27. Tempi

CHAPTER 27

TEMPI

M idas tucks his hand into his leather jacket to keep me from touching it as we tumble through the blackhole and come out the other side. We land on the ground hard, both of us rolling away to avoid any accidental touches. I watch with wide eyes as Midas' black leather jacket begins to turn gold. I don't even bother looking around us, so entranced by Midas' power. I can't imagine having all that power at my fingertips. I can't imagine having that sort of wealth at the snap of my fingers.

I can't imagine the sort of curse it is.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask, making sure to keep my distance. I watch as he starts to work an almost too small leather glove back on his hand.

"It wasn't pertinent," he answers, not looking at me. His eyes remain on where he works his hand back into the glove.

"It wasn't pertinent that you could kill me with a single touch?" I ask, blinking. "That seems pretty fucking important."

"I don't plan on touching you without my glove on," he replies.

"Or at all," I add.

His golden eyes flick up to mine. "I didn't say that."

I straighten and narrow my eyes. "You kept a major fucking secret, Midas."

"And?" He takes a step toward me. "Would it have changed anything?"

"Maybe!" I growl. "I might not have kissed you before had I known you could kill me with one little touch!"

"Then I'm glad I didn't tell you," he growls back. "Because I'm going to kiss you again!"

"Says who?" I fire back, prepared for this fight. "I don't want anything to do with you."

"Liar," he purrs. "I can see it in your eyes, Tempest."

"Then you're blind," I spit, hoping I'm hiding just how much I'm turned on by the asshole. When he takes a step closer again, I realize I'm probably doing a poor job at it. "Fuck this! I'm going to go find out where we are!"

I turn to leave, fully prepared to stalk away and make a point, but Midas' large hand wraps around my wrist and stops me. The leather is scratchy now from the salt water. I flinch when he touches me, but he doesn't seem to notice as he jerks me back around and drags me against his body.

"You're a terrible liar, little crucible," he purrs as he presses me against him.

It feels good. I can admit that to myself, but I don't want to give him that satisfaction. "I'm a great liar," I growl. "You're just wrong."

He grins. "Then kiss me and prove there's nothing there."

"No." I shake my head. "Absolutely not."

He leans down. "Afraid I'll prove you wrong?"

"More like afraid you'll turn me into home décor," I growl before I think better of it.

Midas tenses and the grin falls from his face. He lifts his gloved hand up and holds it in front of me. "With gloves, my power is null and void. Trust me. I've spent many years making sure I could stop it when I needed to."

"I don't care," I shove at him and he surprisingly lets me go. "I don't want to kiss you." What a liar I am. Midas is right. But I tilt up my chin and hold my ground.

That smile tugs at his lips again. "I think I'm going to have to teach you how to school your features, Tempest. Your emotions are written all over your face."

I scowl and cross my arms. But then I sigh and relax them again. "Leo says the same thing."

He studies me for a long moment, our eyes taking each other in. I don't know how long we stand there, but after a moment, I decide to just ask the question that's been burning in my mind.

"What did Puss mean?" I ask, watching him closely.

"What are you talking about?" he asks, and while I can tell he's trying to be relaxed, the corner of his eye twitches at my question.

"You haven't mastered schooling your expressions either," I point out. "You know very well what I mean."

He stands silently for a minute, weighing his words no doubt. "I need you to get back to Under."

My heart sinks. Silly me for thinking it was something else. This may be a fairytale world, but I don't live in a fairy tale. Things don't happen like that in real life.

"Of course," I murmur, turning.

Again, when I go to walk away, Midas grabs me, preventing me from leaving.

"Midas—" I begin, prepared to tell him off, but his lips are on mine before I can finish my sentence.

His lips move over mine, consuming me, claiming me, and my entire body lights up like a wildfire. Fireworks explode behind my eyes as he drags me so close, I can barely breathe. His beard scraps against my face, adding another sensation to the kiss that drives me wild. Every part of me says to give in, to let him consume me, but a small part of me is angry he kept such a huge secret from me. Another part realizes that I'm convenient, and that it would keep me complacent to seduce me, make me think he cares so he can get back home.

How can I trust him? How do I know he won't change the moment we end up back in Under?

