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Chapter twenty-eight

Jade

W hat is happening? I think I’m lying on my back in a bed, it certainly feels like it. But I swear there is sunlight on my face. I can almost see it through my eyelids. And I don’t know how I can tell, but this doesn’t feel like my bed in the dungeon.

Tentatively, I open my eyes. The first thing I see is Flyn. He is sitting on a chair next to the bed, but he has slumped forward and his head is resting on the mattress. He is also snoring softly.

Has he really fallen asleep after sitting by my bedside? I swallow and force my gaze away from Flyn to check out my surroundings.

Absolutely enormous windows greet me. Proudly displaying a pale blue sky and an expanse of formal gardens. The sheer beauty of it is going to bring me to tears.

I tear my gaze away to look around some more because I need to know where I am. I have to try to figure out what the hell is going on.

This room is large. Old-fashioned white and gold flock wallpaper line the walls. There is a marble fireplace, and an extremely tall ceiling with pretty coving.

I appear to be in a very fancy bedroom, in a very nice four poster bed.

My guess is I’ve been taken out of the dungeon and placed in one of the bedchambers upstairs.

But why ?

My nose scrunches up. I don’t remember a thing. The last thing I remember is… Oh goddess. The last thing I remember is Flyn finding my stash of painkillers.

Guilt and shame race through me until I’m nearly choking. Did I try something and have been brought here to convalesce? That’s awful as well as extremely dangerous. Whatever state my mental health is in, I’m still a threat. Probably even more so.

My hand flies to my amulet. Its warm weight is not particularly comforting. Especially since the buzz of its magic seems duller.

Letting me out of the dungeon is a terrible idea. However good the intentions.

Flyn stirs. His head lifts up. His hazy blue eyes fix on me. As they focus, a huge, dazzling smile stretches across his face.

My heart flutters. But I need to focus.

“What is happening!” I blurt. “How long have I been out?”

“Just a few hours,” reassures Flyn.

“And?” I snap back in growing panic. I’m glad I’ve only lost a couple of hours, but I still don’t know why or how.

I watch in horror as Flyn’s smile falters. He struggles to keep it, but there is pain in his eyes that is giving the game away.

“What’s happened?” my voice shakes.

Flyn licks his lips. “I took you out of the dungeon and the fey got control of you.”

My heart is racing now. My limbs are trembling. I’m weak and dizzy. I think I might throw up.

“But you listened to me, baby! You were so strong! You took back your control!”

His smile is back, and his eyes are alight.

“I didn’t open a portal?” I ask.

Flyn vigorously shakes his head. “No, baby. You didn’t.” He sucks in a breath. “But it turns out you were just a distraction. The fey got some other poor bastard to do their bidding.”

“I…I didn’t destroy the world?” I stammer as my mind whirls and tries to comprehend .

Flyn is grilling again. “Nope. You kicked fey ass.”

I try to get my lungs to work, but they are stuck. “But someone else let them in? The fey are here?”

Flyn’s blue eyes turn somber again. I see his worry and his fear. It lances through my gut.

Suddenly, the bedroom door bursts open and Lello bounds in. His eyes are wide and frantic.

“There is a fey in the garden and he said your name!”

A wave of dizziness washes over me.

“I think he wants to speak to you!”

“Is it safe?” snaps Flyn.

Lello gives him a wide-eyed look. He shrugs and turns his attention to me.

Nothing is safe anymore. The entire world has been changed. By people whose blood I share.

I throw back the covers. Thankfully, it appears I am still dressed.

Flyn scrambles to help me, but I feel fine.

Whatever drained me and put me in bed, has done no lasting damage.

Or perhaps adrenaline is lending me strength.

Whatever the reason, I can get out of bed unaided.

I’m going to be able to walk downstairs and out into the garden, to speak to a fey.

I nod at Flyn and Lello. Together, we silently make our way out of the house. Flyn pushes open the front door and the sunlight dazzles me. As my eyes adjust, I see nearly everyone is here, standing on or near the stone steps at the front of the house.

And there is a fey standing a few feet away on the lawn.

I wrap my arms around myself in an effort to calm my shaking. It doesn’t work.

I stare at the fey. I almost break out into hysterical laughter. He is the one from my dream. The one that shifted from a wolf. He is standing here now with the same long brown hair, the same cat-slitted eyes. The same antlers.

At least he is dressed this time. In fancy and exotic, flowing silk robes .

His eyes slide off of me to look over my shoulder. I glance behind me just in time to see Gray slipping out of the house.

The fey gives the demon a shallow bow. Gray nods back. I shiver.

“I propose a deal,” says the fey.

And now he is looking right at me.

I force a swallow down my throat. “What kind of deal?”

The fey’s lips curl upwards in something that is the vague approximation of a smile. “That amulet was the bane of my existence for months. I wish to examine it. To see how it works.”

My hand flies up and wraps around the amulet that still hangs around my neck. I guess I have no use for it now. There is no need to keep the fey out of my mind. They are here in my world.

