Verena #2
"Make sounds like wretching animals?" the faerie deadpans. "Loose your infuriating tongue already. We have to what?"
The faerie's voice and the memory of how he nearly killed me in this same place not long ago aren't helping to calm my sudden nerves.
I stop to take a deep breath, aware of Wulf nearby observing my every anxious move with a deep frown. He looks ready to carry me out of here, and I'm almost ready to let him.
Except…this seems like the best shot I have at getting back to the world I belong in.
It might even be the only shot.
"Kiss," I blurt, the word rushing out too fast as I stop to face the cage.
"We have to kiss, okay? As in, I have to plant one on you.
With Rhinestone's blood, no less, which makes no sense because I've seen what that shit does.
Fuck my life—I cannot believe I have to play Kool-Aid-flavored tonsil hockey with the petty-ass faerie from Sleeping Beauty. What kind of sick joke is this?"
My distress is met with silence for a beat before Malivant speaks.
"Someone explain her vernacular."
Eris sighs. "If only anyone could."
"Verena often speaks in terms from her homeland," Wulf supplies.
"How bothersome," the faerie scoffs.
Eris moves back to Wulf's gleaming axe to address me quietly, his expression completely earnest.
"Let this faerie rot here, and I swear I'll teach you to read. There might be an answer in Reinhilde's journals that won't involve you having to go anywhere near Wrath."
Yeah, there might be.
But those journals could also have nothing, leaving me back at square one. If I leave now, it'll probably piss off Malivant—and I don't want to be on his bad side ever again, especially if he's powerful enough to enchant an entire kingdom of living things to sleep for a hundred years.
Since that's straight out of Little Brier Rose, I wonder again if this world will somehow force me to meet the same fate as the evil queen.
I need to escape while I still can, so…
Fuck it. I can kiss a monster just to survive.
I've done it before.
"Let me borrow your knife," I tell Wulf.
He unsheathes it and hands it over at once, his jaw clenching. I feel shitty to give orders he has to obey, but I doubt my sworn protector will be on board with this next part.
With a pounding heart, I venture deeper into this dim prison. I stop just outside the shadow-filled cage wreathed in thorns. My slippers brush piles of dark feathers and dead rose petals aside.
Trying not to think too hard about it, I press my index finger against the edge of Wulf's knife until a warm trickle accompanies the sting.
Taking a deep breath, I recite the words on the paper I brought.
"As by blest blood was Wrath ensnared,
A hundred winters sealed away,
Yet now may, by this red-stained kiss
Of fair blood, see the light of day."
The thrumming tingle of magic sweeps through me. My pricked finger burns before I fully commit and raise my hand to smear the queen's warm blood over my lips.
Unlike others' blood in this world, it doesn't smell like juice or anything else I'd want to drink. It smells like nothing to me.
Closing my eyes since I still really don't want to see what this monstrous faerie looks like, I move closer until a metal bar presses into one of my cheeks.
My pulse pounds in my ears as I wait.
Chains rattle. Something heavy drags against the stone ground. I steel myself when I feel body heat near my face, that same warm spice scent I noticed before drifting over me.
Every nerve in my body flip-flops when Malivant speaks. Whatever face this monster wears, he's close enough that I can almost feel his quiet words moving against my bloodied lips.
"I sense that this spell is sound. But know this: if Reinhilde's nefarious blood harms me, I shall not bother to stop my wrath from killing you this time."
As terrifying as this jerk is, irritation mingles with everything else I'm feeling.
I clench my clammy palms, lifting my chin higher. "Whatever her blood might do, I'm pretty damn sure it can't be worse than having to kiss you."
His soft scoff brushes against the cooling blood. "Take comfort in knowing this shall be equally revolting for both of us."
Then Wrath's lips press firmly against mine.
I almost flinch at the initial contact, but mostly because his lips are surprisingly…warm. Soft, too.
It feels like I'm kissing a man instead of a faerie—right up until the moment our mouths both part for the barest of milliseconds and I know I feel the tip of a fang drag across my lower lip.
Just like that, I wrench away, taking a big step back.
The instant the kiss ends, another wave of magic crests through the air like a warm buzz.
Malivant is still obscured by darkness, but any concerns that the queen's blood might make him explode or something dissipate quickly. The deafening sounds of metal shackles clanking to the ground along with heavy chains fill this prison for a long moment.
That's followed by a quiet sigh of relief. There's a big whoosh inside the cage, and I back two more big steps away when I accidentally glimpse a massive wing unfold. Its feathers are black, but fade into a startling scarlet at the tips.
"Freedom at last," the Thirteenth Faerie murmurs.
Thank god. It worked.
Quickly wiping away any traces of blood on my lips, I press my bleeding finger into my skirt and turn to offer Wulf his knife back.
The Huntsman eyes the blade as if he resents it. Finally, his big, rough hand covers mine, clearly lingering on purpose until he takes the knife and sheaths it once more.
Suddenly, I'm hyper aware that Wulf and Eris both just watched me smooch a faerie. Wulf, who has made it very clear that he's down to get down—and Eris, who apparently feels something for me.
Just thinking about either of these gorgeous fairytale guys wanting me in any way makes my heart do something really fucking weird.
But both of them?
Good thing I'm about to go home, or else I might've been tempted to step right into that budding love triangle scenario. Love triangles are the bane of my existence.