Page 13

Chapter 12

Meera

Falling out a window was a new experience.

My eyes remained closed, and my head throbbed more than it had before, but the king was right. I’d been awake. Right around the time my dress was cut off, as a matter of fact. My eyes had shot open, but the healer wasn’t paying attention to my face, and Vareck had the decency to have his back turned.

Still, I didn’t know what to say. Everything had happened at an alarming pace. Kidnapped. Dream man. Tumbling through snow and hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

“How long are you going to pretend to be asleep?” he asked.

“Hadn’t decided. Feels safer if I keep my eyes closed right now.”

“You’re not in any danger.” I peeked an eye open and the look on my face said it all. He added, “Not anymore, I mean. Just stay away from windows.”

I sighed, sitting up and resigned to the fact that ignoring the situation wasn’t going to make it go away. This was not a dream, and the bump on my head proved it. That and all my dreams of him were nothing like this.

“Can we start over?” he asked, standing with his arms crossed and leaning against the bedpost.

Scooting back in the bed, I leaned against the down pillows at my back and smoothed the covers over my legs, avoiding the weight of his stare. “I don’t know what that means. I woke up in a different realm, taken by the king himself.”

“How about we start with introductions? What’s your name?” I squinted my eyes as I looked at him in disbelief, and he shook his head. “Sorry, I know it’s Meera. What’s the rest of it?”

“Why? So you can hunt down my family and bring them here? They had nothing to do with my actions. That’s on me, and me alone.” Crossing my arms, I held my chin high. I would never let my family take the fall for me.

“I’m not after your family.” He sighed deeply. “I’m Vareck Einar, which you already know.”

I stared at him pointedly. Of course, I knew. Did he think I was an idiot? This was like a first date hell I couldn’t escape from.

“Look, I’m just trying to get to know you,” he began. “We have a lot to talk about.”

“Like you sending Kaia off to find something that will nullify my powers? Because I heard that too.”

He waved me off, not reacting to the accusation. “I said that to give her something to do. She’s more concerned about finding my nephew. But she was right. This gives us the chance to get to know each other.”

“What if I don’t want to talk to you? ”

He looked down at the floor, nodding like he understood my hesitation. “Then I guess I’ll talk and hope you listen.”

That wasn’t the response I was expecting. Not from a guy in general, and definitely not from the king. “You aren’t going to just persuade me for answers?”

“I could, but I’d rather not, if I’m being honest.”

I stared at him in silence, trying to figure out his angle. Briefly, I reached for my persuasion, quickly discovering two things. One, my magic felt far away from me. More so than it had earlier. The exhaustion was too much. Two, that tiny attempt made my head start to spin again. I was well and truly stuck here until I could get back to full strength. Until then, all I could do was have a conversation the old-fashioned way. “Why don’t you want to use magic on me?”

He raised a brow, tilting his head as he looked on. “Because you already view me as your enemy?—”

“I don’t think you’re my enemy,” I interjected, feeling a little defensive, but I couldn’t figure out why. Maybe it was because he had come to my rescue after falling out of a window.

He chuckled, moving away from the edge of the bed to sit in an armchair next to a small round table. It had a pitcher and wine goblet set on top. He leaned forward, casually placing his forearms on his thighs and clasping his hands. “Well, you don’t exactly think of me as a friend right now either, do you?”

Okay. He had a point there too. I grumbled my agreement.

“Right. Well, friends don’t persuade each other.”

“So,” I began slowly, carefully thinking about which words to use. “You want to . . . be my friend?” Weird to bring a friend to your bedroom, but okay. I’d roll with it .

“I think it’s a decent place to start.”

“By your reasoning, friends also don’t kidnap each other and hold them captive,” I pointed out.

“Not generally, though our situation is rather unorthodox. You kidnapped the prince.” My entire body stiffened, and I looked away. “I have to ask about that. Where is my nephew?”

I shook my head, speaking softly. “I don’t know.”

