CHAPTER TWO #3
I hesitated. There was something else I wanted to say, but Viessa had always been a sensitive subject, especially after we’d worked together to unseat Collith.
Not talking about her was one of the reasons we felt so far apart.
I considered my words carefully before I said, “I do regret the coup, but … she’s a good queen, Collith.
She definitely thinks like a faerie sometimes, just like you did.
In a way, your visions are the same. She’s trying to bring the Unseelie Court into a new era.
A new way of doing things. Some of the changes she’s made I wish I’d thought of. ”
I shook my head wonderingly, a smile touching my lips as I remembered the last time I’d been to Viessa’s Court.
She’d completed the carvings on all the doors, and finished the pathways, too.
She had also installed more lights. Those weren’t the only changes, though.
The new queen had also implemented policies that protected human lives and kept the nobles in line.
She’d even started an education program to force the old ones into the ways of the twenty-first century.
There had been many, many assassination attempts.
Fortunately, Viessa had Nuvian at her side, and I knew firsthand how good he was at protecting headstrong queens.
Collith made a sound in his throat, bringing me back to the present. His voice was quiet as he said, “Have I mentioned lately how extraordinary you are?”
Finally giving in to the urge to touch him, I rested my fingers on Collith’s chest and searched his gaze. “I could say the same thing to you. Collith … how are you doing it?”
His brow furrowed. “Doing what?”
I hesitated. We had never talked about this, either. Which was why, once again, I made myself say the thing I’d been avoiding.
“You’ve been cut off from the Courts just like Lyari has.
On top of that, you’re a Nightmare, which comes with its own fun set of challenges.
And yet, you haven’t wavered this summer.
Not once. Every time I’ve needed you, or disappointed you, or hurt you these past few months, you’ve been here.
There should be more changes by now. How have you stayed … you?”
Silence met my question. Collith had the look on his face that told me he was considering his next words carefully. As I waited, one of his hands rose absently, trapping my own against his heart.
“I’ve been fighting the darkness inside me for a lifetime, Fortuna.
There are still some things from my past that I haven’t told you about.
Choices that I’m not proud of.” Collith’s eyes darkened, but he didn’t let go of my hand.
He refocused and continued, “Most untethered faeries become goblins because they perceive themselves that way—weak, alone. The rejection from our own kind can drive us mad. But it wasn’t that way for me.
Being severed from my Court only made my mind clearer. ”
“That makes one of us.” The words slipped out of me. I was too comfortable, too drawn to this version of Collith. The one who looked at me so openly, and laid himself bare without a trace of fear. My eyes dropped to Collith’s lips, just for a moment, and then I caught myself and looked away.
But Collith saw.
He made a sound that made my core clench, and then he growled, “Fuck it.”
When I turned to look at him again, he gripped the hair at the back of my head and closed the last breath of distance between us.
I melted into Collith instantly, moaning into his mouth as we consumed each other.
This, I thought distantly, this part of us had always worked.
He tasted as good as I remembered, and the taste of him drove all sense away.
I let my body take over. As I shifted to straddle Collith, sliding my hands beneath his shirt, I exalted at the ridges and strength that greeted my fingertips.
Instinct took hold of Collith, too. He moved with the speed of the fae, and suddenly I was lying on the bed, the bedsheets whispering against my skin.
Still lost in his kiss, I wrapped my legs around Collith and rolled my hips.
He lowered his head to tease and skim my neck while I tugged at his shirt again.
Acquiescing to my silent demand, Collith pulled away to take it off.
I made a satisfied noise and he reclaimed my mouth, making one of his own.
At the same moment I felt Collith reach for the waistband of my shorts, shouts came through the wall over the bed.
The humans were so loud their voices overpowered the movie, which was still playing on the other side of the room.
Collith and I went still at the same time.
We stared silently at each other as the couple next to us argued about who got the last of the blow.
Collith collapsed on top of me with a sound of frustration. Smiling, I raked my fingers up the back of his head. “We always seem to wind up in motels together,” I whispered.
