Page 34

“What about the assassin?” Lark interrogates. “You know, the wanker we sent packing off the side of a cliff.”

“I can’t take credit for that imbecile,” Scorpio discards, returning to the members of the table. “Apparently, you failing to get yourself pecked to death disappointed the miserable sod, and he got ambitious on his own. Faeries are impulsive when scorned, especially if theirsovereigns—” he glares at Elixir, then Puck, then me, “—betray them.”

“The firebird Fae attacked us in your name.”

“Well, I’m not going to complain about that. It’s flattering.”

“I did not betray anyone,” I draw out. “None of us did. We’re trying to save our world.”

“By siding with—and fucking—the humans we’re supposed to sacrifice,” the merman sneers. “You’re mated. Repugnant, but I sort of get it. Destiny is hard to flip off.” He jerks his chin toward Puck and Elixir. “What are your excuses, alphas?”

Puck tsks. “My, my, my. Now who said anything about our choices needing excuses?”

“There’s another way,” Juniper petitions.

“Lies,” the merman spews. “Lies you’re telling the pitiful number of followers you’ve converted.”

“As much as we like playing mind games, doing so to accumulate allies isn’t one of those times,” I contradict. “Can you say the same? Because from what I’m hearing, enhancing the raven sounds like a fancy way of saying you manipulated the creature.”

“We’re the ones liberating the fauna,” Scorpio blusters. “You’re the ones putting them in danger by siding with the enemy and causing this internal battle.”

“Is that what you’re telling the Solitaries? Is that how you’re indoctrinating them?”

“They don’t need to be swayed. They’d already been mobilized to the right side by being who they’ve always been. You three were the ones who pissed on our culture, mocked our history, and broke our trust—all for the sake of mortal pussy.” His lip curls. “In that respect, I’m surprised these females are still in one piece. Brittle as paper, they are. Who knew humans could handle being fucked by Faeries?”

“Who knew Faeries couldn’t handle losing to those same humans in a game?” Lark parries with a honeyed grin.

Scorpio glowers at her, then regards me. “Mentally feisty but physically feeble. Do you have to be careful not to shatter a bone while driving your cock into her? Is that part of the kink?”

Fury sets my tongue on edge. “Be. Very. Careful.”

Although the wind shield is still up, Tímien shifts on the branch, putting Scorpio into his line of flight. It’s a reflex more than anything. He knows not to fight my battles, nor Lark’s.

The merman, on the other hand, doesn’t have a fucking clue what’s good for him. Without thinking, he snatches his chalice, takes a deep swig, and sets the vessel down. “Spoken like a Fae who’s buried himself so waist-deep in his whore, he’s lost track of his balls.”

And that’s when he begins to sizzle. Red floods his complexion, and the veins sliding up his throat glow orange like flowing lava.

True, I could have shoved a tempest into his chest and blown him out of the aviary. Or perhaps I could have conjured a batch of sharp quills and hurled them like darts at the merman’s vital organs. The options are numerous.

But I’m not the one doing the damage.

Elixir fills his chair to capacity. His features have tapered in concentration, the wrathful expression fixed in place like a chess piece. A curtain of onyx hair falls around his face as he glowers in the Fae’s direction.

I hear the rush of liquid surging back up the merman’s esophagus, the wine he’d just swallowed backtracking to his trachea, and bubbling to a melting point. The merman rumbles, as though the alcohol is boiling him.

Water in The Deep isn’t the only body of liquid my brother can wield. Moreover, possessing the traits of a serpent has also graced the river ruler with similar abilities.

Truly, Scorpio should have taken Elixir’s reference to the pyre viper more seriously.

Elixir growls, “Apologize.”

“‘The sake of mortal pussy’ and ‘waist-deep in his whore,’” Lark quotes. “So original. I hope you weren’t thinking I’d be insulted, because I’ll tell you what. My pussy’s as gorgeous as my whip and as well-preserved as my backbone.”

When I had told him to be careful, that is precisely what I’d meant. Lark has a tongue that doesn’t require backup. And while I’ll never denigrate her by assuming she needs a shield, neither will I sit back and let her take the brunt alone. Always, we defend each other.

Under the coat, my wings ripple, the plumage ready to spring. I’m about to add my own brand of threat when Elixir repeats, “Apologize to my brother and his mate.”

But when Cove touches his arm and gently squeezes it, a reluctant muscle ticks in Elixir’s jaw. Instantly, Scorpio slumps in his chair. The red hue drains from his skin, the simmering veins traveling up his throat snuff out, and scalded gasps pour from his lungs.