CHAPTER THREE #3
And ever since Finn had died, I’d been asking myself the question over and over—would he still be alive if Mercy Wardwell had come?
Out loud I said, “Actually, that was just something my dad said.”
Savannah must’ve told her about it, I thought sourly.
As usual, Mercy seemed to know exactly what was going through my head.
The gleam of amusement in her eyes was nearly identical to Wichonne’s as she replied, “Well met, Lady Sworn. Let us hope tonight’s proceedings aren’t quite so …
lively as the other events you’ve attended. ”
Just as I started to respond, Collith shifted, and his arm brushed subtly against mine. Once again I bit back what I actually wanted to say and forced a tight smile. “Let’s hope.”
Mercy’s lips were still curved in a faint smile as the witches moved toward the table.
Desperate for a distraction, I turned to search the other rooms again.
But someone else appeared in the doorway, blocking my view of whoever might be standing beyond it.
He had blue-tipped dark hair and swords crisscrossed over his back.
No, I thought when I noted the long grips.
Those weren’t swords—they were katanas. Somehow the male’s black leather clothes didn’t make a sound as he walked.
His dark gaze met mine, and he looked at me for a single beat before his face turned away. I knew I’d been thoroughly dismissed.
“Who is that?” I asked under my breath.
Laurie followed my gaze toward the newcomer. The warrior was moving over to the table now, but he didn’t look in our direction again. A female stuck to his side, her hand resting on the hilt of the katana at her hip.
“That’s Katashi Nakamura,” Laurie said. “He speaks for the kitsunes. And that’s his Second, Yaeko. She’s one of the best fighters in the world.”
There was nothing in his voice to hint at distaste, but I got the sense Laurie wasn’t the kitsunes’ biggest fan. “Even better than you?” I asked, putting my back to them.
He started to answer just as Honey returned with more arrivals.
A towering, barrel-chested male stood beside a slightly shorter female.
The air around her was so thick with power that I didn’t question for a moment which of the two of them was the ruler.
I couldn’t pinpoint their species, though.
The female had short, black hair with blunt ends, and the piercings on her face glinted—her nose, her eyebrow, her chin.
Her leather boots creaked as she circled the table and plopped into one of the seats.
When she sat back, her jacket opened, and I caught a glimpse of what she wore beneath it.
The female’s T-shirt had a picture of a smiley face that was flicking everyone off.
Her voice was raspy as she said, “So it’s true what they say.”
This again. I raised my gaze, already knowing she’d be looking back at me. “They say a lot of things. You’ll have to narrow it down for me,” I answered.
She inclined her head, and her mascara-lined eyes moved down my body. “One of my wolves described a blond with big tits. Since you’re neither, the rumors about your kind must be true.”
“Lady Sworn, may I present the Matron of Wolves?” Collith said. “This is Anna Tombs.”
My eyebrows rose.
“You were expecting an old crone?” she asked with a smirk. “I believe Wichonne over there has already got that covered.”
“I heard that,” the Mother of Witches called from the other side of the table.
“Good,” Anna called back. She refocused on me and added, “Cora speaks highly of you.”
The mention of Cora immediately made me feel lighter. I hadn’t checked in with my young friend for a while. I smiled at the Matron of Wolves and asked, “How is she?”
“Coming into her own,” Anna answered. She raised her eyebrows, and one of the silver hoops in her skin glinted. “Thanks to you, it seems.”
“That’s all her, actually,” I said, my smile growing.
Anna looked at me as if I’d done something she hadn’t expected. After a moment, she turned to the huge, silent figure standing behind her chair and smacked his stomach with the back of her hand. “This is my—”
The water in the center of the room pulled back as if someone had suddenly placed a drain in the ocean. I spun, already reaching for a weapon that wasn’t there. My eyes widened as a figure hauled himself out of the hole.
Not a fountain then, I thought dimly.
Our latest arrival was completely naked, every inch of him made of hard muscle. He straightened and scraped his golden-brown hair back, his enormous cock swinging back and forth as he got to his feet.
No one seemed taken aback by the male’s nudity. Another human-looking attendant rushed forward to offer a blue robe, and the male exuded boredom as he pulled it on, securing a lazy knot at his waist. He scanned the people who had gathered so far. His blue eyes landed on me and stayed there.