“Meera—”

“Really.” I met his gaze, trying to show him that I wasn’t giving lip service. “I genuinely don’t know. Compel me if you want. None of this was supposed to happen.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“I told you, I took a contract for a job. I don’t know who hired me. I didn’t know it was for a person. I thought it would be for an object. You know, like a map or a compass or a stone? I’m good at finding things.” I glanced down, playing with the gray fur that lined the blanket. “Once I accept the contract, I’m bound to it. I don’t know the details as to why, and I can’t tell you where I took him or who hired me. Magic prevents it.”

Vareck scrubbed his hands down his face, exhaling deeply while thinking about what I’d just told him. “If you’re telling the truth, Eleanor is going to lose her shit,” he muttered, rubbing his hands over his beard.

“I am telling the truth.”

“Have you tried to use persuasion since you woke up?”

“No.” The lie slipped out effortlessly before I had time to consider the question.

“You think I didn’t feel it earlier when you tried?” He grabbed a goblet, taking a slow, deliberate drink, his smirk practically daring me to try again. My jaw dropped as he called me out, and I attempted to defend myself, but a jumbled mess of incoherent words came out before I barely managed to speak.

“I—” Sighing deeply, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I don’t know why I lied. Self-preservation, I suppose. Yes, I tried to use it. I can’t, okay? It makes me nauseous right now. That’s the truth, and so is what I said about Prince Damon.” I paused, thinking more about the emotional side of things. “I don’t blame Eleanor, you know. My mom would be beside herself too, and she’d put someone’s head on a pike. Is Eleanor your sister?”

Vareck recoiled with a quick, curt shake of his head. “Gods, no. She’s my late brother’s wife. My sister was. . . she died a long time ago.” There was a great deal of sorrow in his voice, but he did his best to mask it.

I apologized softly, looking away at the fireplace. The flames twisted and turned, hypnotizing me while I thought about how much I should tell him. “I don’t kidnap people. If I’d known, I never would have taken the contract. I had planned to get him back.” Even if it meant beating Lou with a stick. Crafty shit. If I ever got myself out of this, he was a dead man. I’d never take a job from him again.

“What was your plan?”

“I hadn’t entirely formed one yet. Step one was going to a safe place. Step two was laying out the plan for his rescue. I never even crossed step one off my list. You know, because you showed up.”

“He does have impeccable timing, doesn’t he?” The cat pushed the door open somehow, slipping in through the small crack. His tail brushed against the door, curling around it as he walked by. “Vareck, I mean. Not the nephew.”

The king groaned. “Go away, Corvo. ”

He sat, looking between us as he ignored the dismissal. “So tell me. What’d I miss?”

“It sounds like you were listening in on us already,” I said as my stomach rumbled obnoxiously.

The king huffed a quiet laugh. “You’re probably starving. I wanted to have food ready for you earlier. I just didn’t know when you were going to wake up. Corvo, will you see to it that the attendants bring lunch for her?”

“Seriously? I just got back, V.”

“Yes, seriously.”

Corvo let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “All right. But not for you. For the girl. She's crazy; I like her.” I watched as Corvo waddled lazily toward the door.

Vareck turned to me, a teasing glint in his ice-blue eyes. “Well, he hardly likes anyone. It seems you have a fan.”

“Can’t be too fond of me. He practically pushed me out the window,” I said flatly.

“I can’t push someone out the window, Meera.”

“Fine. You tripped me out the window. Better?”

“All-mighty powerful god, to cat, to alleged assassin. I'm moving up in the world, baby,” Corvo called over his shoulder as he trotted out of the room.

Vareck pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling slowly. “Sorry about him. He can be a little . . . catty.”

Corvo peered his head back inside, glaring up at him with his ears perked up. “I heard that, and you should be ashamed.”

“ Corvo .”

“Right, right; the food. Don't talk about me while I'm gone.”

Vareck slowly turned his attention back to me. The silence was awkward. Everything was awkward. Memories from my dreams flashed in my mind, except now instead of the blurred or faceless man I could never remember, it was King Vareck staring at me while he touched my body. I shivered just thinking about how good his hands felt.

He cleared his throat, breaking me away from my thoughts. “You’re . . . uh . . . cold. I can put more logs on the fire.”

“Wait. You didn’t answer before,” I began, and he nodded, sitting back down. “But why did you bring me here? To your room. You could have brought me to the dungeons and asked me the same questions.” I pressed, scooting forward on the bed and swinging my legs over the side.

