What did you do? (Infatuated fae #2)

1. The Past

1

THE PAST

The Seelie Queen Saracen

B lack rose petals dropped to the floor of the castle’s foyer as I plucked them one by one from the vase.

“There you are.” Relief weighed down my sequin-covered shoulders as tiny gold reflections danced off the dark walls in response. “Your commander took the subjects through the back entrance. You will be very pleased with this batch. A few of them are what the humans call ‘serial killers.’ I took the transport carrier down on its way to one of their high-security prisons,” I stated, struggling to steady my voice when he came nearer.

He was terrifying. His presence alone made everyone else shrink into themselves out of fear he would focus on them and then they would become his prey.

The king didn’t say a word while he continued to walk toward me, backing me up against the wall next to the console table.

My stomach tightened and flipped in anticipation, as if the butterflies that followed me were dancing on my insides, rather than fluttering around the Unseelie castle.

Thanes pushed me against the wall and began to ravage my neck with hungry kisses.

I swelled with pride.

I had pleased him.

“How is the testing?” I inquired through heavy breaths. His large, domineering body pressed against mine like a vise.

“Few have lived,” he grunted while unbuckling his pants with one hand as the other caged me in against the wall. “I need them more powerful if this is to work.”

His hands hoisted up my gown, rough and demanding. The gold sequins grated over my thighs like tiny nails.

Suns, he was incredible.

A pulse of heat flared in my stomach at his words.

This had to work. It had to.

It was the only way.

“Well, my love,” I purred. “Something more powerful wouldn’t be a human, and you can’t get inside of their minds if they aren’t human,” I reminded him.

His strong hands grew rougher as they pulled and squeezed at my ready body.

A putrid green moth landed on his shoulder for a moment before leaving to join one of my monarchs on the wall.

“The blood witch from the north believes she can take some of the Smoke Slayer powers.” He slid himself inside of me with a deep thrust and low groan. “Add a bit of Smoke Slayer to a few of them. She is to test it on my son first and take from him.”

His eyes closed, and I had to stifle my own moan just from knowing I caused it.

“He got my ability to impel, as well as Tenebris’s power as a Smoke Slayer. Mendax will be far stronger than all of us one day. It will work. If it doesn’t, then it will be all the better that I be rid of him. With so much power, he’s bound to get out of control.”

I tightened my legs around him.

My teeth pinched at my bottom lip as I focused on the feel of him. I loved when he used me like this.

The small buttons on the sides of my shoes dug into my ankle as I pulled him closer. Deeper. My eyes rolled back in my head, reveling in the tight, slick feel of him being pushed harder inside of me with every thrust. Felix was always too gentle with me, too respectful.

It was always dirty and gritty with Thanes. Exactly as I wanted.

An alarmed cry fell from my lips when Thanes bit into the skin of my neck like a feral animal, breaking the sensitive flesh. Sometimes I worried that one day he might actually break me. I reveled in it.

It made me stronger—for him. His wife would never take his aggression like I would.

“Get rid of her,” I moaned. Tilting my hips, I pushed against him until it burned. “Get rid of them both, or I’m done,” I said, tightening myself like a sheath around his length.

“The fuck do you think we are building these creatures for?” he growled before he pulled himself out of me and dropped my legs.

I had pushed him too far.

He was dangerous like this: full of lust and rage.

I couldn’t help myself. “You are an Impeller . You don’t need her to rule,” I volleyed.

I may not match the Unseelie King Thanes’s magnitude in abilities or powers, but I did in title.

Making certain that my armor—the Seelie crown—was still upright on top of my head, I shoved my golden dress down, wiping away the wet wrinkles where our juices had stained my hoop skirt.

“Of course I don’t need her, but the Smoke Slayers are revered. I’m already hated by the Unseelie fae for getting banned from the human realm. Killing their last two heroes would only bring about more enemies.”

His semi-hardened length, still free from his pants, glistened under the warm glow of the wall sconces.

“I am taking care of that, darling, I’ve told you. Every human I bring you is physically strong, mentally weak, and has the perfect mind for being melted and molded into evil little cretins. The plan is finally coming together, my love,” I whispered as I took his half-hard length into my hand. “Get rid of Tenebris and Mendax,” I purred, pulling on his once-again-hardening cock. “I want it to be only you and I. Think of what we could do together when we rule Seelie, Unseelie, and the human realm.” I swiped my thumb over the rock-hard tip in my palm.

