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I sighed. "I know that already. He is a liaison. It doesn’t mean he agrees with everything they do."

"Please listen to me. That man is poison."

I couldn’t reconcile Forrest’s account with the easygoing man I had been getting to know—the one that smiled and laughed often. Hawthorne had helped me at every turn.

I started to pull away from Forrest, but I stumbled. The faerie cordials I had imbibed seemed to only be growing in strength, and the crowd around us felt like a blur.

The Fae King caught me, and I allowed myself to be reeled back into his embrace. Still, I wasn’t happy about it. By the third time I stepped on his foot, he grimaced in pain. I couldn’t help but smile. Stupid frog.

Just when I thought it wasn’t possible, he drew me closer still. He kissed and nipped his way up my neck until he reached my ear and purred, "Georgia, are you angry with me?"

Everywhere he touched burned, and I longed to press myself up against the full heat of his body. Instead, I smiled for all the room to see and hissed into his ear, "Seething."

He pulled back ever so slightly. "What? Why? Is this about Hawthorne?"

It was the cordial that had loosened my lips enough to allow me to whisper, "No, you idiot. It’s because you let me believe we had something real."

He gazed down at me fiercely. "We do have something real."

I frowned. "I want to believe you, but you’ve already fooled me once."

He wrapped his arms around me protectively and unfurled his beautiful wings. A soft sigh escaped my lips unbidden.

"May I?" he asked.

I nodded.

All eyes turned to us as he swept me into a brief but beautiful twirl and then lifted us higher and higher into the sky. "Hold on tight," he whispered.

He flew us over the heads of the partygoers, and with the cordial running through my veins, I felt no fear of the height whatsoever. Instead, I gazed at the pretty blurred lights and mesmerizing movement of the circle below. He flew us outside of the courtyard and landed us by a nearby pond.

Pink water lilies floated serenely across the surface. It felt fitting to be here. It reminded me of that first night we had met. When things had looked so promising.

He tilted my chin up, so that I was gazing into his intense, penetrating green eyes. Then he placed one of my hands on his chest, so that I could feel the steady, rhythmic beat of his heart.

I bit my lip uncertainly.

"Georgia." He whispered my name like an answer, like a prayer. "Maybe I am a fool to admit it, but my heart has never beat like this for another. My feelings are real, and if you wish it, our marriage can be real too." He paused for a moment. "I will gladly give you my forever. But if you’re not ready or if you don’t feel the same way, I will understand. I’ll take whatever you give me—moments, years, or a lifetime."

He could omit. He could deceive. But he couldn’t lie.

He had offered me forever. My heart fluttered. Blaming it on the drinks, I let him hold me close.

We stood like that for a long time before returning to the party.

CHAPTER 33

The Fae King

Something felt different, lighter.

When I returned to my room, I opened my tunic and stared down at my chest. The little black dots that had circled my heart for so long had vanished, leaving creamy, smooth skin behind.

Over the last few weeks, I had noticed them slowly fading away.

Georgia hadn’t healed my soul rot, but she had shown me that I could.

When I was first cursed, I wasn’t that worried. I thought surely it would be easily lifted. Oh, how wrong I had been! Over the course of a decade, I had consulted ancient texts, witches, and healers. No one had been able to help me.