Ronan

Ronan

As I passed the wrought-iron streetlamp, the hovering energy globe spilled yellow light down my front, casting lunging shadows with every step I took.

The roads of Verda City were well lit, with more street lamps going up every night, pushing the darkness aside. The Cleavers who manufactured our energy must be hard at work.

I walked the streets where Sebarah and I had partied last year after the first trial. It was a ten-mile swim along Foster River and was supposed to be the physical test, although the real trick had been not swallowing too much river water and getting drunk.

I came in first. I always scored five points on the physical challenges—at least I had before Leif Ascended into a damn wolf. Dion and Seb constantly battled for last place. Last year, Sebarah had reached the waterfall that marked the end of the race a couple of minutes ahead of Dion, so we hit the town to celebrate.

We passed this furniture store—We shape wood—which I remembered because of Seb’s crude joke. The dull ache where I always missed him sharpened and stabbed.

He wasn’t the strongest or fastest of us, but he made up for it with his inner power. He consistently scored four or five points in the inner power trial. He’d Ascended into a Grower, as we all knew he would, and he was uncommonly powerful, outstripping even his mom. He’d grown that orange grove overnight on a whim to tease me about being a soft prince who needed fresh juice every morning.

If it wasn’t for him, I’d be even more of an arrogant prick than I already was. I smiled, but it was pained and probably looked twisted and terrifying.

I was up in the Sensory Quarter, where all the best nightlife was and the place Seb and I always headed to celebrate. It was late, but the Ogre’s Nose was still open, so I went inside.

Dark wood, low lighting, and a lot of background noise. Perfect. I ordered a shot of the hardest liquor I could think of and a tankard of ale. One for Seb, one for me.

I downed the shot of hell juice, shivering from the burn, then nursed my giant beer.

That’s when I saw them. The tomcat was talking animatedly in a booth with some green-haired lesser fae. I tuned into their conversation and heard the female say she was leaving.

“Are you coming? Let’s go.”

Neela shook her head violently and knocked over a glass of water with a wild hand movement. “No, no, no. I need to stay here and explore my new world. It’s very important,” she slurred.

Her companion said something I couldn’t hear, then turned to leave. As soon as she was gone, I’d get out of there too. I didn’t want to face the tomcat today. In the mood I was in, she’d probably end up dead, and I couldn’t be bothered dealing with that.

I downed the beer and turned to go, but Neela yelled at me across the room. “Hey! Hey you, princeling. Come here and explain yourself.”

Fuck it. If she wanted me to go over, then I would. Maybe I’d teach her some manners.

I stormed over, but when I saw her, I softened. She looked so relaxed and happy, her limbs loose and her eyes shining with that tractor-beam intensity I remembered from that first night we met.

“Siddown, loverboy,” she said with a slight slur. I slid into the booth opposite her. The background music was even louder here, an insistent drumbeat overlaid with guitar.

What the hell was I doing here? I should walk away, but something about her drew me in. I might as well stay and hear her out.

“Before we start, I have a secret.” She righted the toppled glass and held onto it for dear life.

Was she about to confess to some crime that would give me leverage over her? That would be super useful.

But I didn’t want her to. She was so vulnerable now that it seemed ruthless to take advantage. When facing each other in a fair fight, I could dish out anything, but she was in no state to confess secrets.

She leaned in conspiratorially. “I’m a little bit drunk.” She held her fingers an inch apart to show how very slightly inebriated she was.

A chuckle bubbled out of me. “Yes, I know.”

She looked affronted. “Do I look drunk?”

“Yes.”

“I mean, if you really look at me, like look at my hair and eyes and hair and face and stuff, does it look like I’m drunk?”

“Yes.”

She squinted at me like I must be mistaken. “So I look look drunk?”

“Very.” I sipped my beer.

She leaned back in the booth and almost slipped down it into a puddle under the table. “Interesting. Your fae senses truly are spectacular.”

I laughed, surprising myself and snagging her gaze, and she shone that magnificent smile at me again. Even a drunken blithering mess, she was still magnetic.

“Isn’t Gabrelle mean.” The tomcat pouted, sticking out her lower lip suggestively, and I had an impulse to bite it, but I didn’t. Of course I didn’t. I owed it to Seb to keep my distance from her. Actually, to get rid of her entirely.

“Gabrelle is just doing a job,” I said flatly, working hard to keep any emotion from my voice. The last thing I needed Neela to know was how difficult it was becoming to torture her, how much I wished I could forget about my blood debt to Sebarah. Even that thought had guilt descending on my shoulders like a hammer blow, and I sagged.

The tomcat was oblivious to my emotional turmoil, of course. She could barely sit up straight. “She’s mean. She magicked me to kiss you—”

“She Lured you.”

Neela nodded vigorously. “Yes! She Lured me to kiss you, and she Lured you to kiss me. Doesn’t that make you mad?”

Gabrelle hadn’t done any such thing to me. I’d kissed Neela back out of wild passionate and demanding desire, not because the beauty queen had done anything to me. As soon as the opportunity arose, I’d grabbed the tomcat’s hips and shoved her onto me hard, not caring if the others were watching us, not caring if a million fae were sitting in the trees around the glade.

I just wanted her, so I took her.

“No,” I said flatly, staying well away from admitting the truth. “I’m not mad at Gabrelle.”

Neela took an unsteady sip of her drink, putting it down with a crash. “Aren’t you going to be all, oh, Neela, you shouldn’t have any more alcohol, you already look drunk?” She put on a terrible falsetto while she imitated me, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re a grown-ass woman. You can make your own decisions.”

