Chapter 9
Nine
A good brownie never vomits on someone.
And they never ever do it twice! - Arienna
I want to tell him sorry. I want to tell him to move out of the way because once I get started, it is very hard for me to stop. The smell. The acid burn. They both work to upheave my stomach. Still staring him in the eye, I vomit again.
“For Hel’s sake!” the man shouts, his wasp-like wings fluttering behind him as he jumps back.
Sagging against the bars, I moan. I’m never drinking again, I vow. Never ever again.
“You need to move us far enough away, she can’t smell it,” Fabia says. “Otherwise, she’s just going to vomit until she dies and then whatever –”
I heave, coughing and gagging as I struggle to keep what remains in my stomach down.
“– deal your king wanted to make will be over.”
“Do you think I’m stupid? You’ll try to escape as soon as I let you out.”
“Oh, no, what’s wrong, big man? Muscles only for show? Can’t handle two freaking women? Two brownies who’ve never known combat?”
He glares at her. She scowls back.
My eyes water. As I groan, “Sorry,” he steps farther back.
Smart man. Last night’s dinner misses him completely this time.
“Fine. Get her off the bars.”
Pulling a wand from the pouch hanging at his side, he waves it in front of us. I stumble forward as the bars disappear. A sharp tug on my arm keeps me from face-planting in my own vomit. Forever grateful, I try to turn around to tell Fabia thanks.
“Don’t face me!” she snaps.
Moaning, I close my eyes. I just want to go back to sleep and then wake up in my own bed. With Hyatt curled against my side, along with all my other babies.
“Hyatt...” I rasp, so sad that he left me without so much as a goodbye. The ungrateful turd.
“She needs water and some air,” Fabia says as she walks me around the edge, “and you need to get changed so she can’t smell you anymore.”
“Prisoners don’t give orders.”
“I’m not a prisoner, remember? Entering Raza isn’t a serious crime.”
“But helping a fugitive escape is.”
She snorts. “Does she look like she’s going to run anywhere?”
I lift my head and smile reassuringly. He does not look pleased.
“Follow me.” Turning on his heels, he leads us down the white, cell-lined hall.
It’s wide enough for us all to walk side by side, but he marches ahead while Fabia half-carries, half-drags me behind him.
The farther away we get from the smell though, the better I start to feel.
When we make it to the bottom of the stairway, the walls narrow so only one person can fit at a time.
Fabia mutters a curse as she squeezes us through.
I lift my head to tell her I can probably walk, but the words die in my throat.
The rest of me freezes too. As does she.
The fairy has stopped right in front of us. With his back to us, he looks down and undoes his belt. Peeling the straps of his tunic off his shoulders, he lets the garment drop to the floor before strapping his belt back on.
“There are baths on the next floor,” he says as he climbs the stairs.
Neither of us move.
Taking in his well-defined muscles and godly physique, my nausea is instantly replaced by lust. Wicked, dirty lust that is heightened by every centimetre I look down his body.
Muscles bulge as he walks. His buttocks grow tight as he climbs.
His wings, a dull translucent shine, do little to hide the perfection of his ass.
They do not make men like this in Brownston.
“Fuck me,” Fabia breathes.
Oh baby.
The things I want him to do to me, I don’t even have names for.
But they most definitely involve more than four to five seconds of action.
When my gaze trails down his thighs, a little moan escapes me. Dear gods, are all fairies this ripped? He looks like the statue from the wedding. Oh, please let that apply to his penis too.
“Are you coming or not?” the man asks, his head never turning around to look at us.
“Not yet, but I’m –”
Fabia jabs me hard in the ribs.
Rubbing my side, I glare at her. Before I can tell her off for cockblocking me in my own mind – something she is annoyingly good at, she pulls me forward at a ridiculous pace.
With all my attention on climbing the stairs, I don’t even get to check out his ass. Talk about a horrible start to the day.
At the top, it opens out again to a wide, circular room with an open balcony at the far end. I jerk out of her grip. Strolling over to the fairy, I roll my hips seductively. “So what should we call you other than Glorious Se–”
“You’re expecting us to climb that?” Fabia cuts in, pointing at the sheer stone wall on the other side of the balcony.
