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The old me would have fallen hard for her. She’s fierce and opinionated—not at all like I expected her to be. Despite my better judgment, her fresh, cinnamon-y scent fills places inside me I thought were dead forever.

In another life, I would have woken her with an impish kiss, eager to test the limits of her mortal body and hear her cries of pleasure. I would have taken her to see the wonders of my realm and watched her reaction to their beauty. Weaved her a perfect life and made all her dreams come true just to see her smile.

Oblivious to my presence, she sleeps. Her chest rises and falls, and just looking at her calms the storm in my heart. So beautiful. I would sell my blood, body, and soul to sleep soundly again, and even more to do so with her nestled in my arms.

I brush a white-blond strand of hair away from her eyes and wonder what she dreams about, but that’s for her to know, and for Two to find out. The only thing I can do for her as I am now is spare her the nightmares.

Chapter 13

First Trial

“Wake up, kitten,” a hungry voice murmurs in my ear.

I jolt awake and open my mouth to scream, but One smothers the high-pitched shriek with his palm. The heat of his body radiates through his thick black clothes, and my fear melts, my mind crumbling back into place.

The dark Fae is sprawled over me on the bed, so our faces are inches apart. His black uniform swallows the dim light piercing through the curtains. It’s been twelve days since I last saw him, and my faulty memory didn’t do him justice. The details of our conversations and all the facts I couldn’t recall about Faerie stumble back into place now that he’s here.

“How did you get in?” I ask, regretting the question as soon as I hear it.

He does me the courtesy of overlooking my fumble, the answer as plain as can be. He walked in. Because he could.

“Did you enjoy your vacation?” he asks instead.

“Yes and no.” I press my lips together, searching for the right way to bring this up. “I couldn’t recall the details of what had happened in Faerie. Like you’d put a spell on me…”

I watch for his reaction, and he slides even closer. “You haven’t taken your vows, yet, so I might have put a small enchantment on you. For the safety of the realm.”

I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear and hug the covers to my chest, wondering how I feel about that, but my brain is stuck on more pressing matters. One’s breaths are uneven, and he doesn’t look in a hurry to give me space.

It’s so scandalous to have a man here, in my bedroom. It’s completely forbidden, and yet One just strolled in with no regards for the rules. If rumors of a failed engagement with Isaac damaged my reputation, I can’t imagine what would happen if the servants caught a glimpse of him in here.

A dark Fae in my bed... The images that come to mind dispense a healthy dose of adrenaline in my veins.

“Well… Leave so I can change.” I shoo him away with a coarse whisper.

“You can change in Faerie.” He grips the covers and yanks them off the bed with his tongue tucked between his teeth, daring me to follow him.

Startled, I jump to my feet and hold an arm across my breasts. “I’m not going downstairs dressed like this.”

He opens the bedroom door wide, unfazed. “Just use your magic.”

I catch up with him near the grand staircase. The windows above the mezzanine bathe the halls with light.

“See? There’s no shadow.”

He points to the thin shadow of the banister. “Shadows are everywhere, and eventually, you’ll be able to create your own. Until then, you just have to crawl inside of the ones that are already there.”

I check the corridor, but Esme’s and Cece’s bedroom doors are still shut. Concentrating on the small patches of darkness, I glide across the marble tiles until the skin of my arms prickles the way it does when I sneak around the guards at night.

One skips ahead. He jumps from shadow to shadow and avoids the light like we’re children playing a game of “the floor is lava.” How many stories have I read in which a trickster Fae played, teased, and sauntered, leading a young maiden to her doom…

It pains me to admit there was some truth to them.

One runs past the guards at the bottom of the stairs and digs his toes in the ground. “Come on, kitten. You told me yourself it’s not that hard. Show me what you’ve got.”

I’m breathless and scared to be left behind and discovered, so I put my game face on and follow. One grins when I join him on the landing, and my heart hammers, quick as a wild bird. His proximity must boost my magic because I was never able to sneak past the guards during the day before.

Outside in the gardens, heavy rain beats the paving stones, and the guards cowering under the breezeway to stay dry pay us no mind. The thrill almost balances out my dismay at being jostled out of bed in my flimsy cotton nightgown. Almost.