Calliope’s words echoed in my head as I led Holden and wolf-Desmond back through the palace, following Zuzu, who walked ahead of us. He’d been sent to bring us before Aubrey, and I think the last thing he’d expected was to be cornered by a werewolf and then witness said werewolf take a browbeating from a possessed woman.
But that was his own damn fault. He lived in fairyland, for crying out loud. Wasn’t this a place where anything could happen? Hadn’t I seen glowing flowers and a man wearing an outfit made out of moss? Did we not arrive here through a magical fucking door?
I found myself getting angrier and angrier at Zuzu as we walked, upset with him for being afraid of us. Mostly because it meant we were somehow scarier and more fucked up than anything in the fae realm. And there was no way I could believe that was true.
As soon as we arrived in the throne room, Zuzu vanished out a side door. I would bet good money we’d never see him again.
“I trust your evening was restful,” Aubrey said by way of greeting. “Though I see one of your party has slipped his mortal form. ”
“Alternative realities are a tricky thing like that,” I replied, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with his comments.
“Did you sleep well after the ball?”
“No. ”
“Ah, well. ” He gave me a knowing smile. A little too knowing. “That will happen. ”
“Mmm. ”
The more time I spent with Aubrey Delacourte—and granted it hadn’t been much time at all—the less I liked him. Besides the similarities of appearance and the way they tended to talk in circles, I couldn’t find a lot of ways Aubrey and Calliope were alike. They did both have a habit of trying my patience, but I could at least count on Calliope to come through with something useful in the end.
Aubrey wasn’t here to help me.
He snapped his fingers twice, and a door behind him opened. A man came through who was average height. He was the man from the night before, but I was able to get a better look at him now. He would have been incredibly handsome if he’d been in any other company. With Aubrey and Holden in the room the quota for beauty had already been exceeded, and this guy just looked pleasant and symmetrical. That was the best I could think of him.
Kellen followed behind him, her fingers entwined with his. She was wearing a gold dress, her long brown hair done up in an elegant Grecian bun, and she appeared to be happy. I’d seen Kellen giddy-happy and drunk-happy, but there was something about the expression on her face I didn’t recognize. She was so happy I didn’t trust it. She looked over at us and gave a wave, but her attention was fixated on the fairy.
“You’ve had time to make your observations,” I told Aubrey. “Now let’s come to an arrangement. That was your promise. One of them, anyway. ”
“Ah, careful now. ” He raised his index finger and waggled it side to side. “I promised no such thing. I said if you and I could agree to terms, then I would let her go. ”
Motherfucker. The fae should all moonlight as lawyers.
“I did have time to observe,” Aubrey continued. “I’ve been watching you since you arrived here. ”
“I bet. ”
“And I do have the terms of her release, should you be ready to hear them. ”
“Never been readier. ” That was the God’s honest truth. The sooner I could get Kellen and bring everyone home, the happier I’d be.
“My terms are a trade. ”
The word trade hit me like I’d fallen into ice water. “A…what?”
“I will trade for the girl. ”
The gears of my brain started grinding, desperate to find something, anything that would make him give me any other terms. “But she’s not yours. He took her. ” I pointed to the average-enough-looking fae. “You can’t trade for something that isn?
?t yours. ”
“Clever. But you are sadly mistaken. I am King, and therefore everything here is mine to barter and trade for as I see fit. He may have her now, but if it were my desire, she would be mine. As you wish to have her back, I feel like something should be left in her place. That seems fair, does it not?”
Don’t agree. Don’t agree. Whatever you do, don’t agree, screamed the intelligent part of my brain. The desperate part wanted to grab Kellen and make a break for it. I wanted to do or say anything to get us out of there. But the underused McQueen smarts made me think better of rash actions.
“I don’t—” I stopped myself mid-sentence. I needed to think very carefully before I said anything. If I told him I didn’t agree to the trade, our promise was void. He’d only let Kellen go if we came to an agreement. I couldn’t tell him I did agree, because I had no idea what he wanted from me.
“You don’t what?” he asked.