“No,” he says, sneering over at her. “Don’t be stupid. You’ll never make it.”
Everything but my heart freezes. Even my loins. But my heart jerks hard and then starts hammering like a toddler with a drum kit. My eyes snap to Fabia. Please don’t.
“Oh? Think we’re too weak?” she growls. “Not fairy enough?”
“No,” he says as if she’s a child wanting to enter a beehive. I know because it’s a tone she’s used on me before.
“They’re too smooth. No one can get out of here without the aid of wings,” he says.
“See, Fabia,” I gush, turning to her to put out the fire in her eyes. “It’s nothing personal. Not a chall–”
“But even if you had wings,” he continues, speaking down his nose, “you aren’t clever enough to navigate the tunnels.
She takes a step towards him. “Chal–”
“You mentioned baths,” I blurt, rushing between them, breaking their line of sight. That’s what you do with wasps; I can only hope it’s the same with people.
“Yes.” He doesn’t look at me, his eyes locked over my shoulder. “Although you’re looking a lot better.”
I press my hand to my head and groan. “Not really. But a bath will fix me right up, I’m sure.” Rubbing my temples, I add, “I can’t make decisions when I’m hungover.”
Pursing his lips together, the fairy gives it a bit of thought.
Dear gods, Glorious Sex God, it’s not like I’ve asked you to make a wand.
Grabbing Fabia’s arm, I shove her forward. She sucks in a breath as she stumbles against him. Her hands press against his chest. His glorious naked chest, and for a moment, I regret trying to save her from herself.
But I’ll do anything for Fabia. Including cockblocking myself from a guy dubbed the Glorious Sex God. She better bloody appreciate it.
“What in Hel’s name, Arienna?” Fabia snaps as she turns her head, her eyes threatening a slow death.
“Take her first,” I say, looking at the fairy. “I’ll wait here, and she won’t leave without me.”
I can’t explain it because he doesn’t move a muscle, doesn’t shift at all, and yet, his entire demeanour changes. Darkens. Sends shivers down my spine.
He’s going to kill us!
Before I can launch myself at him so Fabia can get away, he growls, “I’m ugly, not stupid. Whatever trap you have planned, I’m not going to fall for it.”
“Trap?” I blink, then laugh, only to instantly regret it as my head screams in pain.
“No, mate, seriously. I am doing your job. You have to get both of us up there, right? And you don’t know who to take first?
This is like the classic: a vampire has a werewolf, cactus cat, and a rat shifter that he needs to phase somewhere scenario.
Except, you know, a lot easier. If you take Fabia, she won’t run off because she loves me.
” And she won’t have the opportunity to try to climb the bloody wall.
“And you don’t love her?”
“What? No. Wait, yes.” I rub my temples. It’s way too early for this level of thinking.
“If I take her up first…”
The world slows as I suddenly realise the two of them are still pressed up against each other.
Fabia’s hands are still splayed across his chest. His glorious, naked chest. And one of his arms has subconsciously wrapped around her waist, his hand pressing her tighter against him.
Fury and tension radiate between them, but I know a good match when I see one.
I might be hopeless at a lot of things, but I’m a freaking goddess when it comes to matchmaking.
“…and come back for you, that’ll give her time to search for a weapon and try to ambush me. She could grab one of the vases off the tables.”
“Or the chair,” I offer thoughtlessly, my mind focusing on other things. They look so cute together.
“They’re side tables,” he says. “There aren’t any chairs.”
“Oh.” I bet their babies –
“But thank you for admitting your plan.”
Fabia groans. I gasp.
“What? No!” Stepping forward, I wave my hands out in front of me. “I was just showing you I was actively listening. That wasn’t the plan at all! Right, Fabia?”
She doesn’t say a word.
Oh, drat. That was the plan.
“So I’ll take you first, and she” –he pulls her away from him– “can stop trying to frisk me for weapons.”
