Chapter 21
MAX
Attaching the mask to my face, I hold my breath as the large golden doors open, revealing the scene before me.
Large archways of gold, with long trailing vines of green sweep the walls.
Candles, high above, burn down long wicks into veridian wax.
The scent of lemon balm and lilies hang like a cloud as Fae aristocrats dance in their finest.
Shimmering skirts of white, gold, and green fling into the air, long trains of lace and tulle flap along in the warm night. The music, macabre but beautiful, plays on strings, keys, and horns in the far corner.
It’s a beautiful sight, a ball full of wealth and prestige. They celebrate Sola, most of the Lords making it here without issue after Mal’s involvement. The colors represent the sun goddess, enjoying her bounty and love.
They all wear masks, showing the many sides to Sola’s temper.
She is a fickle goddess, known for her love and wrath in one fell swoop.
There are gold masks, others of silver. Some with grotesque faces that remind me of the creatures from the Eternal Night Forest ready to devour my soul.
Others, with happy smiling faces full of charm and pleasure.
Adjusting my mask, I try to blend in. Hard to do. My red satin dress is a drop of blood in this lush garden of florals and pastels. My mask is etched with rubies, dripping down the sides as if it is blood falling from a corpse. It only covers half my face, but it looks as if it melts onto my skin.
A few eyes fall to me, but I keep my head up, long locks curling down my exposed back, shoulders down, my crown around my throat. I do not want to be here, but I am. I will not hide.
The crowd parts and I make my way through on sure steps. I came without waiting for Fee or Reid. Or my mate who I am less than pleased with.
No. Fuck that. I’m furious with him.
As I was packing for our return home, mind spinning of all the things we needed to do, he came in, excited to tell me of the ball. A ball we had decided we were to miss and return to our palace to prepare for Griffin’s attack.
He gave very little explanation. I was just to go along with it.
That’s not like Kaden. He wouldn’t dismiss me, ignore my concerns, and then still do it.
I can only assume there is a reason. And it better be a godsdamn good one.
Across the room, Fee enters. She’s dressed in black, fitting for a Dark Fae princess, with slim sides and a mask crafted from black raven feathers. She’s willowy and elegant as she walks through the ball, ignoring suitors. She grabs a wine glass before a male interrupts her.
Mal. I see the ring in his ear, his pale hair pulled back.
His costume, though a typical elegant suit and stylish cuffs of evergreen, it’s his mask that takes me back.
It doesn’t quite fit. It’s bronze with a pointed nose and large opaque black eyes.
If not for recognizing him, I would crush his heart for his menacing stance toward my sister.
Behind her, I pick Reid out of the crowd easily. With a bright green mask of a joker and patterned tunic, he reclines with a male in his lap, another rubbing his shoulders. His chest is exposed, his tattoo appearing under the folds, and he toasts someone as they dance by.
Clearly, one of us is enjoying ourselves.
A servant offers me wine, and greedily I take it. The room is sweltering, the crowd pulsing like a beating heart, only this one I cannot control and make go away. I have to endure.
A couple spins by me. They’re quite odd, with twin looks. The woman, in a large white ball gown, has a green mask that reminds of the large spikey flowers that decorate the palace gardens. The man, her counterpart, is dressed in a long suit of white, with a gold mask in similar style.
Where one leans, the other falls forward. Another steps to the side, and their counterpart copies. They are two perfect halves, completely in sync, spinning around me in the middle of the dance floor.
“You are not Woodland,” the female says, voice airy and sweet.
My fingers turn red. Thankfully, with better control, hearts no longer attack me. The valley was an exception—one I will not make again.
“No, I am not.”
“The Dark Queen,” the male whispers in awe. “We never thought to see you.”
“It is curious,” she responds, ignoring me now, though I feel their eyes. “I expected someone with fangs.”
“I expected someone horrible.” He shudders.
“But you’re as beautiful as a summer’s rose.”
Glaring, I drain my glass, dropping it on a passing servant’s tray. “This has been riveting—”
“She smells like the king,” she murmurs, twirling once.
