Witchbane (Book 5 in The Twilight Court Series)

by Amy Sumida

  “Is there something I should know about?” I teased him.

  “Yes, they're for you,” he totally didn't get the joke. “I had them made. They should fit you perfectly.”

  “I was teasing you,” I kissed his cheek.

  “Oh,” he chuckled. “Of course. Do you like them?”

  “Of course,” I mimicked him.

  I picked out a deep purple dress and shot him a grin. After Raza had won Unseelie, he'd brought me a dress to wear to his crowning... in his colors. I'd been furious, and had told him it was rude of him to make the Princess of Twilight wear unseelie clothing. So I crowned him in my battle gear.

  “Looks like you can teach an old dragon new tricks,” I smirked.

  “I'm a fast learner,” he gave me a wink, and went to slip into his own clothes.

  I slid the dress on, getting Raza to help me with the laces, and then put on a pair of short velvet boots. There was a whole row of shoes at the bottom of my wardrobe, all in my size. I shook my head, hardly believing that this didn't bother me. Usually I'd be annoyed at so much presumption. But I suppose I'd become used to Raza's ways, and it didn't surprise me in the least.

  What surprised me was the crown.

  Cat had come back while we were dressing, and I'd gone to let her in. When I returned to the wardrobe, Raza already had his crown on and was holding out a smaller version of it to me.

  “Raza,” I shook my head.

  “You're mine now, Seren,” his eyes narrowed. “I thought we'd settled that.”

  “Yes, you possessive, dragon,” I rolled my eyes. “I'm yours, you're mine, that's the way it is now. I'm completely down with that. But this,” I waved my hand at the crown, “is still too soon. We're not married. I can't wear that crown. It would be an insult to my own kingdom.”

  He deflated, his hands lowering, “Your reasoning is sound.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I am still unhappy about it.”

  “Well I don't want you to be unhappy,” I eased forward and took the crown from his hands. “How about, I hold onto this for now? As a promise that I will someday wear it.”

  “Swear to me by Danu,” he demanded.

  “Well damn,” I eased back a little. “That was unexpected. And rude. You don't trust my word?”

  “No, of course I trust you,” he sighed and handed me the crown. “My apologies. I'm just... I won't feel secure in our relationship until I know for certain that you're mine forever.”

  “Baby steps,” I shrugged. “I can't commit to forever yet.”

  His jaw clenched.

  “But,” I eased into his arms, “I will admit that it was on my mind this morning.”

  “It was?” Raza started to smile.

  “If we have forever, then what's the rush?” I nibbled at his bottom lip.

  “Again, your reasoning is sound,” he sighed against my skin. “Alright, mo shíorghrá, I will wait, on one condition.”

  “What's that?” I put the crown down on the bed.

  Raza pulled away from me, and went to the mantle above the fireplace. Directly below the painting of his parents sat an ornate, gold box. He opened it, pulled something out, and returned to me. Raza held up a delicate gold ring for my inspection. I stepped in closer to see that the gold was carved to resemble two dragons, twining around each other. Between them, they held an oval, blood-red stone.

  “I want you to wear this,” he said.

  “I'm not ready to be engaged-”

  “It's not an engagement ring,” Raza cut me off. “It's a ring to remind you of your promise to me, and to remind everyone else that you're mine.”

  “That sounds like an engagement ring,” I scowled.

  “Seren,” he took a deep, shaky breath. “It was my mother's.”

  “Son of a bitch,” I huffed and held out my hand. “Just put the damn thing on me.”

  Raza smiled brilliantly and slipped the ring on my finger. My ring finger of course. I reminded myself that I'd made no commitment to him, we weren't engaged. Part of my mind whispered that an engagement wasn't such a bad idea. But the other, more aggressive part of my mind, told that pansy ass part to shut the fuck up and go suck on a lollipop.

  “It's amazing,” I admitted as I admired it. “That's the reddest ruby I've ever seen.”

  “It's not a ruby,” he slid his hand into the hair at my temple and eased me forward so he could kiss my forehead. “It's a red diamond.”