I snort. Yeah, that’s exactly what she was doing. Frisking for weapons. Where would he even hide –
My eyes widen as he snags her wrist. She tries to jerk away, but he holds her fast as he grabs a knife from out of her waistband. It’s at least as long as her forearm.
“What? How? Where? When? What!” I gasp.
Neither of the two acknowledge me. They stare at each other, creating a tension so thick, not even that massive knife could cut it.
“Ugh. Just have sex already,” I grumble. “I’ll cover my ears and turn around.”
Pivoting as I raise my hands, I stare down the tunnel we’ve come out of.
Not even two seconds later, a rough hand grabs my shoulder and an arm wraps around the back of my knees, scooping me up.
“Wow. That was quick. Are you sure you don’t need more time?
” I crane my neck to look over his shoulder as he cradles me in his arms. “Fabia, did you fini–”
“Shut up, Arienna.”
A low rumble vibrates from the fairy’s chest, making my body go soft. “My brother is going to love you.”
“Brother?”
With a spread of his wings, he launches us into the air. A small yelp escapes me. Wrapping my arms tight around his neck, I bury my face into the crook of his shoulder. Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Don’t look down.
Peeking through a crack in my eyelids, I look down.
Dang it, Arienna!
“Relax,” he growls as he pulls at my arms. “If you strangle me, we’ll both die.”
“Oh, yes. Let me just relax now after that visual.” I squeeze my eyes shut. My belly grumbles with warning.
“If you puke, aim down.”
“Ah, but there’s a huge flaw in that plan.” I suck in a trembling breath. “To do that, I would have to look down.” Just the thought of doing that again is making me queasy.
His wings flutter faster. “If you puke on me again, I swear I’ll drop you, king’s orders be damned.”
“Gods, you and Fabia are made for each other,” I groan. “Both of you suck at pep talks.” Needing a distraction, I ask, “So the king is your brother, huh?”
“Yes.”
“Older or younger?”
“Older.”
“By how much?”
“You ask a lot of questions.”
“But I’m relaxing, aren’t I?”
He glances down at me and shakes his head. As he banks left to go through another tunnel, my fingers dig into his skin.
“So, uh, what’s this deal you were talking about him wanting? You know, the one that doesn’t end in my torturous death?”
He careens right, then left, then down, then right again as we fly through the maze, the white stone-covered walls shifting into bare wood. I press my eyes tight together, no longer taking note of the path he’s taking.
“In order to sign a new law, he needs the signature of a queen,” he says.
“But I’m not… I’m not a queen,” I manage to squeak once he starts flying straight again. My entire body is shaking now, begging to meet the floor. Just not as a giant red splat. I shudder. Why would I even think that?
“You will be once you marry him.”
“Oh.” My eyes snap open. “Oh! Wait. Um…”
I struggle to bring my thoughts together into any sort of coherency. Me, queen? Of the fairies? But I don’t want to eat children!
But I also don’t want to die...
Okay, so maybe I can only eat bad children?
My stomach twists. My heart plummets.
No! I can’t do it!
But… maybe when I’m Raza’s queen, I can make eating children illegal?
Unless that starts a civil war because kids are seen as a delicacy?
But then, maybe I can make eating them only allowed on certain days?
Like at annual festivals? Would that be a compromise they’d be willing to accept?
I shake my head. Faster and faster and faster.
“I can’t be queen!” I shriek. “I don’t even know what I’m doing with my own life. Ask Fabia. I make horrible choices, especially when drunk. I mean, just look at where I am now!” I wince. “No offence.”
“You won’t be making any choices. You’ll just need to sign your name from time to time.”
“On what?”
“On whatever Richard wants you to.”
“But what if it’s for something bad?”
“Worse than a public execution?”
I think about all the babies. Fairies only eat children at the moment. What if one of the things I sign is so babies can be eaten too? “Yes?”
“Trust me, it won’t be.”
I’m not sure. Before I can voice my doubts, he deposits me onto beautiful hard ground. Falling to my knees, then to my face, I hug it as well as I can. I am never leaving the ground again.
“Think about it while I get your friend,” the fairy says, launching back into the air. “Because I assure you, Fabia will be forced to watch.”