For a moment, Vareck just stared at me, lips parted like he wanted to speak but couldn’t. I took the opportunity to ask what was really on my mind.

“Does it have anything to do with . . . the dreams?” My voice was little more than a whisper by the end.

“If I say yes, are you going to freak out?”

“I—”

The door creaked and swung open, with Corvo leading the way, his fluffy tail pointed up, high and mighty. He jumped on the bed, sitting with his chest puffed out and proud.

A servant followed, pushing in a silver cart draped in a white cloth. Two trays sat on top, each with a large dome protecting the contents beneath it. Two goblets and a pitcher of what I assumed was fae wine were sent up for drinks. A pot of tea steamed next to a single teacup. For the final touch, a small vase with a glass lily decorated the corner. He positioned it on the table next to Vareck.

The kitchen courier left with the king’s thanks, and we were soon alone again, except now we had the company of the cat, and I didn’t feel comfortable returning to my previous inquiry.

Not that I had time to dwell on what to talk about. When Vareck took the lid off each dish, my mouth instantly watered. A hearty looking stew steamed, the scent of root vegetables and herbs filling my senses and increasing my hunger tenfold. The second plate had fresh bread, some cheese, and slices of yellow winter apples. My stomach rumbled again; angrily telling me to hurry the hell up and feed myself.

“Your lunch,” Corvo said, pawing at my leg. I leaned away, still slightly scared of the talking cat. His ears twitched, my best guess is that it was a sign of annoyance. “What? I brought the peon who brought you food. That was nice of me.”

“It was. But as you recall, you also tripped me, and I fell out the window ,” I reminded him. “Forgive me if I don’t trust you.”

He rolled his golden eyes. “I said ‘oops,’ didn’t I?”

“I don’t know, did you? I was too busy tumbling across a rooftop and falling into a snowbank.”

“But did you die?”

“That’s not the point.”

“Are you sure? Seems like a good point to me.” Corvo licked his paw, and Vareck shot him a look.

“He’s harmless, really. Just an asshole,” he said, running his hand behind his neck and digging his fingers into the muscle. He gestured to the food. “You should eat before it gets cold.”

“He is right about that. Everything gets cold in this hellhole,” Corvo muttered, leaving his spot and curling up a chair in the reading nook.

“You trust him?” I asked, sliding off the edge of the bed and sitting in an empty chair across from the table. The stew tasted as good as it smelled. Maybe better.

“He’s my familiar,” Vareck confessed, though he seemed reluctant at the admission. “Do you have one?”

“A cat?”

“A familiar.”

“Oh. No. Thankful for it now too,” I muttered, side-eyeing Corvo. “I guess that means you have a spirit affinity.” Tracing the petals of the glass lily with admiration, I shivered as their icy nature sent a chill through me.

Vareck watched me carefully. “I do. Do you have an earth affinity?”

I cocked my head to the side. I thought it was pretty obvious that I wasn’t high-fae. My compulsion magic was strong, but the rest of me was decidedly not . I loved my curves, but it wasn’t a feature high fae had. Ever. “No, I’m only half high-fae. What made you think so?”

He gestured to the vase. “You seem partial to the glass lily. You admire it in a way the garden caretakers do too, and their element is earth.”

I shrugged, continuing to eat. “I just like them. They’re my favorite flowers. Don’t get to see them much in the Arcane District. My mom gets them for me on my birthday, though. The one time a year she comes back to Faerie.” The king looked surprised that I had shared that with him. To be honest, I was a little surprised I shared it too. It was an intimate detail of my life, and somehow, I’d let my guard down enough to say it.

“What’s your other half?” he asked, and I looked at him in question for further explanation. “You said you were half high fae.”

“Oh, that.” I paused, tilting my head. “Redcap, maybe? I don’t know. My parents adopted me, and I don’t think about it much. I’m not as hot-headed as my sister and brothers are, so maybe not.” I shrugged, using a hunk of warm bread to wipe the bowl clean when I was finished.

“You mentioned you’re good at finding stuff,” Vareck started. “Is that what you do for work?”

