Boisterous laughter and the breaking of glass sound. And then… a woman’s voice.
“Oh fiddlesticks,” I mumble. It can only be one thing.
I sprint out of the library with Rosalina behind me. I have to find out what’s going on before Keldarion does.
We run down the Autumn passage, leaves and twigs snapping beneath our feet.
“What’s going on?” Rosalina cries. “In case I never mentioned it, I’m not huge on running—”
As we round the corner to the top of the staircase overlooking the entrance hall, I freeze.
Oh, fuck. It’s worse than I thought.
He actually brought someone here.
Dayton leans against the rose gold frame of the mirror, a jug of foul-smelling alcohol in one hand, and the ass of a busty blond fae in the other.
It’s all I can do to intake a snarling breath. The wolf inside me lunges at my chest, clawing at my ribs. He’s desperate to break out. And if I let my rage take over, it will be a blood bath in here.
But even that won’t be as bad as what would happen if Keldarion sees a stranger inside the castle.
We run down the stairs and into the main foyer. Rosalina doubles over, panting. But her eyes aren’t on Dayton or the fae woman. They’re on the mirror. Oh right. I suppose we haven’t explained that. She probably thought it was a decoration.
The brilliant mirror waves with iridescent light. It’s about the size of a door and it lights up the room with fractals of blue and red and green. They flicker across Dayton’s bare chest. In fact, he’s only wearing the traditional garb of the Summer Realm, a short leather girdle that hugs tight to his muscular ass. His long blond hair falls over his shoulders and he’s got that sleepy half-smile he always gets when he’s pissed out of his mind.
The blond fae woman is obviously drunk too, grabbing at his chest and laughing between hiccups.
“Dayton,” I growl. “What are you doing?”
Dayton flicks his gaze at me, and his eyes sparkle with mirth. “Farron, you’ve come to welcome me home. Don’t worry. It’s quite unnecessary.” His words slur and he chucks the bottle to the ground. It rolls toward Rosalina. She slams her foot down on it to stop its movement.
“Dayton, this is highly irresponsible, even for you,” Rosalina says, and her serious tone almost makes me crack a smile. Almost. “You know what Keldarion did to his last visitor.”
“Well, aren’t you just Queen of the Castle now?” Dayton laughs.
The fae woman pitches forward, squishing her considerable chest against Dayton’s bare body. My heart pounds and I dig my nails into my palms to concentrate on the pain. “Dayton, why are these two nattering at us? I thought we were going to your bedroom.” She reaches down and grabs Dayton’s cock through the leather.
My face burns, and I hate the way Dayton smiles as her hand massages him. He’s putting on a fucking show, tilting his head back and squinting his eyes. “You’re right, darling. Look at these two. Like nattering flies.” He grabs her by the shoulders and shoves her against the wall, but his eyes are on me. “Maybe they want to join us.” He runs his tongue across her jaw and down her neck before burying his face in her tits.
Rosalina stiffens beside me, and her face is beat-red. “J-join you?”
Dayton looks up from the fae woman’s breasts. “You interested, blossom? Come over here, and I’ll show you how the fae make love.” He licks his lips, gaze intense.
I can’t say anything. I can’t even move. Rage fills every fiber of my being. How dare Dayton disobey Keldarion’s sacred rule? Kel may be a crotchety, paranoid asshole, but this rule protects us. No one comes into Castletree. No one.
And to parade this fae in front of us, this random woman in her sheer gown that barely covers the top of her thighs… Well, I should have expected that. I’m used to Dayton staring at me when his cock is buried deep in another man or woman. But to ask Rosalina to join…
I want to rip his throat out. I want to scream at him. I want to storm out of here and let him face Keldarion’s wrath.
But I’m rooted to the spot.
Coward.
But… she’s not. Rosalina shakes her head and wrinkles her nose. “Enough. Dayton, you need to grow up. I have no idea how old you are. Probably like four million. But you’re acting like a stupid teenager.” She storms over and grabs the fae woman’s arm. “And you! Do you know how dangerous this is? You don’t even know anything about where this idiot has taken you.”
“He’s the fucking Prince of Summer—” the fae woman begins but Rosalina cuts her off with a tug toward the mirror.
“Yeah, and he’s a jerk for taking you here. It’s dangerous. But he doesn’t care about you.” She levels a glower on Dayton that sends ice down even my spine. “He only cares about himself.”