“They must be mated,” he confirms. Stepping close, he inhales mere breaths from my face. “Yes, indeed. A mating bond. Those are rare, you know. No one does them anymore.”
“The Woodland never do,” she agrees. “They must be a Heartbond.”
Heartbond? I never suspected—never dreamed—
Is that why everything feels more heightened? As if we’re two dancing moths to a flame, never to be rid of the other?
I want to see my mate and my patience for these idiots grows thin. “If you’ll excuse me—”
“But she is not Fae.”
“No, decidedly not.”
“She is something else.”
“Decidedly, yes.”
“I am a Blut Coven Witch,” I say, exasperated. I can’t help but roll my eyes as they gasp. “Yes, yes. Rare. I know.”
“The Dark Queen, Ruler of Blood.” Her eyes grow large and impressed. “No wonder they do not like her.”
Now I’m intrigued. Tilting my head, I watch the couple sway. “Who does not like me?”
“The Veridian Queen, of course.” She giggles as her companion dips her low. “But you already knew that.”
I must be obvious. “Yes. I knew that.”
The queen also must not be keeping her disgust with me private. That means I no longer have to.
“You know, the Woodland have a custom,” the male begins, stopping behind me. My shoulders tense as his breath ghosts my neck. “Many pairs trade partners. It keeps others happy. The king often traded for others in his bed.”
Explains where Mal came from.
His fingers trail over my exposed arm and I whip my head to glare at him. “Do the Dark Fae have such customs?”
“No.” Frankly, I don’t know. Zelos had a harem. I can only assume he took—not traded.
“If you should ever find yourself needing something…” He trails off, voice dipping low for my ears only. His friend looks on hungrily. “I am all too willing to provide. The Woodland Fae have been known to have large appetites.”
A hand grabs his finger, bending it backwards and a pop is heard. A long, mournful beat that swells in the room as it swallowed his scream.
“You wouldn’t be touching my mate, would you, Oran?”
He winces behind the mask. “I was merely telling the queen how delectable she looks—”
“Wrong answer.” Kaden snaps the man’s wrist, shoving him to the far back wall.
He’s a powerful Fae with broad shoulders, black tailored waistcoat and intricately designed red swirls along his arms and lapels.
He’s easily taller than both Fae, and whereas their masks are plain, his is extreme and monstrous.
With long horns pointed above, carved lines along the cheeks and chin, painted gold and black, he’s a prettified picture of the beast he once was.
As his shadows rise to pin the man to the wall, I think of the image I had to kill in my purification ritual. This is that Kaden now.
“I mean no disrespect, Dark King,” he stutters. “I only wished to convey it. Aoife has spoken so poorly, it was refreshing to see this beautiful creature in our ball—”
“Aoife is not the one you should listen when it concerns my mate.” His black eyes gleam with a madness I’ve not quite seen before. It steals my breath, halts my heart, and fear drifts off of me in ugly waves. “Has anyone told you how the Dark Fae mate, Oran?”
He shakes his head, a bead of sweat falling off his chin. “No, Dark King. I’ve never had the pleasure.”
“Clearly,” he drawls. “They mate for life,” he explains casually.
He slides his hands into his pockets, never looking away from his prey.
“And as such, my mate is only mine to think about. Every breath, every beat of her heart, ever flutter of her eyelashes belongs to me. That includes what her face looks like right before I make her cum on my tongue, or how she screams my name in the bed we share.” His eyes flash, madness high.
“My queen is no one else’s but mine. She is not some courtesan to be shared.
None of you will get the privilege to experience her. ”
His shadows turn his head, cheeks red, eyes bulging. “Apologize to my queen.”
Oran shakes, tongue stuck. He mumbles something, but he can barely breathe, let alone speak. Kaden tsks, bored. “Not good enough.”
His shadows surge, and his head bends at an unnatural angle. He snapped his neck. My eyes widen, hand to my mouth, as Kaden wraps his magic around him. The body disappears into nothing, forgotten to time.
