Unseelie Deals
“W hy haven’t you killed him yet?” Bryson whispered into Weylyn’s mind.
As much as he wanted to lay languidly against the words and whisper to one another all night, he knew how dangerous such a thing was. Anyone could overhear. Here, at least, no one could infiltrate his mind or his thoughts. No one could listen and they could be as intimate with one another as they wanted.
“What?” His fingers paused against her hip, where he’d traced figures of stars and Unseelie animals of old.
“The king. Why haven’t you killed him yet?”
Weylyn’s entire body tensed like it always did whenever talk of the king came up. For years, he had held his hatred in so deeply, he’d choked on it. For years he had kept his plans so tightly leashed. Now that someone else knew them, he was almost afraid his mate would judge him. But she only ever asked with curiosity.
“You have had plenty of chances to kill him, haven’t you?”
“Not as many as you would think,” he confessed. “He is constantly surrounded by his courtiers. Getting him alone has not been such an easy task.”
“But what about Prince Valerio?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been alone with him before, haven’t you? You’ve had time to kill him. The crown prince. You vowed to destroy the crown. Valerio is part of that crown. Why haven’t you killed him ?”
Weylyn resumed sliding his fingers against her hip. “Do you want the truth?”
“Always.”
“I do not know what the truth is.”
He had had plenty of opportunities to kill the sniveling Seelie heir. But anytime he wanted to, something always held him back. He told himself it was because of the dissatisfaction of the act. He would not enjoy it because the king would not bear witness to his line ending. Therefore, he could not strike. No matter how badly he wanted to.
“You know what I think?” Bryson turned so she was on her back and he leaned over her, his hair curtaining around her face.
She looked at him with a tenderness he’d never experienced before in his life. He never thought she would look at him that way. If he thought he’d loved her with all that hatred and anger she garnered inside and aimed his way, he found he loved this so much more.
“What do you think, my little mate?” He flashed his canines in a smile.
“I think you like the Seelie Prince.”
Those words had the smile dropping from his face in an instant.
“No.” Denial came easily. “Absolutely not.”
Bryson smiled wider. “You do. You like him which is why you haven’t killed him. It’s what’s been holding you back. Because he isn’t like his father.”
“The Seelie Prince is a fucking fool.”
“A fucking fool he may be, but you like him. Admit it.”
“No.”
Bryson poked his bare chest. “You do. I know it.”
“I have vowed to destroy the Seelie line. Feelings are irrelevant. That is not a confession,” he added hastily.
Like the Seelie Prince? He snorted and shook his head in his mate’s direction. The only thing he felt for the Ashera line was absolute contempt. The king was a cruel, remorseless bastard that deserved to die. The prince was an idiot who knew nothing of what it was to rule. His heart was far too soft, and it made him stupid.
The way Weylyn saw it, they both deserved to die.
“You’d still kill the king, even if you respect Prince Valerio?”
“Would you stop me?” This question seemed crucial. Like something that would determine how their future as mates would go. If she would try to temper the only thing that had brought him so much life. If she would try to stop him from fulfilling the one goal he’d strived for his entire life.
He held his breath as he waited for her answer.
Finally, she looked at him. “No,” she whispered. “I would not stop you.” Her hand reached for his shoulder, sliding over his skin. Her discolored eyes seemed to burn with conviction and rage. “I would help you push the knife into the king’s back. And I’d take joy in it.”
A smile pulled at Weylyn’s lips. Some would have called it cruel, but it was the most joyous thing Weylyn wore. He leaned down, unable to resist the pull of his mate’s bloodlust. He captured her mouth and her body curved against his almost immediately. His cock grew hard between them, weeping and eager for another taste of his beautiful mate.
His mate.
Mate. Mate. Mate.
He knew she would give in to him eventually. Not like this. Not in Unseelie. But it didn’t matter. She was his now. He had tethered them together. Forever.
Or for as long as they were alive, at least.
As soon as that thought took hold, he pulled away. Ideas had already begun taking motion in his mind, all of them wild and desperate. But he knew without a single bit of doubt that he would do all that was within his power and beyond to get them out of Unseelie.
He pulled away from his mate, and his magic reached out for her mind.
“I swear I will get us out of this court, little mate.”
“How?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
The immediate answer brought warmth to his chest.
“Then this is what I need you to do...”
It was with the taste of his mate on his mouth and his body that Weylyn slipped from their tent to go in search of the Unseelie Queen.
His mother was blessedly alone. She sat on her throne, chin resting against her hand, as she contemplated whatever evils lived within her dark, twisted mind.
When he approached, her eyes flicked with boredom.
“What is it?” she grumbled. “Have you come to beg for your mate’s freedom from Unseelie’s hold? Why waste my time with foolery that cannot be when we can spend it with far greater pleasures.”
“Like what?” He stopped shy of reaching her throne.
“A game of truth, perhaps.” She straightened to her regal posture. “You can tell me where Owyn has gone. I have not seen him since you took off for The Hunt.”
“I do not know.”
It wasn’t a lie. Though Owyn had died and Weylyn knew the exact spot, he did not know where the earth of Unseelie had sucked him to. He did not know what awaited his brother in the afterlife. He did not know where Mana had taken him. Perhaps his soul had been reaped by the Wild Hunt. Or perhaps he was in the human concept of hell.
He did not particularly care.
He could be food for the maggots.
His mother regarded him with suspicion, but he gave nothing away. It was not as if he’d killed the fool anyway. Though it didn’t matter if he told that truth. She would not believe him.
“Hmm,” she hummed. “What do you want?”
“I want you to free my mate from Unseelie and your hold.”
“How boring and predictable.” Her fingers flicked against the armrest of her throne. “I thought you would at least come to me with a deal to counter her binding.”
“Free her and I will bring you the head of the Seelie King.”
His mother scoffed with disinterest. “You have promised me his head for years and I have yet to see it above my throne. I have grown tired of the empty promises you keep.”
“I have infiltrated his court. I have a direct line to him. I can promise you his head now.”
“You are a liar and I tire of these games, Weylyn. You have been in his court for years and have done nothing. How will you do now what you have not done before? Is it because of your mate? Because now you have the motivation?” The queen scoffed. “Your sister’s death should have been motivation enough for you and yet it was not.”
Weylyn tried not to let his own desperation show. “What if we made a deal?” he asked.
This gave his mother pause.
Everyone knew Unseelie did not enter deals lightly. Only the foolish found themselves trapped in one and Weylyn, in all his life, had never, ever made a deal with his family. He knew the concept of one was intriguing to his mother, and she would dissect his words from the inside out to make sure it was beneficial to her. And damning for him.
Which was what he was counting on.
“That depends.” She leaned forward. “What would this deal entail?”
“Free my mate from Unseelie completely. I will bring you the head of the Unseelie King, and my mate will help me deliver it.”
His mother shook her head. “No. Should a deal be struck, she would remain here while you fulfill it.”
“Absolutely not.”
“There will be no deal.” She leaned back and turned her head away as though she were dismissing him.
“What if I promised you my mate’s life in exchange?” he asked.
The queen’s head snapped towards him. Her shock was evident over her features. “ What ?”
He didn’t think he’d ever seen his mother so speechless.
The deal was one no sane Fae would make. Then again, Weylyn had never been known for being sane.
“Temporary freedom to come with me where I require. No tricks, or her life is forfeit. We bring you the king’s head and the deal dissolves. She leaves with me. Our debt is fulfilled.”