Page 14 of A Kiss from the Fae (Mistress of Magic #2)

‘What a bitch.’ Annie poured a whole bottle of red wine into three enormous glasses and handed one to Susie and one to Faye.

‘Which one?’ Faye rolled her eyes and took her glass.

‘Yeah, well. The friend, I guess ye could say she was only lookin’ out for Rav. But the ex-girlfriend? She’s obviously jealous. Probably still has feelings for the guy, the sleekit hussy,’ Annie added before taking a large gulp.

‘You’ve got to wait for it to breathe, you heathen.

’ Susie laughed and swirled her wine around her glass.

‘Just as well I bought these big ones before you moved in,’ she said, raising her eyebrow at Faye.

‘You’ve probably gone teetotal without this one around, I expect,’ she added, smiling.

‘It’s so good to see you again, Faye. It’s been forever. ’

‘You too. I’m so glad you two found each other again. She never stopped going on about you, Susie.’ Faye clinked her glass against theirs. ‘To old friends and new love.’

An evening in Annie and Susie’s quietly luxurious, comfortable flat was just the respite Faye needed after last week’s night out with Rav’s friends.

They’d stayed out much later than she expected, going to another late bar and then out for food into the early hours.

For the whole night, Faye had felt the foggy, malicious presence of London encircle her unpleasantly.

She’d made herself smile and be pleasant, asked questions and laughed at jokes that she didn’t think were funny and listened to long music business conversations that she didn’t understand, but by the time they got back to Rav’s flat at four in the morning, she was so exhausted that she woke up the next morning with a pounding headache.

‘Aye, shut up, Faye.’ Annie blushed. ‘I wasn’t always talkin’ aboot her. Ye make it sound like I was some lovesick hare, gazin’ at the moon.’

‘Near enough.’ Faye grinned, taking a sip of the wine.

It was lovely being with Annie again, and Susie was as adorable as Faye remembered; they’d been an item years before, but the long distance hadn’t worked out at the time.

Susie was short, with a platinum blonde bob she wore straight for her work as a solicitor; tonight, it was in slightly uneven pigtails.

She was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt with an obscure computer game reference, with a pink cardigan over the top and large gold hoop earrings with her name inside them in looping gold script.

Annie gave Faye an affectionate stare, pretending to be outraged.

‘ Faye ,’ Annie rolled her eyes at her best friend, ‘dinnae give away all my secrets, sweetheart. Or I’ll be forced to tell the story of how ye wet yerself on stage at the school assembly.’

‘What? That’s not a story. Don’t make things up to show off in front of your new girlfriend,’ Faye chided. ‘And I didn’t wet myself!’

‘Don’t embarrass the girl.’ Susie smiled knowingly at Faye. ‘Luckily for Annie, I always held a bit of a candle for her, too. Must have been divine providence that got her a job in London, that’s all I can say. I thought I’d lost her to Abercolme forever.’

‘Aye, well. Coven of Love made me an offer too good to refuse.’ Annie stirred a pot of pasta on the hob and lifted the lid on a delicious-smelling sauce.

‘It was good! You’re a lead character. Though I have to say, that set does need some updating,’ Faye said, frowning when she thought of the clichéd décor.

‘Aye.’ Annie held out the wooden spoon she’d stirred the pot with for Susie to taste. ‘It’s a good show, but some of the storylines are ridiculous.’

Faye raised an eyebrow but said nothing – her real life had been pretty ridiculous of late, after all.

‘More salt.’ Susie reached past Annie to get something from the fridge, and Faye watched them with a sudden yearning.

They seemed so happy together. Perhaps this was what she and Rav looked like from the outside, too.

But Faye was aware that the comfortable delight that Annie and Susie took in these everyday parts of their life together – cooking, talking about their day at work, entertaining friends – eluded her and Rav.

There was a closeness between Annie and Susie that was absent between her and Rav despite their passion.

Too much unresolved pain hung between them, and she didn’t know how to help Rav and herself move on.

‘You’re quiet.’ Annie spooned the pasta into the sauce, added some of the pasta’s cooking water into the pan, then spooned generous mounds onto three plates. Susie followed behind her, drizzling olive oil and grinding pepper onto each plate before bringing them to the table.

