Page 137

“She’s young.” The woman hissed in disgust.

“Yes, my queen.” Rain answered, landing on her shoulder. “But she is powerful.”

The woman sighed and leaned in.

Alessandro had had enough. He placed his hand over Rowan’s mouth a moment before the woman’s kiss could land and pulled her back into his chest.

“Mine.”He snarled.

The woman turned her eyes up to him as if registering he was there for the first time. “Dragon King, it’s been ages!”

“Why are you here, Titania? You’re already falling apart.” He demanded and Rowan noticed with a shock that the woman was indeed falling apart as an ear tumbled from her head, transforming into a pile of leaves on the floor.

A substitution spell combined with projection?

“I am here to deliver Favor.”

Favor from any of the Fae was an invitation to visit Faerie.

Dew had told them once that she intended to apply a favor with the queen so that one day they could visit her home. Emotion swelled up in Rowan’s throat as she pictured Dew leading her by the hand into Faerie rather than just by memory.

“There are other ways to deliver favor.” Alessandro ran a hand down Rowan’s arm and pointed at her wrist. “This is the only area I give you permission to place your lips.”

Rowan bristled at the insinuation that he had a right to speak for her before her mate mark emitted a prickly sensation over her chest.

“Your lips are mine. And mine alone.” Alessandro hissed in her head.

“Considering they’re on my face, I feel like I should get more of a say on what I do with them!” She hissed back.

“Kiss her and I’ll run her through. Would you like to be the catalyst of a war between Faerie and this realm?”

Rowan rocked her foot back and stepped on his shoe. “You’re making me want to do it more. She looks like just my type, dark hair and gorgeous eyes.”

He let out a growl of displeasure. “I can stop a kiss of death on your hand. Your lips are another story.”

“Kiss of death?”

“It’s what she’s known for.”

“You could’ve started with that.”

“You could’ve just trusted me.”

There was no way he was pouting, right?

She snuck a glance up and, though his face was placid, his eyes were rolling with red shards of light.

Remembering that he had a whole beast he was constantly fighting for control of his body over, Rowan smiled at the woman.

“I’m sure you understand.”

The green eyes ran through Rowan and a tendril of foreign magic sliced through her in a painful slash over her stomach. It pissed Titania off, but she didn’t argue, simply brushed her lips over the thin layer of skin.

Magic pulsed to life on the point she’d touched. Rowan blinked down at the dark mark that reminded her of a keyhole.

“Pass through any fairy circle to find us, young one. It’ll only work once.” Rain waved from her queen’s shoulder. “Dew cherishes you.”

The last words were a whisper on the wind as both bodies turned to a pile of leaves at Rowan’s feet.