“No! He didn’t know who I was,” Viori said, materializing beside Micah. She clasped his hand. Though part of him longed to cling, he did not clasp hers in return. “He found out when you did.”
“And that makes it okay? No.” Kaysar circled Micah. “I heard what you did to your wife. Collared her. Chased her. Donned her in rags and left her homeless.”
“Don’t forget that he killed her child-creations, too,” a dark beauty spoke up. Amber the oracle. “Remember? I told you all about her the other day. How she sings monsters to life and considers the results her babies. What?” she asked when Cookie, Jareth and Pearl Jean glowered at her. “Better he gets everything out of his system. Otherwise, he’ll remember later, and we’ll have to deal with—”
“How dare you!” Kaysar boomed.
“That,” Amber finished lamely.
“You murdered my nieces and nephews, breaking our former truce,” the king continued, rage brewing in his voice. “Therefore, the new truce cannot stand. We fight to the death now.”
Micah expected Kaysar’s punch. He didn’t block, but let it happen, taking a steel-hard fist to the stomach. Viori screeched protests as he flew into the water. Kaysar showed up in the pond without delay, throwing another punch. This time, Micah’s wife didn’t stand within range; he blocked, catching the fist, and squeezed.
As multiple bones broke beneath his grip, he smiled coldly at the opponent who was, technically, his brother-in-law. “To the death? Very well.”
* * *
VIORI READIED TO flitter after the men, but Cookie caught her arm, staying her.
“Don’t,” the queen said, unconcerned as Kaysar and Micah continued throwing vicious punches, slashing at each other. As the water turned red with blood and the two combatants fought their way to shore. As the savagery of their strikes increased. “Let them work it out among themselves.”
“But they’re fighting over me.”
Cookie shook her head. “Wrong. You’re the excuse. What you’re seeing is the culmination of a yearlong beef.”
Viori tried to break from the other woman’s grasp, but the queen held fast. “They’ll kill each other.” They’d just threatened to do so, and neither male was the type to go back on his word.
Again, Cookie shook her head. “Amber assures me—”
“Ugh! Find a new phrase already,” Pearl Jean interjected. “I’m tired of hearing those three words. Seriously, you say them more than you’ve ever said I love you to the hubs. Or me!”
“Anyway,” Cookie continued with a roll of her eyes. “Neither dumbo will bestow a fatal blow. Otherwise, I would’ve buried Micah in vines long ago. After I popped his head off his body, of course.”
Fury burned through Viori in an instant. She drew her hands into fists, getting free no longer a problem. No threats against her husband would be tolerated. Not even by her sister-in-law. “Do you want to die?”
“Please. We’re family,” Cookie said with an easy tone. “We don’t have to like each other, but we don’t get to kill each other, no matter the provocation. It sucks, but what can you do? Rules are rules.” She motioned to the beautiful black woman holding the picnic basket. “Viori, meet Amber the oracle. Pearl Jean the royal pain and King Jareth Frostline of the Winter Court. The nuisance I can’t shake.”
“So lovely to meet you in person instead of in my head. Sit, sit.” Amber placed the basket on a patch of grass and withdrew a satchel filled with bread and cheeses. “The battle should endure the rest of the day, overnight and into the morning. By the way, Viori. You’ve been hidden from my inner sight for so long. Care to share why?” A second later, she laughed with delight. “Never mind. I’m brilliant, and I’ve already deduced the answer. With your children, you were everywhere at once. Both in the fae realm, and the mortal one.”
“Let’s get comfortable.” Cookie extended her arms toward a clearing. Five vines sprang from the earth in quick succession. Other vines branched from those, each grouping creating a chair. Thrones, really. Chin up, the queen eased into hers—the biggest of the bunch. “So. You traveled to my world?”
“A handful of times, yes,” Viori admitted.
“What’d you think?”
Pearl Jean and King Jareth strode over and plopped beside Queen Cookie. Even Amber claimed a seat while holding a loaf of bread—a loaf Viori snatched straight from her hands.
“A horrid place with predators on every corner,” she said, snatching the satchel and the rest of the food as well. Micah might be hungry after the fight.
As the group peered at her, she curbed the urge to hiss. Her attention returned to the fighters. Both males were graceful, masterful and brutal beyond imagining, hurling insults along with their punches.
When she grew tired of standing, she sank onto the free chair and tucked the food into her side. Let someone try to take something. They’d see what happened.