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The Crossing—and the Spit, by extension, was essentially a land bridge. A long, narrow strip of land that connected the two larger parts of the continent. In Annwyn, it was an abandoned, desolate stretch of land. On the elemental side, soldiers from Baylaur manned Skywatch. Across the Spit, at Outpost, terrestrials sent from Wolf Bay glared back. The Spit was the only truly neutral spot in all of Annwyn.

But in the human realm, it had been transformed into something else entirely. I couldn’t see the water on either side in the dark, but occasionally I heard the splash of waves. The festival booths lined either side of the Crossing, offering everything from food to games and what appeared to be magical items stolen from Annwyn.

Humans were mad for fae-made treasures.

Like those human’s in the Shadow Wood, the ones Guinevere had wanted to torture. The one’s I’d beheaded and felt not a drop of guilt for. I still felt none. But I did wonder… would they have ended up here, mourning in the moonlight with the rest of humankind?

Veyka wove between the humans casually, like she was meant to be there. I kept one hand on her hip at all times. I wasn’t letting her drift away from me, not even a single human was allowed to come between us. It would be far too easy for someone to slip a knife between her ribs as it was.

“You’re glowering again,” Veyka said over her shoulder.

“Just because the humans are drenched in paint does not make them any less dangerous.”

Ifelther roll her eyes.

She looked so damn perfect, her eyes still ringed with glowing bright blue lust, her lips bowed into a smile, her curves peeking through the cloak. Knowing I was the only one who truly knew the extent of those curves, that I could slip my hands beneath that thick fabric and touch them…

Fuck it.

I leaned down and took her mouth. Veyka’s lips parted in surprise, and I was able to capture the lower one between my teeth, sucking it into my mouth. Then I sucked on her tongue, until she was as deep inside me as she could get. She whimpered—not from pain. I knew all her sounds. I knew if I slid my hand between her legs, I’d find her pussy already dripping for me.

Someone jostled into us—a man. Drunk, laughing. Not laughing when he saw who—or what—he’d bumped into.

I didn’t say a word. I let a smile climb my face—the one I’d given so many opponents right before I spilled their lifeblood across the ground.

Veyka erupted in laughter, dragging me past him and further into the throng of humans. “Now you’re getting the feel for it. Let’senjoyourselves.”

50

ARRAN

Ididenjoy myself.

Despite the constant threat of the humans realizing who walked among them, I enjoyed the festival. The food was delicious. The music was… tolerable. And my mate was shining.

Even with her bright, beautiful hair covered in a thick cloak, her body hidden by the same, her face shone with delight. As the hours passed, she lit from the inside. Like a star had awoken inside of her and was working its way out. I wondered if anyone else could see it. But none of the humans paid us any attention.

At least, no more attention than the other fae.

I’d counted a dozen in total. Two males early on, a group of young elemental females who looked like sisters and clearly had snuck into the human realm without their parents’ permission, a few individuals. A family with a child. That was good—it meant that Osheen, Cyara, and Maisri were likely moving unhindered through the crowd.

We hadn’t seen any of our companions. We had no choice but to believe that all was well—we were not supposed to reassemble until we left the festival on the other side of the Crossing.

But the main reason no one noticed us was because their attention was distracted by everything else happening. Humans with musical instruments of every shape and size played—some individuals, some in groups, all with cases open collecting bits of gold and other novelties as payment.

The humans painted each other, painted themselves, had even taken to painting the lampposts. I wondered briefly if they’d been erected specifically for the festival… if they’d remain long after this nonsense ended.

When would this nonsense end? How?

When the nightwalkers finally overwhelmed them?

No one here was sleeping; for another night, the humans on the Crossing were safe.

I watched Veyka, who watched a performance on a raised stage that stood in the place that three booths would have occupied.

Maybe it was my imagination. Maybe it was just my love for her that lit her like this.

I tightened my hand on her hip, holding her a little closer. She leaned into me. My chest constricted painfully, even as the mating bond hummed in satisfaction.