“Arriving with a faerie king on each arm. Who is this creature that she can enter our chamber with such arrogance?” the male asked, studying me more closely.
He didn’t look bored anymore. Behind him, someone else was coming out of the water—a second naked male with gills in his throat and a perfectly chiseled physique.
Before I could respond, a new voice floated through the room. The sultry tones dripped with amusement. “You’ve been swimming with the fish too long, Your Majesty, if you don’t know who Fortuna Sworn is. She’s had the shadow world buzzing for the past year.”
I’d know that voice anywhere. Already smiling, I turned to face Viessa Folduin, Queen of the Unseelie Court, who had, somehow, become one of my best friends over these past few months.
Nuvian stood at her side, of course. I’d seen him a lot, too, but our relationship hadn’t improved over time.
Nuvian and I would never like each other, and that was fine with both of us. Viessa didn’t give a shit, either.
Like the rest of my family, the Ice Queen seemed to have a sixth sense for the moments I was unraveling.
She’d appear on a Friday night, only giving me five minutes to get ready before she whisked me away to some club on the other side of the world, where she dragged me beneath the strobe lights and forced me to remember the good parts of being alive.
I may not have approved of Viessa’s choice in bedmates, but that was none of my business, and I had my own history of questionable choices in that department. We had something else in common, too. A secret that I’d put together in pieces, the more I’d gotten to know her.
The Ice Queen was just as lonely as I was.
When we were together, we weren’t rulers or power players. There was no chessboard beneath us as we drank cocktails and laughed at the human antics happening around us. We were just … Viessa and Fortuna.
I knew we both valued our strange friendship, and that was why neither of us tried to be strategic now, even though it might’ve been in our best interests.
We ignored the press of watching eyes as Viessa’s arms wound around me briefly.
I hugged her back, ignoring my usual instinct to avoid touch.
For an instant, I felt the slightest whisper of ice on my skin, and the flavor of her fears skittered over my tongue.
We pulled away at the same time, giving each other small, secret smiles. Then Viessa nodded at the male still standing nearby, who was obviously waiting for an introduction. “Fortuna, this is Alexander of House N?rg?rd. He’s one of the water nymph kings,” she said.
“One of them?” I echoed, startled. “How many are there?”
Alexander’s blue eyes drank me in like I was a shot of tequila after a long, terrible day.
“There are seven, my lady. One for each sea. We draw sticks every time there’s one of these meetings, and I drew the short one today.
Or at least, I thought I did. May I just say, I wouldn’t hesitate to give up my throne if you asked it of me. ”
I just gave him an empty stare. “Why the hell would I want a throne? Been there, done that.”
“She has fire, as well as beauty,” the nymph replied with a laugh. “No wonder there are so many kneeling at your altar, Lady Sworn.”
His companion didn’t seem nearly as taken with me. The second water nymph glared in my direction with contempt in his eyes. I was about to respond when Laurie tilted his head, that infamous silver hair glinting as he said, “I suggest you stop looking at her that way, fish boy.”
I wasn’t certain which male he was talking to until Alexander’s eyebrows rose. “Why?”
“Because I know at least a thousand good places to hide a dead body,” Laurie deadpanned. Alexander’s amused expression didn’t change, but his companion’s nostrils flared with outrage.
“Pardon my friends. They’re themselves today,” I interjected, giving the Seelie King a look that said, I can handle this, thanks. He just looked back with a light in his eyes that made me realize how much I had missed him during the months we’d been apart.
I drew my attention back to the water nymph king, who looked like he hadn’t missed a thing. He glanced between us with an inscrutable expression before he focused on Laurie. When he spoke, the humor in his voice was gone. “You don’t frighten me, Pointy Ears.”
At this, something dark and primal rose within my body. “Do not,” I said quietly, “threaten him.”
The air shifted as my power swelled, and everyone must’ve felt it, because the low conversations around us went quiet once more.
“Easy, cousin,” Alexander murmured. He had placed a restraining hand on his companion’s chest, but he didn’t take his attention off me. His eyes flicked between mine, and his voice was full of wonder as he asked, “What are you?”
I looked back at him coolly. “Out of your league.”
“Shall we sit?” Collith suggested abruptly, gesturing toward the table.