by Sofia Daniel
McVitte blinked. “Queen?” He shifted within my grip and raised his head. “You got crowned already?”
As Prince Caulden encased us in ice, I told McVittie the whole, sorry tale of how Queen Titania had become enraged at the sight of Pokeweed’s true face that she stabbed King Orlando in the back with iron. I didn’t bother to tell the cat about the queen’s misadventures with Emporium and subsequent transformation into a misshapen, horse-faced faerie.
“Did you get the wishbone?” asked the cat.
“Not yet,” I replied.
“It’s on your crown.” Prince Bradwell pointed at a spot at my forehead. “The diamond in the middle is attached to it.”
“Oh.” I fumbled around, feeling the outline of a wishbone shape. “Do you want me to break your curse, now?”
Someone knocked on the sphere, and Prince Caulden made a small opening, letting in the sound of a cat’s yowl. McVittie stiffened and turned his head to the source of the sound.
Prince Rory stuck his head through the gap and grinned. “You need to see this.”
“Do you think you can let me out?” said McVittie. “There’s a cat in heat, and she’ll probably need protecting from all the randy toms.”
I pressed my lips together to suppress a smile and lowered the black cat to the sphere’s floor. “See you later. I’ll expect she’ll need your… protection all week.”
McVittie padded to the curved wall of ice and tapped. “Just a little opening will be fine.”
Prince Caulden released the sphere, and McVittie dashed through Prince Rory’s feet and into a low bush.
The Autumn prince frowned. “Where did the cat go?”
“Don’t ask,” I said.
He grabbed my hand and rushed toward the sycamore tree, giving me no option to jog alongside him to keep up. Pokeweed and Mistress Ellyllon hadn’t emerged from behind the trunk, and Prince Rory seemed happy enough. Maybe Lady Gala had tried to mate with a plant or something equally as humiliating.
As we rounded the tree, a familiar voice said, “I’m not letting go.”
Quickening my pace, I found Coltrane standing by a cloudberry bush, cradling a naked Lady Gala to his chest. She looked… radiant, much like I had after wearing the Emporium dress. She curled her lips in a satisfied smile with pearlescent liquid drizzling down the sides of her mouth.
My feet stopped. I clapped a hand to my chest and inhaled a shocked breath. One of my mates bumped into me from behind but held me steady around the waist.
“What in the Otherworld is that?” muttered Prince Caulden.
Prince Rory turned to me and smirked.
My mouth dropped open. “Did she—”
Coltrane turned around with the same toothy grin he’d given me that night he had tried to extort tug-a-lug from me in exchange for finding Sicily. “I see you ensnared the princes and a king.”
“What have you done?” I whispered, my gaze fixed on Lady Gala’s eyes, which widened at the sight of my crown. The blissful expression on her face faded, and tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.
Coltrane bristled. “I told you I had a plan. Do you know how to make a centaur king?”
“Yes,” snarled Pokeweed. “But until now, no powerful fae female was foolish enough to approach a centaur during her heat.”
Coltrane shrugged. “Gala’s going to birth the King of Centaurs, who will lead us into a new era. I’ll bring her back if she survives the birth.”
“She will lose her magic,” said Pokeweed.
I walked over to Pokeweed and wrapped my arms around his middle. “It’s too late for her if she’s already carrying a foal. It’s the least she deserves after stealing Helen’s magic, damaging Lady Gazania’s magical pathways, and enslaving your brothers.”
“Hear, hear,” said Prince August.
The other princes muttered words of agreement.
Pokeweed’s shoulders sagged. “Make sure she sees a reputable midwife.”
Coltrane winked and adjusted his grip around her naked body. “I know just the hag!”
He galloped away, carrying Lady Gala through the trees and in the direction of the rising sun. I tilted my head to the side and smiled. “If it wasn’t for her, I would never have gotten cursed.”
Prince August leaned down and placed a kiss on my temple. “And you would never have met us.”
“Or become the Queen of the Isle of Fae,” added Pokeweed.
“I look forward to seeing how you will reform your new kingdom,” said Mistress Ellyllon.
Warmth spread across my chest, filling it to bursting, and I shared a smile with each of my mates. Months ago, when I had been kneeling on the dock of Saltbay Port, I would never have imagined that I would have a happy ever after that bettered anything I had seen in my DVDs.
Epilogue
Five years passed, and life on the Isle of Fae had changed. Shortly after the Duke of Nevermore’s imprisonment, Pokeweed donated his lands and assets to all the half-bloods who had been cast out by their Lord fathers and left to fend for themselves.
We also negotiated with the United Nations for them to rehouse any humans who wanted to leave the island. The peacekeepers finally made themselves useful and taught adults and children to prepare them for the outside world. The rest of the reforms we left to the human prime minister, who liaised with the mayors of all the human settlements.