‘Oh, it’s nothing,’ Faye lied, tasting the pasta. ‘Mmmm! Annie, your cooking has definitely improved.’

‘Hmmm.’ Annie waved her fork at Faye as she ate. ‘Nae bad. So, is Rav still really sufferin’? From bein’ in the faerie realm?’ She shook her head. ‘Ye wouldnae get me tae go there after what I know now, aye.’

‘It’s going to take a long time.’ Faye sighed.

‘And I understand that he wants to move on, forget about it, live a normal life, you know? I really do. But I’m not going to lie.

What does that make me look like in front of his friends?

And is forgetting really the best thing to do? I don’t know if it is.’

‘It’s different for you. Ye’re half a fae yerself. Remember that Rav isnae.’ Annie reached for the cheese and grated some onto her meal.

‘Exactly. It’s half of me. It’s part of who I am, right?

So I can’t forget it. And I don’t want to.

If he does, does it really make sense to be with me, a constant reminder of what happened to him?

’ She appealed to Annie who shrugged. ‘There’s going to come a day when he doesn’t want to be reminded of Murias any more. What happens to us then?’

Annie knew the whole story, but Faye hadn’t told her about the bargain with Levantiana, either.

She’d merely said, I managed to rescue Rav , and, The faeries came when I needed them, the night of the concert .

She’d let Annie make her own conclusions after that.

She’d never kept anything from Annie before, and she hated herself for it.

Why not tell Annie about the faerie bargain now? Faye steeled herself. She’d been afraid of a rebuke, of Annie’s disapproval, but she knew her friend would help her. You can tell her now. Just open your mouth and tell her. It’ll be okay.

She felt the words cluster in her throat, but rather than finding it easy to talk to Annie, to tell her anything as she always had done, they choked her. No. You cannot tell , Levantiana’s voice echoed in her ear. I forbade it as part of the bargain.

Faye shook her head; it was just her imagination, surely.

She tried again, suddenly anxious she should tell Annie, but the same thing happened: her throat felt like it closed up, and she started a coughing fit.

The harder she tried to get the words out, the worse the coughing got; like faerie hands around her throat, she was being denied air.

Or being drowned. Black spots swam in front of her eyes.

Faye’s eyelids fluttered closed, and she saw Levantiana’s face with its strange, intense beauty.

Faye watched her lips move. You will keep your word as I kept mine.

Leave me alone! Please! Faye screamed inside her mind. She was far too disoriented to be able to use any witchcraft to defend herself from the faerie queen; the protection sigil she’d been keeping in her pocket was in her coat, thrown over the sofa in the next room.

Don’t make me think I can’t trust you, Faye Morgan. Levantiana’s head tilted to one side as she watched Faye choking; her expression was dispassionate, calm. Faye gasped for breath.

You can trust me, I won’t tell, please! Faye appealed in desperation as she started to lose consciousness. She was dimly aware of Annie slapping her on the back, of Susie saying something, Is she choking? What is it? Should we call an ambulance?

So be it. But I will be watching . Levantiana’s face disappeared and the drowning sensation lessened immediately. Faye slumped onto the table, heaving in huge gulps of air. Gradually, she felt herself return to normal.

‘What the hell was that? Are you all right, Faye?’ Susie helped her sit up and handed her a glass of water. ‘Here. Drink it carefully. Did you choke?’

Faye shook her head and heaved in a deep breath.

‘I…I don’t know what happened. Sorry.’

‘Ye dinnae need tae apologise, daftie!’ Annie laughed nervously. ‘Ah thought ye were a goner for a second there.’

‘I’m okay.’ Faye cleared her throat. ‘Something went down the wrong way, that’s all.’

Annie gave her a searching look. She knew something was up. Faye could tell; they knew each other far too well. She avoided Annie’s eyes.

‘You’d tell me if somethin’ was wrong, wouldn’t ye, darlin’? No secrets between us, aye?’ Annie stared at her with a strange expression on her face. It wasn’t distrust, but something near to it.

‘Leave her alone, Annie. She just choked, that’s all.’ Susie put a protective arm around Faye’s shoulders. ‘Faye wouldn’t keep any secrets from you. You’re like sisters. Let her get her breath back.’

‘Aye, all right,’ Annie agreed, but Faye still avoided her eyes.