Where did you go? (Infatuated fae #3)

1. Caly

1

CALY

“G ive me the bale of straw!” I shrieked.

The gritty dirt underneath my shoes shifted. I was struggling, using every fiber of the willpower I still possessed not to fall to the dusty ground of the barn like a petulant child and kick my tired feet in the air after the night I was having.

“I’m not givin’ ye the straw! There’s hardly enough for the horses as ’tis! Go back inside, ye quick-life!” the red-faced hostler returned.

“Quick-life” was what some of the fae called humans, and it was not a term of endearment.

“She said you could help me.” I winced through my words as my nails bit into my palm. “I only need enough straw for one or two beds.”

“I heard ye, and I already said no. I’ve not got enough for the mares as it is. Surely you seen the lot inside? Half are Fallen! It’s my hide that gets torn open if their horses don’t have enough straw.” His scowl further deepened the three lines between his large eyes. His worn, leathery skin made the expression look nothing short of painful.

I started to size him up but thought better of it. I was in pain and exhausted, and though I was incredibly desperate to get this straw, I wasn’t stupid. The brute was huge, and who knew what his powers were?

Aside from the risk of him suddenly turning into a tiger—or any other animal, really—and eating me, word had spread fast about me killing the Seelie queen, and for all I knew, he was a Queen Saracen supporter. Everyone had an opinion on what it was that had caused the queen’s human assassin to turn on her. Even more rumors had started flying after word got around about both castles’ destruction, and some fae were pretty riled up about it.

I pulled my shoulders back and did everything I could to force a little twinkle into my eyes and a charming smile onto my face.

I tried to sweet-talk the man one last time. “The last thing I would ever want to do is get you into trouble or have these horses miss a meal. It’s just that all the rooms are full?—”

“No.” The man cut me off as he continued blanketing the horse next to him.

It was obvious that no one was coming between this man and his straw. On my way to the exit, I made certain to kick over one of the loose bales of hay. “Bite him,” I grumbled to the chestnut mare in the last stall.

A gust of icy wind slapped me in the face as soon as I stepped out of the barn. My fingers sought warmth and weapon in the pockets of my oversized tunic, and I curled my hand around my karambit. Okay, it was the severed dragon’s claw I’d collected outside Malvar, but it was every bit as useful as a karambit and was shaped the same.

Bits of freezing rain pelted my exposed skin, making soft pops with every drop that hit my head and shoulders while I stood outside the small barn, begrudgingly staring at the annoyingly busy inn.

“Ouch! Ye cow!”

The tiniest smile tickled my lips as I walked toward the curved wooden door of the inn.

As quickly as the smile touched my lips, it fell when I looked down at the wet, snowy ground. The wind lifted, shaking the creaky wood sign shabbily painted The Inn Between that hung from an iron arm above the door.

My tired eyes took in at least a hundred monarch butterflies and luna moths lying wilted and dead in the sludgy ground outside the inn. One, still barely alive, tried to flutter its torn, wet wings. My chest felt heavy and tight, something that was seemingly becoming a constant feeling with my recently restored heart.

I brushed the soft, vulnerable feelings away and gripped my weapon. I couldn’t afford to care about butterflies right now. I was too occupied sorting things out with the two most dissimilar men in the world.

I steeled myself, stepped over the dying lepidoptera, and shoved the door open.

“He wouldn’t give me the straw,” I said through clamped teeth.

“Well, guess you’re gonna make do with one bed then, eh? Straw makes for terrible mattresses anyways. Feather is better,” rasped the haggard old woman as she moved out from behind the wooden counter.

My thumb smoothed over the black dragon claw in my pocket. “What kind of an inn is this?” I snapped. “How can you not have a spare mattress or a chair? A pile of blankets, for sun’s sake?” I pushed my foot into the worn wood floor to stop myself from stomping on it, the noise of the busy tavern overwhelming my already pounding head.

“We’re the only inn that’s in between the realms, hence our name. It’s right on the sign, child.” She shook her head, making her dark gray braid whip around to the front of her body. “And before you go tryin’ to throw your weight around, quick-life, everyone in this place knows who you are and who you’re here with. Doesn’t matter a lick when you’re between the realms. Tartarus, it doesn’t seem like it matters in the realms anymore either.” The owner snorted. “Can’t rule a castle that ain’t there, eh? Rumor around here’s that the Fallen fae”—she lowered her voice conspiratorially and leaned closer—“plan to bump all the Seelie and Unseelie fae out to the human realm and take the fae realms.” She leaned back and arched her eyebrows, waiting for my response.