Lady Gala never returned to the Royal Fae Academy. Nor did she show her face at Court. She hadn’t made contact with her former friends, either. When she didn’t return after the centaur gestation period of eighteen months, we released Queen Titania from the stables to investigate the matter with the centaurs, but they frightened her away with their constant requests to mate.
A seeing hag would have been able to locate Lady Gala, but we didn’t want to waste the money beads.
I lay on a mattress of saffron petals with four of my mates, watching the closing credits to the Lumberjacks of Switzerland. It was August and Caulden’s turn to be in the middle. August pressed his warm, hard body against my side and nibbled on the base of my neck.
Rory, who had been sucking my toes under the covers, reached for the remote and paused the DVD player. “Ever since Sicily arrived, Johann no longer gets into so much trouble.”
Bradwell chuckled. “He and his brothers are just as busy as us, now.”
I leaned back onto the cushioned headrest and wiggled my toes. It had taken me weeks to work out the best way to word my first wish. With one reserved for McVittie in case he changed his mind and wanted to become human, another reserved for Helen when she resurfaced, I had to be careful how I would use the one to help Sicily.
According to a seeing hag, wishing for the betterment of all humans on the Isle was too vague. A wish could only affect a specific group of people and the more individuals I included in my wish, the more likely I would waste the magic and achieve nothing.
After consulting with Rory and Pokeweed, we decided to wish for Mom and Dad to have escaped the Isle of Fae while Mom was pregnant with Sicily. The seeing hag assured me that it wouldn’t affect my birth, and I would remain a faerie and the Queen of the Isle of Fae.
My sister wouldn’t know I existed, but Mom was alive, and Dad was no longer lost within the depths of the Mound. Best of all, Sicily had become a reality TV star with four devoted boyfriends.
“What did you think of this episode?” Caulden placed an arm around my shoulders, bringing me into his warmth. “Your mother’s appointment with the doctor was my favorite moment.”
A wave of happiness surged from my heart, and I wrapped my arms around Caulden’s middle. “I knew the outsiders would cure her wasting sickness.”
Bradwell reached across from his brother and squeezed my hand. “It’s amazing what humans can achieve without magic.”
“They’re so lucky to have such great healers,” said Rory around a mouthful of my toes.
August kissed my shoulder. “They’re lucky you sacrificed your place in the fam
ily for their happiness.”
My hand slid up his muscular thigh. “I’m delighted with the family I’ve made.”
The bell over the cat flap tingled. McVittie padded into the room and jumped onto the foot of the bed. “I’ve just had a report from Mistress Stinkhorn from the Flesh Market Brothel. The enchantment on Elijah Meadowhawks has worn off, and he has reverted to his male form.”
I bit down on my lip. “What happened?”
McVittie raised a paw into a feline shrug. “The client got a bit of a shock but said he didn’t mind continuing.”
Prince Bradwell chuckled. “Good for that client. How are those human girls Meadowhawks victimized?”
“Doing well,” said McVittie. “One of them has opened her second sorbet parlor in Balley Chashtal, and the others are in that school with the outsiders, preparing to leave the Island.”
A soft knock on the door had us all turning away from the cat. Pokeweed walked in and threaded his fingers through his long, golden hair. “Sorry I’m late. That meeting with the centaurs overran.”
“What did they want?” I asked.
“Equal mating rights.” Pokeweed huffed out a long breath. “The young king seemed more interested in getting one of those iPads, but his father was pushing for access to human girls.”
I leaned forward. “Did you ask about Gala?”
Pokeweed sat on the edge of the giant bed. “Coltrane says she has lost her power but is well.”
“So, she can’t birth any more magical centaurs?” asked August.
“Unfortunately, not,” replied Pokeweed.
Rory scratched his head. “Why are they keeping her?”
Pokeweed raised a broad shoulder. “According to Coltrane, she still has her uses.”
I glanced at McVittie, who shuddered. The poor cat probably hadn’t gotten the image of Gala and the centaur out of his head.
Pokeweed’s gaze roved my form. “Was the meeting of the Seasonal Courts a success?”
Rory raised his head from under the covers and smirked. “Without a doubt.”
“It was wonderful,” said Bradwell.
“Most satisfying,” said August with a grin.
Caulden placed a kiss on my cheek. “See you tomorrow?”
I gave him an eager nod.
Pokeweed beamed and rose from the bed. “Very well.” He stretched out a hand. “Queen Unity, you are hereby summoned to the royal chambers. There’s a matter of a scepter that needs your personal attention.”
My gaze dropped to the erection bulging in his breeches. I missed the Pokeweed who lived in a treehouse and wore overalls, but this royal version was infinitely more forthcoming with what he wanted.
END OF BOOK THREE
DARK FAE PRISON
From Sofia Daniel
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