please,” she said. “I’ve got money—”
“We agreed that you’d milk me from the source.” Coltrane’s voice was hard, reminding me of the time he had chased me through the woods, calling me a scammer for not following through with the tug-a-lug. “If you’re not woman enough to do it, I’ll
supply someone else.”
Lady Gala didn’t reply.
“Alright, then.” He reached down and picked up his saddle. “I’ll go back to Foxy Moxie, who knows the value of a good cent—”
“Wait!” Desperation laced her voice. “Don’t go. I’ll try harder.”
I shook my head. Moxie was the faerie from Otherworld Outfitters, who had sold us the Emporium dress. What the bloody hell was her connection to Coltrane?
What did the faerie say the dress had been made from again? My brows drew together, and I plucked an annoying blade of grass from the ground. She hadn’t, and the word Emporium didn’t mean anything on the Isle of Fae.
If I had to picture the dress, I wouldn’t be able to describe it except to say that it was sparkling. The only memorable thing about the garment had been its effect: its fabric had brought me to a knee-trembling climax and had practically done the same for Lady Aster.
The dress had been a pervert, much like Coltrane.
A warm weight settled at my side. “It’s as we thought, but she’s doing a very sloppy job.”
“I think I know why.”
“Because she’s an ice queen who’s sucking off more than she can chew?” asked the cat.
“Umm…” McVittie was right, but that hadn’t been what I wanted to say. “You heard her boast to Lady Gazania that she was going to bring on her heat and mate with the princes?”
He tilted his head to the side. “Yes.”
“And that time Coltrane took us to the Mound, he said he had sackfuls of Emporium’s active ingredient?”
“So?”
It took a while to explain how Emporium gave fae females an irresistible glow, but when McVittie understood, I added, “What if centaur semen brings on a faerie’s heat?”
He shook his head. “That’s a bit far-fetched.”
“Why?”
“High faeries would probably have worked it out by now, don’t you think?” He raised his nose into the air and sniffed. “Besides, none of them would stoop so low to consume the essence of a creature they consider as no better than an animal.”
I gave McVittie a little pat on his front paw. “Between Lady Gala and her father, they’ve murdered unicorns, subjected the Duchess of Nevermore to a painful death, and plucked out the eyes of Mistress Catha, all to get the throne. When you compare all that to sucking off a centaur—”
“You’re right.” The cat stood.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“At this rate, it will take Lady Gala all night to get even a drizzle of precum from Coltrane because her magic keeps getting in the way and icing his member. Let’s get the water and return to Pokeweed before your princes send out a search party.”
My head snapped to the side, and I whispered, “Shit!”
Chapter 14
I had wasted so much time puzzling out why Lady Gala was milking Coltrane that I’d completely forgotten the purpose of leaving the treehouse. We needed life-water in case Pokeweed woke from his coma and wanted to try out a cure.
While Lady Gala spluttered around Coltrane’s horse dick, McVittie and I slunk back from behind the ferns and crept toward the pepper trees.
The bright, full moon shone through the canopy, illuminating the forest and keeping all manner of creatures noisy and active. What I hoped were squirrels darted overhead from tree to tree, and a flock of bats burst out from beneath a low branch.
I stumbled backward with my hand on my heart. “Everyone’s acting crazy tonight.”
“How are you going to get through the pepper trees without touching the poisoned berries?” asked McVittie.
“That’s something I want to know, too,” I muttered.
“If I were you, I’d send one of your you-know-whats.”
I stared down at the cat, who met my gaze with the moonlight reflecting in his yellow eyes. “What are you talking about?”
He let out an exasperated huff. “We’re out in the open, so I can’t say his name out loud.”
“Oh!” I clapped a hand to my mouth and thought about his suggestion. “I don’t want to be alone with the others until they’re cured. Besides, Pokeweed could wake at any time, and I want him to have the water at the ready.”
“Hmmm,” said the cat. “Good point.”
As we continued past the wide canopy of the sycamore tree, I glanced down at the cat to see if he would act strange again around the spiraling seeds. McVittie kept his head down, as though not wanting to expose himself to temptation.
My thoughts drifted to the pepper trees. I was too big to crawl under their low branches, which would be a mistake because each tree would have several fallen berries at its base.
I couldn’t remember if Mr. Whittaker had mentioned whether the poison worked only if you ingested it. Still, I wasn’t about to take the chance with a dying friend and three horny princes whose curses needed breaking with some vigorous sex.