“You shouldn’t listen to rumors,” I replied with a sharp glare.

I left the rough-looking woman and started up the stairs around the corner, grateful to be leaving behind the loud lower level that was filled with heavy, robust scents and creatures of kinds I’d never before seen. The aged, wooden stairs creaked as I climbed with purposefully heavy steps. Maybe they would hear me coming and behave—though I knew that wasn’t likely.

An irritated sigh left me when I paused at the top of the staircase and stared down the hallway at the door to our room. In contrast to the thump and rattling that was muffled behind it, the other rooms I passed on the way were silent, their residents either asleep or getting drunk at the tavern.

An influx of grunts, swears, and muffles made their way to me in the hallway, where my feet had stalled in front of the door. No wonder the innkeeper didn’t want to help me.

“I’m opening the door,” I warned loudly.

More shuffling, then silence.

The door’s hinges creaked as if giving an audible appreciation for my return.

“So? Are they bringing up another mattress for Lord Smoke-Show to sleep on?” the handsome blond fae asked.

Both Eli and Mendax stood in front of the crackling fireplace, disheveled and out of breath, guilty looks on both of their faces. The two fae seemed out of place in the raggedy room, and not simply because they barely fit inside the homely space. Both men emanated this enormous aura of power at all times. You didn’t need to know anything about them or their titles to know they were incredibly important and exceedingly powerful. It was overwhelming just existing in the room with one man capable of shifting the air like that—two made your mind and body act senseless.

Another sigh exited my lips as I finagled my way around the large, broad-shouldered bags of muscled pains in my ass to stand in front of the fireplace. I removed my dripping wet boots and pushed them close to the fire, allowing the heat to reach my cold toes.

“No. There’s nothing,” I replied.

“Sorry, sunshine. Looks like it’s the floor for you,” Mendax said, goading Eli. I didn’t bother glancing at him to see the smile he wore—I could hear it in his voice. “Don’t let the Afters take advantage of you while you’re down there.”

Goose bumps flourished across my skin at the mention of the creepy ghosts that refused to return to fae hell. I’d never seen one, but what I’d heard about Afters made my skin crawl.

“Me on the floor?” Eli shot back with a sharp laugh. “If anyone belongs on the floor with Tartarus’s evaporated ghoul leftovers, it’s you, oh shadowy prince of night.”

The two men’s bickering continued behind me like as I did my damnedest to tune them out and prepare myself for bed. It was like trying to tune out a blender.

We had been traveling for what felt like an absolute eternity, though I knew it had only been a few weeks. We’d slept wherever we could make and tend to a fire, but the weather had taken a turn now that we’d finally moved through Seelie and into the space between realms.

As soon as it had sunk in that Walter was dead by the blade of Queen Saracen—Eli’s mother—Mendax had either been silent or tried to hurt Eli whenever he got the chance. He wasn’t trying to kill him though, because Eli and I were still tied; if Mendax killed Eli, then it meant that I’d die too.

Which sounded peaceful in this moment.

Eli, understandably, was in no better mood than his nemesis. After all, he had just found out I’d been lying to him for twenty years while also planning the murder of his mother. What was worse for him was that I had finally succeeded. On top of that, his sweet little sister, Princess Tarani, was a leader of the Fallen fae; his best friend and theoretical fiancée—hi, it’s me—remained tied to his most hated enemy, and the Fates had summoned the three of us to them in Moirai…with the promise of killing one of us in order to break the bonds between us. Oh, and I was going to kill his father’s best friend, the Titan Artemi Zef, while we were there, the man better known to me as dear old Dad. Eli had a lot going on. Well, we all did.

I would finally kill Zef for a plethora of reasons, but among them, he chose my sweet, gentle sister to take the inheritance of his Artemi powers before deserting his entire family. Had he been around to protect us from Queen Saracen, Mom and Adrianna would still be with me today, and none of this would have happened.

My cold toes curled before the fire. So yeah, I’d say the trip had been a wee bit uncomfortable thus far.

I moved from the fire to the bed. If I didn’t lie down now, the boys would likely burn it to the ground while they fought over who I would share it with. The narrow mattress dipped as I climbed onto it. I tugged the itchy wool blanket up to my chin and let my heavy eyelids fall shut.

I was exhausted.