“It was the sundial that defeated it in the end,” says the fey almost pleasantly. “Give the amulet to me and in return I will grant this house and grounds safety and peace. No fey will set foot here or interfere in any way.”

Wow. This is a lot to take in. I look around my friends. Their blank faces stare back at me expectedly.

A roll of nausea swirls through me. Crap. Nobody else can understand him. But apparently I’m fey enough that the language speaks to me.

I try to form words, but nothing comes out. I cough and try again. “He says he wants the amulet in exchange for granting us safety.”

Murmurs and shocked expressions. Everyone turns to their special person. I look at Flyn. I want to know if he thinks this is a good idea.

His expression is thoughtful, hopeful. He doesn’t think it is an outright awful proposal.

“That’s a damn generous deal,” says Pink in a voice that carries.

Everyone falls silent. He is right. It is suspiciously easy. Far too good to be true.

Do I need to translate for the fey? I’m not sure if I know how to find fey words. Listening is one thing, speaking is quite another .

The fey is regarding Pink. He seems to understand. I guess Pink’s tone and the way he has crossed his arms over his chest is clear enough.

Suspicion. Doubt. Mistrust.

The fey’s terrifying smile widens. “This is Laurie’s home. Where he grew up.” His gaze slides to Monty. “You are Laurie’s brother.”

Monty pales. “Why is he saying my brother’s name?”

“You know Laurie?” I ask the fey. I have no idea if my tongue used English or Fey, but he seems to understand me.

He shrugs, and the gesture somehow looks all kinds of wrong. As if his shoulders aren’t made for such a movement.

“I will do.”

I stare at him helplessly. I have no idea what to say. My mind has given up. Everything is too strange, too unexpected.

The fey tilts his head to the side. “My deal is a wedding gift to my future consort’s family.”

My brows scrunch up. “He says he will know Laurie and his deal is a wedding gift.”

Fury blazes in Monty’s eyes. I feel his magic surge. He steps forward, but Pink places a hand on his chest and holds him back.

Gray however, slinks menacingly forward. Mal is leaning nonchalantly in the doorway, seemingly utterly at ease with whatever his mate is about to do.

The fey holds his hands up in a placating gesture. I see the unease flicker across his eyes. Good. I’m glad that even fey are wary of angry demons.

Gray has never met Laurie, as far as I know. But the little incubus understandably has a thing about people being bought and sold for sex. And Laurie’s mother did claim he was going to be given to a fey. An unwilling arranged marriage is just a fancy word for sex slavery.

“I have the gift of foresight,” the fey says hurriedly. “I have not met Laurie yet. I do not know where he is right now. ”

Gray lets out a little growl. Maybe he does understand the fey language, or maybe he is simply going by tone and body language.

“I know Laurie will come to mean a great deal to me!” the fey all but blurts. Gray has definitely got him worried. “And Laurie will likewise hold me in high regard.”

I look around and realize everyone is staring at me again. Oh crap. I clear my throat.

“Um… He has foresight, and he is being cagey about it, but I think he’s saying in the future he and Laurie are going to be in love.”

Monty’s expression is nothing short of thunderstruck. Pink looks utterly taken aback too. I know my mind is floundering.

Love. Love changes everything. Laurie doesn’t need saving from love. And of all the forces in the world, love is the one that might be strong enough to inspire a fey to do a good deed and offer a generous deal.

“In that case, it sounds like a good deal,” says Ned from under his large umbrella.

I think he’d agree to anything to keep his children safe. I slowly look around at everyone else. They all nod. Ned’s not the only one who thinks it’s a good idea. I think everyone has realized that love completely changes the equation.

I turn back to the fey.

“We agree.”

Because, love aside, it’s not like we have anything to lose.

The fey gives his creepy smile again. His hand goes to the left side of his chest. I have no idea if that is where his heart is or if he even has one, but it seems likely.

“I, Prince Selwyn Y Mabinogi, decree that this house and grounds be a sovereign territory of the current inhabitants. I grant dominion in exchange for possession of the amulet.”

He stares at me expectantly.

I stare back. He is a frigging prince? I don’t know why I am surprised. It is exactly what Monty’s mother said she was going to do. Hide Laurie away until he can be married to a fey prince. But we all thought she was crazy. But we also thought the fey would never make it through the veil.

Prince Selwyn’s eyes narrow. Oh shit, he is waiting for me to reply.

I cough. “I… um… Jade Freeman agree with those terms.”

The glint in the fey’s eyes makes my blood run cold. Fuck. I really hope making a deal was not a mistake.

With shaking hands, I lift the amulet over my head. I walk down the steps and hold it out to him on an outstretched arm.

He steps forward, takes it, and… disappears as if he was never there. I blink and stare blankly at the spot he was just standing in.

Suddenly, I’m in Flyn’s arms and I can’t breathe because he is squishing me so tightly. I can feel his relief. His joy. I can hear my friends’ excited chatter.

Oh my goddess, is everything truly going to be okay? Can I dare to hope?

Is the future suddenly and unexpectedly bright?