  “A what?” I looked up at him in surprise. “They have those?”

  “The proof of their existence is on your hand,” Raza laughed, but then went serious. His golden gaze went from the ring on my hand to my face. “It's bittersweet to see it upon your finger. But I think my mother would have approved.”

  “I wish I could have met her,” I glanced at the painting over the fireplace.

  “I wish that too,” he whispered. “But at least her ring has a home again.”

  “It's too beautiful to be stuffed in a box,” I agreed.

  “It pales against you,” he shook his head. “You're the only star whose beauty does not rely upon the night. You shine as bright beneath the sunlight as you do within the darkness.”

  “Sweet Danu,” I whispered. “I had no idea you read poetry. Who wrote that?”

  “No one wrote it, Seren,” he laughed. “Those words are my own.”

  “You just made that up?” I gaped at him. “On the fly? Damn it, Raza. You're setting the standard high, right off the bat.”

  “Are you complaining about my attempt at romance?”

  “No,” I huffed, “I'm complaining that I suck at romance. I'll never be able to compete with that.”

  “You exceed in other aspects of our relationship,” Raza smirked.

  “Oh really,” I matched his smirk with my own. “Was it that thing I did with my hips?”

  “It was everything, but yes, the hip thing was nice,” he chuckled. “Come now, mo shíorghrá. We have treaties to make.”

  “We?” I grimaced. “Raza, we need to talk about-”

  “Cease, Seren,” he growled suddenly. “You can give in a little. I promise it won't hurt.”

  “That's what you think,” I grumbled as I took his arm.

  Cat made a snarky sound as she followed after us, and I turned my head to glare at her.

  “It's not funny, Cat.”

  She snarked some more.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Treaties were made and signed by the end of the day, and both the seelie and the undersea fairies went home happy. Most of them, at least. Daiyu left in a bit of a huff. But after she saw the ring on my hand, she decided to admit defeat. For now. She had nodded to me like I'd won the first round, and then stormed out with her entourage. Rather diva of her, if you ask me. I'd expected more from Daiyu.

  Raza and I were up in his bedchambers, later that night, about to send Cat into the bathroom again, when a chiming filled the air. Raza scowled and strode across the hall to his library. I followed of course. His crystal ball was set on a heavy wood table in a corner of the room,. It was full of mist, waiting to be answered. He went over to it and rubbed a hand across the surface, but nothing happened. Raza scowled and turned to me.

  “The scry seems to be for someone else,” he noted.

  I immediately rubbed a palm across the ball and the crystal cleared. Killian's face appeared. I blinked in shock, and Raza growled.

  “What the hell are you doing in Unseelie, Twilight?” Killian scowled. “I had to get someone to show me how to use this damn ball to scry you. I came to give you my report and you weren't in your- oh,” his eyes settled on Raza. “Got it.”

  “Hey, Killian,” I grimaced. “Sorry, I should have scried the Council House and had someone call you. My bad.”

  We'd been in contact even more than Raza and I had been. Mainly because Killian was getting settled with the Human Council. They had taken him under their wing and given him a home base to work from as both my partner and the representa
tive of the new Caster Coven. Killian hadn't felt comfortable enough to work with either the old Coven or the Fairy Council, and I couldn't really blame him on either count. So he'd gone to stay in the SF Council House. I'd recommended it to him because it was the one closest to the Twilight Court, in means of rath travel, and there were people I trusted there who could help him adjust.

  Killian had been in San Francisco for a couple of weeks now, and judging by his reports, he was loving it. He'd received a warm welcome from Abby, my extinguisher friend stationed in SF, and Councilman Simmel, AKA Karmen with a K, my councilman friend who had decided to stay in San Francisco for awhile. They had shown Killian around, and then scried me afterward, to thank me profusely for sending them such delectable eye candy. But I wasn't telling Killian about that. Not even to get that hound dog look off his face.

  “I'm supposed to invite you to the SF Council House Halloween Party,” he cleared his throat.

