Where did you go? (Infatuated fae #3)

24. Mendax

24

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“I ’m sorry, but you can’t get in right now. The Fates are busy!” the brown-haired woman from earlier yelled.

“They are about to be a lot busier cleaning the blood from these walls if you do not let me in to see them now.” I took a few steps toward her. She barely even came to my shoulders.

She looked at the large green velvet curtain behind her. “If I were you, I would go back to your cottage before you ruin this for all your friends. Also, you shouldn’t threaten people who already know that you are dying and have no powers,” she said with a sarcastic frown.

“It’s a good thing they aren’t my friends then,” I said with a wink. My hand shot out and latched on to a fistful of her hair. I slammed her face into the wall to the left, and her face ran with blood so red it was almost black. “And I promise you, I can do my fair share of damage even without powers.” I threw her to the floor, making certain she hit her head again on the white tiles.

I moved to the green curtains. What an odd door to guard the Fates. I grabbed the heavy fabric and moved to shove it aside when a dense figure walked into me.

Fuck. I didn’t have enough left to fight anyone else. I needed to see the Fates before it was too late for me.

“Please excuse me. I’m—” the man said as he stepped on my side of the curtain.

“Aurelius. Why are you here?” I asked as soon as his face came into view. “Where’s Caly? Is she hurt?”

“What are you doing here?” he asked with a confused look on his clean face. The man never seemed to grow stubble. It made him look like an adolescent, though if I really gave it any thought, in fae time, he was an adolescent.

“Is she hurt? Where is she?” I repeated, louder. I knew I shouldn’t have let her get that far away from us. Especially not here. I didn’t trust the Fates or her father.

“No,” he replied. “She is with her father in the garden.”

“Why were you just with the Fates?” I asked. I considered blocking his path as he stepped out, but I knew he had slightly more strength than me right now.

“Surely the same reason you are, I suspect. Oh my suns! Mendax! What have you done?” he said as soon as the woman on the floor came into view.

“I’d be happy to show you again.” I smirked.

Sometimes it amazed me that Caly, my Caly, could have even considered this sap as a lover. The two couldn’t possibly be more incompatible. She was fire and venom with sweet sugar sprinkled on top, and he was a puppy that heeled on command and wagged his tail for a gentle pat and a kind word.

Which was why I was about to do what I was.

The other fae rolled his eyes. “You better get inside, because I’m going to help her, and when she comes to, I doubt you’ll get the chance to see the Fates again,” he said matter-of-factly. He had already bent down and scooped the bleeding woman into his arms.

“Bad dog,” I scolded.

He glared at me before he carried the brown-haired woman down the hallway.

I pushed past the thick curtains, and darkness filled my vision. Dread coiled in my stomach at what I was about to do.

My eyes landed on two shadowed figures, and my mouth went dry.

I took a few more steps inside. My voice echoed across the expanse.

“Let me make you a deal.”