Page 37 of A Kiss from the Fae (Mistress of Magic #2)

Faye didn’t remember being carried back to Finn’s quarters or laid out on his bed. All she saw in her feverish dreams was Gabriel’s body, striped with lines of blood, and bruising at his wrists where they were cuffed to the wall.

Yet, in her dreams, Gabriel’s eyes met hers with a mixture of pain and desire as Levantiana knelt naked in front of him and took his engorged cock into her mouth.

He groaned, the blood dripping into his eyes as Levantiana licked his rock-hard member from root to tip, her eyes never leaving Faye’s.

And then, as Faye watched in horror, took his balls in her long-fingered hand with its razor-sharp black nails and squeezed, digging the nails in until they drew blood and he bellowed in pain.

Gabriel’s words back in the shop echoed in Faye’s confused memory: What life is this, here with these dusty old books? Better a life lived. And Faye, in her dream, tried to reach out for him, to release him from his bonds, but he turned his head away. No, no. I am hers.

Faye was dimly aware that light faerie hands raised her body up and trickled faerie wine down her throat; that they washed her and dressed her; but she had no awareness of time passing.

She was lost in a dream, walking the corridors of the castle of Murias, searching for Aisha and Gabriel, calling their names.

Yet, in her fever, every doorway in the corridor opened onto a cliff edge with a drop that yawned under her, or a wall of black water in which large, indistinct shapes moved – shadows within a darkness that made fear flick its tail in her belly.

She could feel consciousness tugging at her; light suffused one end of the corridor, and she walked towards it.

Yet, just before she walked into the light, her perception changed, and she saw the castle for a moment as if it was made of glass.

She could see everything: the levels indexed like cards in a box; the contents of each room; the secrets of the castle laid bare.

And in that moment, she saw the dungeon that she was searching for, closer than she’d expected.

She awoke with Aisha’s name on her lips and found Finn sitting next to her on the bed. Seeing her open her eyes, he placed his warm hand on her brow.

‘You’re cooling down. That’s good.’ He propped her up on pillows and lifted a cup to her lips. ‘Here. Drink this.’

Expecting it to be faerie wine, Faye turned her head away, but Finn tipped it up to her lips, making her drink. ‘It’s just water. Drink it.’

She drank and felt herself slowly return to her body.

‘It is the human part of you that is suffering,’ he said, kissing her cheek softly. ‘You have been here too long, enjoying our pleasures, sidhe-leth . Perhaps it is time for you to return home for a time. To recover fully.’

Faye closed her eyes and sipped at the water again. There was nothing more she wanted than to return to the ordinary world, but she’d awoken with the knowledge of where Aisha was. She couldn’t return to the ordinary world and leave her here. Or Gabriel.

‘I…I’ll be all right. I want to stay,’ she lied, although every fibre of her being cried out for home. She reached for him and kissed him, though her stomach lurched when she did so. ‘I would miss you too much.’

Finn returned her kiss, and she felt him respond to her immediately.

His ardour knew no end, like the waves on the ocean that rolled continually.

She found it galling that he should think nothing of trying to make love to her when she was so obviously unwell, and pulled away from his touch.

He looked annoyed, and the sullen snarl she remembered returned to his full-lipped mouth.

‘Clearly not enough,’ he remarked pointedly.

‘Let me recover, my love.’ Faye laid back against the pillows and took a deep breath. She didn’t know if she had it in her to try and get to Aisha one more time, but she had to try. Both she and Gabriel were in terrible danger.

‘Fine. My sister tells me that she found you wandering the hallways.’ Finn gave her a suspicious look. ‘You will not find your mother here in spirit, if that is who you seek. She resides far from the castle, and has been told to stay there. You know this.’

‘No. I was not looking for her,’ Faye said truthfully.

She knew that her mother resided somewhere in Murias, having made a bargain to come here after she died.

Though now, she wondered if Moddie could be enlisted to help her.

‘I was…I needed some air. We have been rather confined to these rooms since I returned,’ she said, again, not untruthfully.

Since she had come back to Murias, she and Finn had done nothing but have sex for days.

‘Hmm. What would you have me do while I wait for your recovery?’ He was like a child: spoilt and sulky.

Faye smiled so that her face wouldn’t show her disdain for his immaturity.