  “We'd be happy to attend,” Raza smiled widely, daring Killian to deny him.

  “Yeah, you can come too, dragon,” Killian rolled his eyes. “It's being held at the Council House. How about you, Twilight?”

  He totally disregarded the fact that Raza had already answered for me, bless Killian's heart. I was kind of annoyed over Raza's presumption on that account.

  “Tell Councilman Murdock I'd be happy to attend,” I answered.

  “Oh, she's the stuffy fairy princess again,” Killian rolled his eyes. “You're a horrible influence on her, Tnyn.”

  “What did you just call me?” Raza lowered his face to the crystal.

  “Killian, you know better,” I chided with twitching lips.

  “Yeah, yeah, King Raza,” Killian huffed. “You give a guy a crown and he never shuts up about it. See ya, Twilight,” he gave me a wink and cleared the crystal before Raza could growl a reply.

  Which of course pissed Raza off even more.

  “I've changed my mind,” Raza lifted his chin, “we're not going.”

  “You can change your mind. Absolutely,” I nodded. “But you can't change mine. Don't ever accept anything on my behalf again, Raza.”

  He blinked, cocked his head at me, considered me for a few moments with his blazing eyes, then attacked. I was totally unprepared for his ardor. I thought we were about to have a fight. But the freakin' dragon was turned on by my standing up to him. Go figure. I laughed low, wrapping my legs around him as he scooped me up and backed me into a wall of books. His mouth was at my throat, one hand pulling away my panties, the other holding me aloft. I worked open his breeches and within ten seconds, he was inside me.

  “Don't think that this is going to make me forget how you just behaved,” I purred.

  Raza slammed me back into the leather bindings as a reply. I clutched him to me and inhaled sharply as he ground his pelvis against me. The whole wall rattled, several ancient manuscripts plummeting to the floor around us, and still he pumped into me. I turned my face to his, sliding my hand up into his hair to hold him against me while I took his mouth like he took my body. Raza groaned and thrust more wildly, his wings whooshing open behind him. The bottom claws of his wing tips dug into the carpet, giving him more traction so he could push even deeper.

  “How much do you like this dress?” Raza asked in a sexy rumble.

  “What dress?” I lifted a brow, daring him to do whatever barbaric thing he had planned.

  Raza leaned his torso away from me, and breathed fire over the front of my gown. My eyes widened as the material burst into flames, but he tore it away before the fire had a chance to touch me. One toss, and the whole of it landed in the nearby fireplace. All that was left of my clothing was my lace bra, my panties had already been lost amid the pile of fallen books. Raza's hands started sliding towards my last remaining piece of clothing, evil intentions lighting his eyes. I quickly stopped him.

  “The bra, I care about,” I reached behind me and undid it. “I just bought it”

  “Recently?” Raza began his rapid thrusts again, but this time he lowered his mouth to my breast. He licked and sucked, then looked up to me. “Did you think of me when you bought it?”

  “I may have,” I teased, “just a little.”

  “Then we'll have to get your more of these when we're in San Francisco,” he carried me over to his desk and laid me across it. “I want you to think entirely of me when you buy such sexy things.”

  Stuff went flying as Raza shoved into me again. Don't ask me what, I haven't a clue what had been on his desk. All I could concentrate on was Raza; his molten eyes, his dangerous hands, his thrusting hips. He leaned forward so that bone rubbed me just right, and I groaned. Clawed hands went to my shoulders, to pull me tighter to him. I glanced over to them, marveling that such wicked talons were attached to such elegant fingers. You'd think he'd be restricted by the claws, but he was actually aided by them. Raza could touch me gently with the pads of his fingers, or scrape the talons tantalizingly over my skin. He knew just how much pressure would hurt and how much would feel amazing.

  “Seren,” he groaned into my neck. “Goddess, you're like silk inside. Burning silk.”

  “And you're like steel,” I moaned.

  “Tempered by your flame,” he bit his way to my mouth. “I feel stronger when I'm inside you.”