I would never admit it out loud, but it was much more of a struggle to keep pace with the oversized fae than I would have thought. I knew they wouldn’t think twice about stopping had I asked them to, and suns knew they would carry me had I allowed it. But I would rather have died than slow the journey any further. I had waited a long time to finally kill my father. I couldn’t wait to watch his awful life slowly fade from his horrible eyes.

The bed dipped again. A muscled arm wrapped around my midsection and pulled me against the front of a very, very well-built Mendax. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know it was him. The way he assertively grabbed my body and the sultry fragrance of amber and spice with a slight undernote of smoke let me know it was him. I couldn’t have fought against the pull my body had toward him if I’d wanted to.

This was the first time he had really touched me since our journey began.

I was still as I took in every dent and valley of his shirtless torso, pressed against my side. The warmth from his body was like a radiator, and I barely stopped myself from snuggling into him with a foolish smile.

“My woman, my bed,” Mendax purred. “Sleep on the floor, fox.”

“Caly is exhausted. Let her have the bed, you idiot. We can both sleep on the floor. And she is not your woman,” Eli said. He spoke in his higher-pitched voice, the one that let me know he was about to snap but was trying to keep it together.

I opened my eyes and let out a little petulant giggle. What a stupid situation.

“See? Even she thinks it’s funny when you say foolish things like that. She is very much my woman,” Mendax rasped in my ear. His blue eyes sparkled with mischief as they latched on to mine, even though the look was meant for Eli.

Eli though, not to be outdone, climbed onto the empty sliver of the bed on my other side. By now, the small mattress had dipped so low, we were almost to the floor. He grabbed my left hand and rolled me until my body was pressed against his.

I snorted as any sane woman would when they had become the tug-of-war prize between two stunning men.

“What in star—” said Mendax.

Eli cradled my head and gave me one of his charming, playful winks. “If anyone is going to share the bed with her, it will be her future husband.”

I giggled like a schoolgirl. Obviously lack of sleep had done my head in.

In truth, it was nice to feel a bit of playfulness from them after everything. There was an undercurrent of seriousness, but it was covered by a silliness—I’m sure for my sake—that felt like we were all just enjoying a game of duck-duck-goose.

Eli pulled the covers up over us with a smile and leaned over top of me.

The air in my chest lodged itself in my throat. Holy suns, stars, and every other hydrogen-helium balls there are, what was happening between us?

His thumb lightly stroked the side of my face just before his soft lips grazed mine, asking for permission before pressing into me harder. I melted against him, unable to hide my arousal and surprise at his kiss. Was it from his kiss, or was it from the fact that I could feel Mendax about to maul me in retaliation? The restraint it took for him not to kill Eli did not go unnoticed.

But…what does one do in a situation like this?

“Unless you wish to make the tail end of this journey headless, I strongly suggest you stop touching Calypso, Aurelius,” Mendax growled so quietly it made the hair on my arms raise.

All humor and playfulness were gone from his voice.

“It’s fine. I’ll take the floor. Give me your shirts to sleep on,” I said, sensing the severity of this situation—Mendax was not one to be pushed. I moved to lie on my side with my back facing Eli. It somehow seemed the safer position.

“ No ,” both men barked in unison as they locked eyes with each other.

“Get. On. The. Fucking. Floor, Seelie,” Mendax said, enunciating carefully.

“You sound like a hippo,” Eli replied in a similar whisper, completely unbothered.

I snorted.

“What did you call me?” Mendax’s low voice filled the small room.

“Look, Caly and I both tried to get something else to sleep on from downstairs. They have no other beds available. I even flirted with the old woman at the front desk, and they gave us nothing.” Eli took full embrace of being the big spoon and curled up close around my back.

Mendax looked like he was about to flip the entire bed over.

“This is getting out of hand,” I started.

Mendax cracked his knuckles so hard, it sounded as if the bones had broken. He moved to stand at the edge of the bed and looked at me for a long moment before he turned around and stalked to the door. Eli and I had both rolled to the right to watch whatever was about to happen. Now I was the big spoon as I looked over Eli’s shoulder.

“Thank her,” Mendax stated through clenched teeth before looking to Eli.

“What?” Eli asked with a mischievous grin.

“Thank her,” Mendax repeated slowly. “Pray and kneel to Calypso for each and every day that you live, because she is the only , let me repeat, the only thing prolonging your marked little life.”

The six-foot-five Smoke Slayer opened the door of our room and left, slamming the door behind him.

Eli rolled back to face me with a victorious smile and began kissing my neck.