Soft laughter sounded in my ear. Then, with a groan, Collith pushed himself up and rolled away. He bent to retrieve his shirt and stood. As Collith pulled it on, light from the TV shifted over the hard, defined lines of his stomach.
“The truth of the matter is, I want you everywhere,” he said. “But you’re rarely by yourself, and the constant presence of your Court helps me resist you. It just so happens that motel rooms are where we tend to find ourselves alone. Good night, Fortuna.”
“Where are you going?” I blurted, watching Collith walk to the door. He thought he could say something like that and then just … leave?
“Back to my room.” Collith must’ve seen my confusion, because he paused before adding, “Until this is all over, I think there should be some boundaries.”
“Boundaries,” I repeated slowly. “So when you say ‘until this is all over,’ what you really mean is … until Oliver is dead.”
Collith turned in the doorway, one hand on the knob. His eyes were hard. “No. I mean until it’s really me you want,” he said.
I hesitated. “I … I do want you, Collith.”
He searched my expression with an intensity that I hadn’t seen in him for weeks. My body heated, and I felt the slow rise of hope.
At the exact moment Collith opened his mouth to answer, his phone rang.
The sound pierced the stillness, and I jumped, yet my gaze never moved from Collith’s.
He reached into his pocket and sent the caller to voicemail.
Relief whispered through me. I was afraid that if we didn’t finish this conversation now, tonight, it wouldn’t come up again. Not for a long time.
Once again, Collith opened his mouth to speak, and once again, his phone rang.
I felt myself deflate. “You should probably get that.”
Collith’s eyes flickered, and his mouth tightened—he knew I was right.
With obvious reluctance, Collith pulled his phone out and glanced at it.
Whatever he saw made him stiffen, and his reaction sent my pulse racing, too.
Collith touched the screen and brought it to his pointed ear, turning away.
I moved to the end of the bed and rested my elbows on my knees as I waited, pretending to watch the movie.
While Collith spoke to the person on the other end, I thought about the other phone calls.
The ones that always concluded with us walking through a sea of blood and body parts.
But there couldn’t be another scene so soon, I told myself.
Not two in one week. That didn’t fit the pattern, and Oliver had been consistent.
But apparently I didn’t fully believe it, because the moment Collith faced me again, pocketing his phone, I pounced. “Who was that?”
“Dracula,” Collith said.
A chill ran down my spine. In a burst of memory, I remembered that Dracula had come to the homestead a few weeks ago. I’d been in shock after Finn’s death, and Collith had taken care of it. I hadn’t even wondered about it until now. “Why would he be contacting you?” I asked.
Collith’s expression was grim, and his eyes were a shade darker than usual as he answered, “Because we’ve been summoned.”
“Collith.” I spoke more sharply now. “Talk to me. Where are we being summoned?”
There was a note of resigned finality in Collith’s voice. “To a meeting of the Order.”
The alarm on my cell phone went off at 6:50 a.m.
I sat up and rubbed my eyes, surprised that I’d managed to fall asleep again after Collith left. I had tossed and turned for so long that I’d almost given up. Oliver was mostly to blame for the noise in my head last night … but some of it was Collith’s fault, too.
Collith, who was probably waiting for me. Sighing, I dragged myself out of bed and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. Five minutes later, I stepped out of the motel room and found Collith leaning on the wall outside the door.
“Good morning,” he said. It was a habit he’d picked up from Emma.
“Good morning,” I said automatically, giving Collith a swift appraisal. He didn’t look tired, but there was the slightest wrinkle to his clothes, which were still the same as yesterday’s. He could’ve sifted home to shower and change, I thought, trying not to frown. Why hadn’t he?
In an instant, I knew the answer—Collith hadn’t wanted to leave me.
“No dreams?” he asked, completely oblivious to the way I couldn’t seem to stop looking at him.
I shook my head. “Not this time.”
“Good. You needed the rest.”