  “Do you?” I gave him a half-lidded look, “because I feel weak. But in the most delicious way.”

  “Then take some of my strength, mo shíorghrá,” he rubbed his lips over mine. “All I have is yours.”

  “Keep your strength,” I whispered. “When I'm with you, being weak doesn't bother me.”

  Raza groaned and his hips started working faster, weakening me once again. And I loved every moment of it.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Claiming a kingdom was a lot of work. I'd thought Raza had already settled his Court in Craos-Teine and done all the things he'd had to do to secure his crown. But there was so much more to running a kingdom, and Raza's days were filled with meetings, inspections, and lots and lots of decisions. I often joined him, but it got a little boring for me, so I'd inevitably wander off and find something else to do.

  I visited with my fluffy, glowing friends, the kuperis. They kept mainly to the gardens, where they loved bobbing among the blossoms, but they didn't hide anymore. They often wandered into the castle itself, and I found quite a few of them floating around the hallways, lighting the way with every breath they took. I was happy to see them free, as opposed to the way Uisdean used to keep them in cages, as a type of living light fixture. But what I really enjoyed was meeting all the other inhabitants of the castle. There were a lot of new fairies in Craos-Teine, races I'd read about and glimpsed briefly, but had never been given the opportunity to meet. Like the dark elves.

  Tiernan used to get so upset with me when I called him Legolas. He insisted that he wasn't an elf, so the comparison was flawed. Elves, he said, had pointed ears. I'd done a lot of studying on fey races, when I was training to be an extinguisher, but even the Human Council didn't know everything about the Fey. As was made glaringly obvious when we discovered Twilight, an entire kingdom which they'd had no knowledge of. But elves, I thought I knew.

  They were little things, with spindly limbs and big feet. Oh, and let's not forget the pointed ears. Tiernan had said that Tolkein got it wrong. This cemented my belief in elves being little fairies who danced in circles and liked to make shoes. Wrong. Evidently, there were many types of elves, and many sizes. All the way up to human sized. As I discovered when I ran into one in the hallway.

  He had midnight skin like Raza, a feature exclusive to unseelie fey. His hair was as dark as his skin, another similarity to my dragon, but that's where the resemblance ended. This man was tall and very thin, though there was a hint of muscles pressing against his tunic. His eyes were the only bit of color within all that black, and even they were almost colorless. An ice blue, nearly indistinguishable from the whites of his eyes. He was all shadows with two dots of white. It was wh
y I hadn't seen him.

  I'd ventured down into the dungeons while Raza was in a meeting. There were a couple reasons for my explorations. One was I was simply curious, and the other was that I wanted to make sure no one was down there, being tortured without my knowledge. Bress' mother was still missing, and I wouldn't put it past Raza to have hidden Moire in his dungeons to punish her for attacking my father.

  The dungeons were empty, but there were other rooms below the castle. Several unseelie fairies preferred living within the earth, and there were many levels of subterranean living spaces to prove it. Most of them were full, and there were quite a few fairies wandering the halls with me. But it didn't have the same feeling as the lower levels of the last Castle Unseelie. I'd wandered through there before and felt like I needed a shower afterward. At Craos-Teine, things were different. The sub-levels were dark, yes, but the fey within them were content. Their peace pervaded the atmosphere and made the shadows feel safe instead of menacing.

  Still, dark is dark, and the man I'd run into was as inky as his surroundings.

  “My pardon, Princess,” he'd said to me as if it were his fault.

  “Hardly,” I scoffed at him, and his eyes widened. “That was all me. I'm so sorry, I should have been more...” I'd trailed off when I spotted his pointed ears, poking out of the glassy fall of his long hair.

  “Princess Seren?”

  “And now I'm being rude,” I rolled my eyes. “Again, I'm sorry. I just saw your ears and remembered something Lord Tiernan had told me once.”

  “If I may ask?” he blinked at me until I realized that he wasn't actually going to ask anything. The asking to ask was the question. If that made any sense.