“Thank you.” He kissed my neck again. “Thank you.” Another kiss to my sensitive neck. This one, however, was accompanied by the tip of his tongue.

Eli and I had never been so intimate before, and I couldn’t help but feel like it was more about him winning me than actually wanting me.

I could feel his smile pressing against my exposed collarbone.

This felt wrong. I mean, it felt right—so fucking right—but it felt wrong. I didn’t want to do this to either of them. I shouldn’t have even let it go this far. I needed to remain neutral, no matter how impossible that seemed at the moment. I didn’t want to hurt either of them any more than I already had…or was about to.

One of us was still going to die at the end of all this, and that knowledge had morphed into a desire to not miss out on anything with either of them—no matter how awkward it seemed.

“Wait, I don’t think we should do this,” I whispered so softly I wasn’t sure he’d even heard me…or if I really wanted him to.

Like the wholesome, charming best friend I had always known him to be, Eli snapped his head up and quickly rolled off me, leaving me cold and somewhat mad at his impeccable fox hearing.

The corner of his mouth lifted. “I’m sorry,” he said before biting his lower lip. “I think I got carried awa?—”

A horrifying crash thundered up the hallway. It sounded like the inn had caved in on itself.

The two of us bolted upright and looked at the door. Eli was off the bed and standing at the ready before I even finished blinking. The walls of the inn rattled again, sending fragments of plaster and dust to the floor as the door slammed open, barely remaining on its rusty hinges.

Mendax strode in carrying a stained mattress.

Shouts and growls broke out down the hallway as the dark prince threw the mattress to the floor and turned to face the open door.

I clutched the edge of the bed as I peered behind him at what looked like a group of war elves, but I couldn’t really see that far down the dimly lit hallway.

Mendax took a step toward the door, turning his head for a second—giving us an expression that made Eli and I exchange looks apprehensively—before he focused on the hallway.

Whoever was in the hallway saw the same look and wisely left.

The prince of smoke and shadows turned his full attention back on us. Eli took a protective step in front of me to block me from Mendax.

“Do not fight with him now, Eli. Our lives are still tied. If you die, I die,” I reminded him for the millionth time.

“Believe me, I remember,” Eli snapped.

The tension in the room had thickened with a feral spark of danger.

“You. Bed,” Mendax snarled, pointing to the lumpy mattress on the floor.

Smoke had begun to slowly cascade from his body in ominous warning.

I moved to the edge of the bed and ran my hand gently over Eli’s back in the hopes of calming him and preventing a fight, only realizing what a stupid move it was after Mendax shuddered while he watched me touch the other man.

Eli clenched his fists as Mendax stepped nose to nose with him before the Unseelie eventually turned to look at me with a pissed-off expression.

I should have kept my hands to myself.

“Both of you take the other mattress,” I offered.

“ No ,” they said in unison.

Mendax shoved Eli toward the mattress that now lay near the fireplace.

Eli stared at him for a minute, no doubt weighing his decision, before he reluctantly moved to his new bed next to the hearth.

“Feuhn kai greeyth,” he said in mock merriment to me as he took one of the blankets off my bed.

“Feuhn kai greeyth,” I repeated back to him with a weak smile.

It meant eternal love and friendship in an old fae language. It had been our thing ever since we were little kids.

Mendax growled from where he stood at the edge of the bed before he started to take off his pants.

My pulse sped up embarrassingly fast.

I rolled to the other side of the bed and faced the cream-colored wall, making sure I gave the angry fae plenty of space and tried desperately not to think about what was underneath his pants.

“How did you get this mattress?” Eli’s inquisitive voice carried up from the floor.

The bed dipped again, and I was immediately hyperaware of how small the mattress was. I swear, I could taste how masculine and powerful Mendax was as he crawled into bed with me.

His arm wrapped around my middle and roughly tugged me into him, rolling me over so that our faces were only a breath apart on one pillow.

“I wanted it, so I took it,” Mendax answered Eli while keeping his eyes latched to mine. There was a soft look deep in them even though his jaw was set firmly and his grip on me was rough.

“Of course you did,” Eli replied. “Caly, if he bothers you at all, say the word.”

Mendax snickered.

“Okay, for sun’s sake, let’s go to sleep. You said we could get to Lake Sheridon tomorrow. Good night,” I said gruffly.

Mendax pulled my body closer to his, and like I’d been given a drug, I instantly fell asleep in the protective comfort of his hold on me.

Tomorrow was going to be one of the hardest days of my whole miserable life.