I stared up at the starry sky and sighed. If only Pokeweed was here to give me some guidance on how to fly.
“Here we are.” McVittie sat on his haunches and pointed his little head toward the trees. “If you’re thinking of asking me to climb poisoned shrubs to get the water, think again.”
“No.” I patted the empty water pouch. “With my latest infusion of magic, I should be strong enough to use my wings.”
The cat spluttered. “Are you sure?”
“I kind of flew up the stairs earlier.”
His eyes narrowed. “It was more like a drunken stumble with your wings splayed out for balance.”
“It’s not like I have any other options,” I muttered.
McVittie gave me a solemn nod, and I bunched the muscles around my shoulder blades to see if my wings would flap. Instead of the usual disobedience, they sliced through the air, lifting me off my feet.
With a few more concentrated flaps, I hovered six feet in the air.
“Bloody hell,” muttered the cat. “You’re like a real faerie.”
“I think my magic is taking over.”
“Well, fly over there before it decides to conserve your power for mating!”
Nodding, I flapped a little harder and rose another four feet.
“What are you doing?” The cat pointed at the pepper trees with his front paw. “It’s that way.”
I scratched my head. “Pokeweed didn’t get a chance to teach me anything else.”
McVittie flopped to his side, acting as though I was some kind of lost cause, and he was a martyr for putting up with me. I clenched my teeth and moved my arms through the air the same way I would if I wanted to turn in the water. My body rotated several degrees, and I pointed myself in the direction of the pepper trees.
“What’s this, now?” he said.
“Swimming,” I snapped.
He muttered something about the gift of flight being wasted on me, but I ignored him and timed my front crawl with the beat of my wings. With each forward movement, I ascended about a foot until McVittie’s eyes became two distant pinpricks.
“Unity,” said a male voice from behind.
My wings spasmed, and I plummeted through the air with a yelp.
Strong arms caught my flailing body and pulled me into a warm, hard chest. I gazed up into the lime-green eyes of Prince August. The moonlight reflected in his golden hair, making the ends shimmer the way spider silk caught the light.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Looking for you.” He frowned down at me. “Why were you swimming?”
The entire sorry tale of Pokeweed’s poisoning spilled from my lips, and I explained how much Pokeweed had helped me since I had joined the academy. He had saved me countless times, he’d had put himself at great risk for my sake, and I couldn’t let him die in agony. If there was even the smallest chance that he could survive, I had to help him.
Prince August’s brows furrowed. “Are you in love with the gardener?”
My throat thickened. “I love Pokeweed a lot, but as a friend.�
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Prince August stared at me for a long time before swooping down to the side of the aquifer, which took the shape of a moonlit pool. “It’s odd that someone would want to hurt Pokeweed. He doesn’t offend anyone and keeps to himself.”
I knelt by the water and filled my borrowed skin. “Maybe the Duke of Nevermore sees him as a threat. He did murder Pokeweed’s mother.”
“A gardener couldn’t match a duke in terms of strength,” said Prince August.
Shrugging, I placed the waterskin in my pocket. I was no expert on the power of faeries, but I still thought that Prince August was underestimating Pokeweed because of his appearance and comparatively low station in life.
“Where next?” I asked.
His face split into a dazzling grin. “I know the perfect spot.”
Prince August flew McVittie and me back to Pokeweed’s treehouse, where we left the water at his bedside. McVittie stayed behind to watch over Pokeweed, and Prince August took me to where he had hidden his brothers.
As we passed over the academy wards, he murmured, “They’re very upset.”
“Because you abducted them?” I glanced down at meadows of five-petaled star flowers that swayed in the breeze.
“They objected to me melting the monstrosities sheathing their swords.” His lips pursed into a thin line. “When you’ve saved my brothers, we’ll encase Gala in ice and throw her into the depths of the Winter Court.”
“And then what?” I asked.
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You never wanted me to mate with any of your brothers,” I said. “Will you become hostile again when they’re free? You hated me before the curse.”
He sniffed. “That was before I knew the pleasure of your touch. Your commitment to my brothers is endearing, and you’re a refreshing change from the usual fae noblewomen. I can see why my brothers are smitten.”
Warmth spread across my chest, and I reached up around his neck and pressed a kiss on his cheek.
He chuckled. “Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”