“Exactly. Thank you. That’s why I’m here.”

I watched her face carefully, drinking her in. She wasn’t aware enough to notice, so I didn’t have to feign disinterest. I could soak in every inch of her dappled skin and startling blue eyes. “That’s why you’re here in this bar?”

She leaned back. “No, I’m in this bar because my bracelet brought me here.” She talked into her wrist for a moment. “You’re a very naughty tattoo,” she said like a wild woman.

Was she Lured here? “Did you come to meet Gabrelle?”

Neela shook her head again. If she had long hair, it would fly all over her face, so just as well for the spiky pixie cut. “Nope. My lovely evil bracelet brought me here.” She wiped a hand across her lips. “You’re really handsome.”

Shit. My cock twitched at that comment, and it was all I could do not to slide in beside her and kiss those perfect pouty lips. “Like not just handsome, but super hot sexy. Even for a fae. You’re the most fuckable man I’ve ever seen.”

Damn, she was killing me here. “You’re not too bad yourself,” I said lamely. I wanted to say she was intoxicating, mesmerizing, dazzling, so unlike the poised fae females I surrounded myself with, that she was spectacular and wild.

But I didn’t say any of it.

She waved her hand dismissively. “You’re sexy because you’re fae.” She lowered her voice to a whisper I could just hear above the Fanged Five song playing from the enchanted ceiling. “I have a secret.”

I smiled. “Is it as good as the secret that you’re drunk?”

“I look drunk,” she corrected me. “And this is better. Waaay better.” She glanced around like someone might overhear us, then she slid out of the booth and joined me on my side. Her thigh rested against mine, burning through me, and I could barely concentrate on her words.

“I’m not fae,” she whispered, then put her finger on my lips as though it were my secret.

Her finger was cold on my mouth from the icy glass she’d been cradling, and between that and her warm thighs, I barely had a thought in my brain.

“You were born in Hebes, I know,” I said, speaking through her finger.

A spark lit her eyes, and she nodded excitedly. “Yes! You get it. Exactly.” She moved her finger to her own lips and stage whispered, “Shhh.”

Neela smelled of vanilla musk and Fae Fizz, and I wanted to sweep her into my arms and carry her home with me. She made me forget my grief. Even as my enemy, she sent me into a joyful mood that lasted and lasted. She was harsh and strong and determined but also vulnerable and soft. And I wanted every piece of her.

But I couldn’t have her. Ever.

She allowed me to walk her home to the Rose Palace, which wasn’t far from the Ogre’s Nose. She held my hand and leaned against me, even rubbing my bicep at one point, really testing my restraint. I couldn’t remember who was torturing whom.

We walked in happy silence punctured by the occasional non-sequitur, like “Dolphins are prettier than paper planes, don’t you think?”

It gave me time to think. About how wrong it was to walk her home. About what I owed to Seb. About our blood pact and how a few days with a magnetic female couldn’t erase years of friendship.

Seb’s hedge parted as we approached, and Neela waggled a finger in my face. “You can’t come in,” she slurred. “I hate you.”

“I know,” I said softly. “I hate you too.”

She nodded firmly. “Good.”

I wanted to follow her, and if she had asked me, I might not have had the strength to refuse, so it was a relief that she’d ended the night this way.

“You know,” I began,” this doesn’t change anything. I still need you to leave. I promised Seb.”

She grabbed my lapels and stared at me. “Why?”

It was a terrible idea to tell my enemy the reasons for my actions, but she was so pissed she wouldn’t remember in the morning, so I took a deep breath. “Seb came last in almost every trial. He averaged less than five points total every year, and it got to him. He was always self-conscious about it.”

“He sounds like a dickhead.”

“No, he was my best friend, and he was awesome. It wasn’t his fault he wasn’t quite as fast, strong, or skillful at spells as the rest of us.”

She rested a hand on my chest, and I wanted her to leave it there. “Hold on,” she slurred. “I’m confused. It sounds like you’re being nice.”

I couldn’t help it. I ran a hand through her spiky hair, feeling her delicate skull underneath. “I’m not always a bastard, you know.”

She thought about that, really considered it for a while. “Yes, you are. Anyway, go on. Sebarah sucked at all the fae stuff, and then what happened?”

“About a year ago, he found out about you.”

Neela’s jaw dropped. “Seb knew about me? A trashbag orphan from Hebes?”

Her hair was soft beneath my hand, silkier than I expected. “You’re not always this stupid.”

She nodded a little. “Thank you.”

“Seb found out he had a secret sister hidden in the mortal realm. You.”

“Oh, his sister. Me.” She gave a stage wink and stumbled into me.

I held her up, feeling her heart beating against my chest. “Seb was scared you’d come for his throne. He felt vulnerable because he always scored so low. You could have fought him for his position if you’d been stronger than him.” I sighed into her hair. “So I promised him I’d never let you sit on his throne. We made a pact using blood magic, which is unbreakable.”

Neela tilted her head up and slitted her tomcat eyes. “I knew it. You were being nice!”

She shoved off my chest and stumbled back, then saluted me. “But you’ll always be an asshole to me,” she said like a promise. “Until next time, sexy enemy.”

I watched her cross the border to her estate, where she would be safe.

I wish I hadn’t made that promise to Seb. Now that he was dead and gone, it made perfect sense for his sister to take his place on the throne. But I swore to him using blood magic that she never would. And blood pacts lasted forever.