Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

GARRICK

She’s smiling entirely too much.

I’ll have to talk to Slíbhín about her wardrobe choices as well. She’s showing way too much skin in that sinful gown that clings to every divine curve of her body. Jason Manning isn’t worthy enough to see her like that. And you are? Hiding in a corner? I chastise myself. I lean into the wall where I’m tucked in the back of the dining hall, just inside the door leading to the kitchens. Only the staff use this entrance, and even if they wonder why I’m here staring out the small square window, they know better than to speak on it.

Lilly sits with Jason at a romantically lit table that I planned, eating the meal I picked out. I’d made it my business to know her likes and wants, so setting up a perfect date wasn’t difficult. Watching her have that date with another man seems to be the hard part. Lilly twirls a pink curl around one of her delicate little fingers, and I realize she’s flirting. Actually flirting! My hands close into fists and I plant my feet. The urge to storm into their lively conversation is eating into my resolve, and the dragon within me is straining to free itself and take revenge on the man doting on my mate.

Not mine , I remind myself. I cannot have her. She cannot be here.

Turning on a heel, I stride from my hiding spot and wind my way through the kitchens and away from watching anymore of that masochistic little scene.

“Spying were we?” Felix’s voice crawls into my ear as he appears by my side. I side-eye him with a jacked brow.

“Like you are?” I reply, and he smirks.

“You mean my job? Yes,” he retorts. “They seem cozy , huh?”

I nod, unable to answer how I’d like. “It’s the right thing for her,” I say through gritted teeth before changing the topic. Felix only nods, a hint of disappointment creasing his brow. I let it go. “Did you get the information?”

Felix’s smile is back. “Of course I did.”

I roll my eyes at his cocky tone and turn a corner, leading us towards my office and away from that display in the dining hall. “The friend?”

“No. Despite putting in some of my best work, she was much more tight-lipped than I’d hoped.”

I let Felix pass through first as I open the door to my office, then follow him inside. I trail past my brother to the windows, raking my gaze across the landscape now blanketed in a thin layer of white snow. “Slíbhín, however, is an observant little gem as always,” Felix says, as he turns and plops into my desk chair, legs crossed and boots resting on my desk.

“Well?” I ask and smack his feet from the desk.

Felix’s smile slowly widens as he answers. “It seems the lovely Lilly and I have a bit in common. We’re both Demi-Fae.”

“Lilly? Lilliwen Adair, daughter of the Duke of Georgia?”

“Yep.”

I shake my head. That can’t be right. She’s a Lord's daughter, and the nobility are about as pompous and prejudiced as you can get. And from our interactions, Lilly’s father is every part of that as well. “Is she sure?”

Felix nods. “She’s sure. That witchy smell you caught a draft of is a glamour that keeps those ears nice and pointy. And the Duke is clearly High Fae, so it seems our friend Lord Adair has some secrets…” Felix shifts in the chair, a self-satisfied smile settling on his face like the boots he’s returned to my desk.

My eyes scan the range beyond the glass windows, out of focus as my mind works. Lilly, Lady and Heir to Duchy of Georgia and the Lowlands, is a bastard. That’s one hell of a secret. The other Lords would crucify Lord Adair if they knew, and more than a few would be literal about it. Only a High Fae can ascend to the position, and as a female, she would also need a husband. But then why marry her to me? I would find out sooner or later, and our marriage would put her under a microscope with the rest of the Lords. Unless…

“Shit,” I say, my eyes narrowing as I turn back to my brother. “He knows.”

“What? Who?”

“Her father. Why else would he propose a marriage unless he knows? It couldn’t be hidden forever from me. His proposal was a message .”

“Shit,” Felix echoes my earlier words. “But wouldn’t that be putting his daughter in danger? That’s cold, even for a Lord.”

My spits fire through my veins at the idea of Lilly being used as a pawn. “Time to speak to Lord Adair.”