She thought fast. There was one way, perhaps, to ensure that Murias could be distracted enough for her to try to get to Aisha and Gabriel.

‘Perhaps a ball would cheer me up, my love?’ she suggested, injecting all the warmth she could into her voice. ‘In a few hours I should have recovered sufficiently to dance.’

Faye doubted that she’d feel up to dancing later, but if Finn was deep into the crowd, and she sat out for a dance or two, then perhaps she could sneak away to find Aisha and Gabriel.

She’d seen it, the place where Aisha was kept.

If her vision had been correct, then Aisha was being held in a room not that far from Levantiana’s quarters.

She’d been closer than she knew when Levantiana had found her.

If she hadn’t been so sick, perhaps she would have found Aisha.

What is this sickness? A voice in her mind needled at her.

Is it the effect of Murias, or was Levantiana right?

Am I pregnant? But Faye refused to believe it.

She’d been feverish; pregnancy didn’t give you a fever.

Levantiana was wrong. She was playing you for some reason , she told herself, though she couldn’t think of a reason why Levantiana would lie.

Faeries lie. Perhaps there was no reason; it was just their nature.

Finn obviously didn’t pick up on her duplicity. Perhaps it was his pleasure in the idea of a ball that distracted him, but in any event, Faye was grateful when he smiled and the spoilt child disappeared.

‘A ball. Yes! An excellent idea,’ Finn cried and clapped his hands.

Five faerie servants appeared, and he fired instructions at them.

A fine gown and jewels for my lady. My grandest attire.

Food, drink, music! You know what to do , he ordered as Faye felt herself slipping under the cover of sleep again.

She felt him come to the bed again when they had gone and caress her breast. Yet, to Faye’s surprise, he pulled back the bedcovers and picked her up gently, carrying her to the bathroom where the palatial sunken bath was already full of rose- and neroli-scented water; rose petals floated on the surface of the water.

Even more gently, Finn lowered her into the warm water, making sure she was comfortable, took up a sea sponge and began washing her with slow, hypnotic movements.

She made herself lie back against Finn’s strong arm. She couldn’t show any sign of her duplicity.

‘We must make you presentable for the ball,’ Finn murmured as he wrung the sponge over Faye’s head, soaking her auburn hair and rendering it wetly black.

Faye gasped in surprise, but Finn merely smiled and repeated the soaking.

‘I like you drenched.’ He smiled again, his ocean-blue eyes dancing in amusement.

Finn’s warm, wide hand circled the sponge over Faye’s breasts and shoulders, caressing them gently.

She fought the responsive warmth in her abdomen at his touch.

As if knowing her arousal, he continued his slow circling.

Finn wore the soft blue trousers and robe he often did, and taking his arm away from her for a moment, he pulled off the robe so that he was bare-chested.

The oil-scented water glimmered in the light of hundreds of white candles that unseen hands had lit before Finn carried her into the room.

‘Now, where was I?’ He smiled knowingly as he took a bottle from the side of the bath and poured something from inside it into his wide, cupped hand.

Faye smelled rose with an underlying tang of bitterness as Finn stroked the oil over her shoulders and breasts.

‘Close your eyes,’ he ordered, and when she did, Faye felt Finn’s oiled fingers massaging gentle circles on her cheeks, temples and forehead.

Finn’s fingers made their way onto her scalp, massaging the oil into her hair and her head.

‘Does that feel good?’ His voice caressed her as gently as his hands.

She nodded, fighting to retain her composure. Lyr’s crystal was hidden in one of her slippers under Finn’s expansive bed, and without it – sunk in water, as she was, Finn’s element–she could feel herself slipping back under his spell. No, No! She closed her eyes and steeled her will against his.

‘More?’ His tone was gently teasing, but she opened her eyes and pulled away from his touch.

‘I’m a little tired,’ she said, not meeting his eyes. ‘Perhaps you shouldn’t tire me further ahead of the ball.’

Finn sat back on his heels and regarded her coolly for a moment, but then got up from his knees.

‘As you wish. I forget you are half human. Even a sidhe-leth cannot keep up with the desires of a faerie king.’ He smiled somewhat smugly, obviously proud of his powers of endurance. ‘I forget myself.’

Faye kept the smile fixed on her face until he’d left, when her expression became watchful. She knew what she had to do, but she was terrified.