The female at my side whimpers and shrinks when Kaden turns to her. Pulling on his jacket, he adjusts his cuffs as if he didn’t just kill a male Fae over something trivial.
This is not my mate. Can he be cruel and ruthless? Yes. But he doesn’t kill without pause. He doesn’t kill innocents.
“Don’t make the same mistake your brother made, Oleander,” Kaden says darkly. “Run along.”
She trips over her skirts to get away. Kaden grabs my waist, spinning me so I’m pinned to the wall where he just killed a Fae, and he leans over me. His amber eyes return and I swallow, unable to look away.
This Kaden feels chaotic—different. He’s usually composed, his darkness carefully contained beneath the surface. Now, that restraint is gone. Everything twisted he’s done is laid bare.
This is the Kaden I refused to believe could exist.
“You killed him,” I whisper, voice shaking. “You killed him in front of everyone.”
“Do you think I care if anyone is watching?” He leans close, the horns of his mark scratch my jewels. “He touched you. No one gets to touch my wife.”
“And that means he should die?”
“Yes.” It’s swift, brutal. “If I could bring him back from Seti and kill him again, I would.”
Lifting my chin, his hips push against me.
“Do not act as if the carnage doesn’t make you wet, kitten.
I can smell how aroused you are.” His fangs lower over his lip, a daring and delicious sight.
“You like me at my most callous. You want me to show the world you belong to me. And if I have to kill a few brainless Fae who think they can take liberties, then so be it. You love me like this.”
“I love you, but not pointless deaths.”
He snorts. “It wasn’t pointless. It sends a message.” Grabbing my throat, he pulls me close. “That only I can have you. No one else stands a chance.”
“And if Aoife finds out you killed one of her lords?” Kaden winces, as if nails are digging into his back. “What then?”
“I do not care.” His eyes flash again and I freeze.
Something is not right. I cannot describe it. Is this who truly Kaden is without the worry over the curse to control? Is this my mate without any masks? He takes the concerns of everyone into consideration and he rarely strikes unless it is necessary.
What changed?
“But that is not why you’re mad.”
I scoff. “I can assure you killing someone for no reason is certainly why I’m mad.”
He grins, slow and seductive. “No, it’s not. You’re mad that we’re still here.”
My silence makes his smile grow, and he nods. “You’re mad that we came to this ball. That I submitted to Aoife’s request.”
Anger licks at my chest, searing and uncomfortable. It surrounds our bond like another anchor. “You said we were going home. Your curse is broken. We are needed to protect our kingdom and yet, we are here, dancing. Drinking. Killing Fae.”
He crushes me to the wall and I’m furious to hear the soft moan leave my lips. As angry as he makes me, my body still craves him. Damn bond.
“We are here because an ally asked us to be.” His thumb rubs my bottom lip, tipping my head further back. “Because to return, we need support. We have guards and the lords have armies, but Griffin has more. We need the help.”
Glaring, I shove at his chest. “We have each other. We have Fee. We have magic on our side. We do not need Aoife.”
Didn’t I have the same fears? We are limited in our people, but there must be a better way than depending on Aoife.
He winces again. Odd.
“I do not expect you to understand—”
“What?”
My voice echoes around us, a painful shriek, and a few Fae look at us. We stare at each other before I shove him further back. “Never have you insulted me like you have just now. Never.”
Kaden has always listened to me. He has taken in my feelings, my thoughts, my instincts and understood what I needed. To wave them away like annoying insects is not only an insult, but a dagger to my heart.
“Do not touch me,” I say behind clenched teeth. “If you do, I may kill you.”
“I may let you,” he murmurs, watching my lips. “You know your murderous side is an aphrodisiac to me, pet.”
My red fingers grab my skirt, and I turn on my heal. I’m too incensed to think, ignoring Fee’s concern gaze and Reid’s confusion. Instead, I exhale and run into the garden, collapsing into a pile of fragrant blooms.
It’s not long before I feel another gaze on me.