“You mean in addition to my side gig as kidnapper extraordinaire?” I teased, and I was pleased my joke elicited a smile from him. “I actually have a shop, although it’s more of a hobby at this point.” That much was true enough. The store was really a money pit.

“What kind of shop?”

“Antiques. I like old things. Used things. They tell a story.” It’s a shame I was the only one interested. Most people in the Arcane District weren’t. I just couldn’t bring myself to focus the contents of my store on magic items only. The idea broke my heart.

“Do you collect any?”

I teased my bottom lip between my teeth. “Vinyl records and antique jewelry.”

“How’d you get into that?”

I lifted my shoulder in a half shrug. “My mom had an old jewelry box with pieces from her parents and great grandparents. Me and my sister used to play dress up with them. When I got older, I found myself gravitating towards pieces with the same kind of character. Before I knew it, I had my own little collection growing.”

“You sound like you’re close with your family,” he said, dancing around the subject.

“The closest,” I answered, swirling the fae wine around in my goblet. “My sister is my best friend and my brothers are, well kind of overbearing, but they mean well.”

Vareck chuckled. “Most fae men are.”

An inkling of that tension from earlier started to bleed into the atmosphere. After a large swallow of my wine, I pushed it away.

“Try the tea. It might help.” Vareck poured me a cup, and I took a sip. The silence was awkward, and he must have sensed my discomfort because he changed the subject. “Tell me more about you. Do you have any hobbies?”

I snorted. “Hard to have hobbies when you’re broke, but I do enjoy reading.” I didn’t mention my preferred material was straight up smut.

He perked up slightly, showing interest. “I have a library in the castle. We could go there sometime.”

“Is that a pickup line? ‘We could go there sometime?’” I asked, trying to stifle my laughter. “You don’t date much, do you?” His shoulders jostled as he chuckled to himself, then tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling.

“Clearly not.”

“Well, I have. That was a pickup line, and it was bad.”

Vareck’s attention snapped back to me, his features a mixture of confusion and surprise, but the way his nostrils flared and his posture tightened had me on alert. His grip on his fork turned white knuckled and my breath hitched. He couldn’t possibly be jealous, could he? My mouth went dry despite the tea. “I hadn’t thought . . . are you”—he swallowed thickly—”with someone?”

I barked a laugh, taking a sip of my drink and thinking about my recent date with Axton at his mother’s house . “Hardly.”

The king forced a smile, muttering, “Good. That’s good.”

“Is it?”

“If he’s going to woo you, then yes, it’s obviously a good thing,” Corvo said dryly.

I blushed, recalling Kaia had said something like that when she was leaving. Too much had been going through my mind to focus on that at the time.

“Thanks, Corvo,” Vareck said through a clenched jaw.

“Just trying to be helpful.”

Vareck shook his head, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like “ damn cat” under his breath.

“What about you?” I said slowly. “I know you said you don’t have much experience dating, but is there someone else? A betrothed, perhaps? I know you royalty like to do that sort of thing . . .” My words trailed and heat rose in my cheeks.

Vareck lifted a spoonful of the stew to his mouth and chewed slowly. “Why? Wondering if there’s competition?” He smirked.

I blanched, not expecting that response. “What? No. Noooo,” I repeated. “I was just . . . making conversation.”

He snorted. “Sure you were. Relax, Meera. There’s no one else. There hasn’t been since . . .” He cleared his throat. “There hasn’t been in a long time.”

“Good,” the word managed to slip out before I could hold it back. If I was blushing before, my face was on fire now.

Vareck lifted an eyebrow. “Is it?” He repeated my own question back to me.

Freaking hell. Why had I said that? I wanted to disappear into the bushes like that gif of Homer Simpson. Unfortunately for me, invisibility was not one of my talents and there were no bushes to be found. “I . . . it remains to be seen.”

Vareck grinned teasingly as he took another bite. We didn’t speak for the rest of our meal. In fact, I didn’t even look at him.

That didn’t mean I didn’t feel his gaze on me .

And if I was being honest with myself, I liked it.

But that couldn’t be. I was his captive. He was my captor. This was just a result of my long dry spell and too many romance books.

Right?