I shove him away from me and we both stand there, staring at each other, panting heavily.

Fuck, that was a really good kiss though. I stop thinking. I throw myself back at Midas, wrapping my arms around his neck. He catches me effortlessly and kisses me back just as violently as I kiss him. My feet aren't touching the ground as he drags me up his body. I wrap my legs around his waist, and he groans into my mouth. His hand threads into my hair and tightens, holding me still as we fight for the upper hand. He holds me up so easily. I grind against him, desperate for some sort of release, needing it.

"Fuck!" he growls against my lips. "I'm going to?—"

"Whatcha doin'?" a cutesy high-pitched voice asks.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Midas growls. I don't blame him. I'm just as annoyed at the interruption. It seems we're doomed to be constantly found at the most inconvenient of times.

He drops me to my feet and we both turn toward the voice together. I blink, confused, but Midas? Midas openly gapes at the creature that interrupted our kiss.

"Is that a. . . horse?" I ask.

"Pony," the horse replies cheerfully. "I'm a pony. Please don't refer to me as a horse."

"Oh. . . uh, of course. Lo siento ," I answer, glancing at Midas in confusion. What kind of fucking world is this?

"Do you need help?" the pony asks brightly. "We here love to help. We're the best helpers."

"Where is here?" Midas asks. "What world is this?"

"Here is home!" she replies. "This is the best place in the whole universe. Nothing will ever compare to this world. You'll see! It's positively the best!"

Midas and I share a look. This is weird. I don't like it. The cute voice and the way the thing speaks has me on guard so fast.

"And are you a friend?" I ask carefully.

"Of course! Here, we're all friends! I would never hurt you. I'm harmless."

But she's fucking massive, even for a horse. This pony is easily taller than me at her shoulder. She might be taller than Midas even. She's a bright pink color, her mane a bright sparkly purple. When she turns, there's a mark on her romp of what looks like a money bag. It's very fucking clear, so I know it's not just a spot. Did she paint it on there? What does it mean?

"Come on," she says again. "Follow me. I would never hurt you. We would never ever hurt you. Not here. Not in this world. We're the happiest and kindest creatures you'll ever meet." She smiles and it's weird to see a pony smile. It makes me take a step back. "I would never hurt you."

I glance at Midas. "Does that feel harmless to you?"

"No," he answers honestly. "No, it doesn't."

"Come with me," the pony says, and the high-pitched voice drops an octave. "Come with me and we'll help you. We're so nice. You'll never have better friends than us. We're simply the best. We won't hurt you. Come on!"

I take another step back. "No, thank you. We'll be fine finding our own way."

Her eyes narrow. "I'm being nice. And sweet. You should come with me."

"I'd rather not," I answer.

"She said come with her," a new voice calls. Another pony appears, and another. "We won't hurt you."

More and more ponies appear, surrounding us, and I tuck in tight against Midas. Each of them has a different mark. Some have things like hearts; others have stars and storm clouds. There are a variety of colors, every color of the rainbow and this feels very much like a children's dream world if not for the threatening overtones. They're terrifyingly large, and when they all paw at the ground, my stomach drops.

"Come with us," one says.

"We won't hurt you," another adds.

"We would never hurt you."

"We promise."

"What do we do?" I ask Midas.

He winces. "Maybe I should take off my glove."

The tension in the air is high as the ponies all watch us closely, each of them parroting the words like some sort of weird cult. I don't like this. I don't like this at all.

The whooshing comes and it's a fucking relief. Thank you to whatever entity takes pity on us. I practically throw myself through it this time even as a chorus of, "No! Don't go!" and "We won't hurt you!" meets my ears. Someone must have had a knife, confirming my unease, and it catches my arm just before I disappear inside the portal. Midas is right behind me, both of us escaping the weird pony world before something bad could happen.

I'm near certain we were about to be sacrificed to the cutie gods or something. Holy shit. I've never been more terrified of something cute in my life.

For the first time, I'm thankful for the power that makes the portals open around me. They always seem to appear just when we're about to die, when there's nowhere else to go.

Which means either Midas was right, and I can control them. . .

. . . or someone is watching me. . .