I did that to him .

Thanes let out a low moan before his hand shot out and gripped my throat.

“What is she doing here?” A voice bounced off the expansive walls, shrill and irritating, like nails being drug over slate.

Startled, my eyes flashed over Thanes’s shoulder just before my lips curled into a cunning smile aimed directly at his wife.

Thanes didn’t flinch as he continued to roughly grind himself into my hand.

“Hello, Tenebris. I’m afraid he’s busy,” I purred, the smile still on my lips.

This was too perfect.

“Husband, I thought I asked that you fuck the whores outside of the castle. Do make sure you pay this one. She appears to be in desperate need of the assistance,” Tenebris sang sardonically.

The Unseelie queen crossed her arms and watched us. She squinted her eyes in irritation, but unfortunately for her, it didn’t hide the glint of pain I saw in her icy-blue eyes.

And everyone thought it was so hard to wound a Smoke Slayer.

“Leave now,” Thanes barked at his wife.

My smile widened beyond anything I thought capable. He was already choosing me over Tenebris, and our army hadn’t even been completed.

How sad and pathetic she must feel to watch this incredible man pick me over her…in her own home.

Me, a near-powerless Seelie, rattling her. I was giddy at the thought.

I barely had enough powers to have warranted my being groomed as an option for the Seelie kings. Everyone knew my husband had only chosen me for the irony of my small gift. Felix loved the symbolism.

The bright orange-and-black wings flared slightly at my back. They never caused me to feel more powerful. Instead, they only amplified how weak I really was as I stood alongside the king and queen of the Unseelie realm.

Tenebris snorted. She easily beat me when it came to powers, and she knew it.

“I should kill you both right now. No one would miss you. The courts wouldn’t even falter with the two of you gone,” she snapped with a smile.

Inky blackness began to crawl up her fingers, climbing up her wrists like a creature.

I was getting under her skin.

Thanes pulled away from me abruptly and turned to her. Leaving me feeling empty and slighted.

“Go ahead.” He stalked toward her. The arrogance in his easy stride made me shiver. “Tell your son that you killed me, his best friend. His idol. His fucking father .” Thanes’s laugh thundered through the castle as he moved in close to Tenebris’s porcelain face.

The woman who always appeared so frightening and powerful to me suddenly looked weak and timid. I nearly felt sorry for her the way Thanes’s presence caused her to shrink in on herself.

To everyone else, she was unstoppable, an unyielding force of power, but with her husband, she submitted like a dog.

Love made you stupid. No one would ever understand that more than me.

“He’ll get over it,” she growled back at him.

Smoke from the queen’s feet formed a protective barrier between them.

“Mendax idolizes me, Tenebris. You kill me, and the first thing that boy will do is end you,” he said with a cocky smile. “It doesn’t matter though.” He grabbed her blackened hand. “You wouldn’t hurt me. You love me. The fae believe you Smoke Slayers to be so tough, but I know the truth.”

He bent down and kissed her tenderly. Despite her eyes falling shut, she remained stiff as a board.

My fists curled until my long, peach-colored nails threatened to pierce the skin on my palms.

“I know that once you are in love”—he kissed her again softly—“and once you have bonded to another”—another kiss to her forehead—“you Slayers are incapable of stopping it or hurting the one you’ve chosen. It doesn’t matter how it destroys you.” He brushed a piece of straight, black hair from her face as I watched with horror. “It seems that it’s you, my love, who fucked up when you chose me.”

Jealousy flared inside me like the fiery sun. If I’d have been granted the SunTamer’s abilities, I would have burned them both with the heat of a thousand suns.

I knew he was manipulating her and that he didn’t really love her.

He loved me.

But as I stood in the cold, dimly lit castle, something blossomed inside of me. Something dark and jagged with thorns and teeth flourished.

I would make her regret ever challenging me—regret ever making me feel less than worthy because I couldn’t match her powers or beauty.

I was no Smoke Slayer, but I wouldn’t let that stop me from ruining her whole life and everything she ever cared about. I would make certain of it.

This wasn’t just about Thanes anymore.

Her realm was mine.

I was the better woman, and I would watch as he killed both his wife and son for me.

I could be powerful too.