13. Fourteen Blake

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN: BLAKE

" Y ou did what? " Maeve screeched.

She raced out from under the portcullis and battered my window before Flynn had even stopped the car. Behind her, the other guys crowded around, inspecting the trailer with a mixture of bemusement (Corbin), worry (Rowan), blankness (Aline) and mistrust (Arthur).

Maeve however, was furious . The vein above her eyes stuck out like a Seelie at a metal-detecting convention.

"Hi Princess," I waved at her through the window.

"Get out of that damn car and tell me what you did ."

She was beautiful when she was mad, all slanted eyes and flushed skin and that fearsome glower… when she looked like that, all fury and sex, I could see the resemblance between to Daigh.

Not that I'd ever tell her that.

I grinned to myself. Or maybe I should...

"Blake!" Maeve's fist on the window startled me out of my daydream. "Tell me right now ."

"We erected Flynn's witch statue in the middle of the village greene." I swept an annoying black curl out of my eye. I left the window up for now, and the door locked. It seemed safer. Apparently Flynn had a death wish, because he jumped out of the car and raced around to her.

"What in Athena's name possessed you to do that?"

"Come on, Einstein. You've got to admit it's brilliant. " Flynn's eyes danced. He grabbed Maeve's arms and turned her in a circle. She squealed as he dipped her down, holding her across the back then extending his hand out so she could twirl underneath it. She didn't twirl, of course. She yanked her hand out of Flynn's grasp and folded her arms again. Fine. I shoved the door open, grabbed Flynn's hand, held it up and twirled beneath it, pointing my toes in an elegant flourish. I finished by planting a wet kiss on his cheek.

"Ack, you wanker!" Flynn doubled over, gagging and wiping spittle over his face.

"Flynn!" Maeve yelled.

He scratched his head. "Sorry, Ma. You should be thanking us, though. We just created a big ole' vessel to collect all the belief in the village. After everyone wakes up and discovers a mysterious witch sculpture smack in the middle of the green that can't be removed no matter how hard they try, their belief is going to leap up like a dog with a stick up his arse."

"And what were you planning to do with all this belief?"

"Slay the fae, of course."

Maeve's face twisted. "Okay, so that is actually brilliant."

"It was all my idea," I said quickly.

"It was not!" Flynn shot back.

"Guys!" Maeve yelled. "I don't actually care. Did we not have a conversation this very morning about not going off on your own with hair-brained ideas?"

Flynn's smile froze on his face.

"It was all his hairy idea." I patted Flynn's shoulder, giving him a shove toward Maeve.

Flynn opened his mouth to protest, but Maeve plastered her hand over his mouth. "And would not you agree that this stunt is the very definition of a hair-brained idea?"

Flynn dropped to his knees in front of Maeve, his hands clasped in front of him, batting his dark eyelashes. "Please forgive me, O majestic one, O Maeve of the boundless bosom and arse that won't quit, O ravishing goddess, O mighty quoter of scientific theories and slayer of Arthur's mead. You're such a stunner, never in my life have I beheld a finer or more shapely behind?—"

"Oi, keep it in your pants while the mother's around," Corbin said.

"Don't mind me, sweetie. I'm taking notes," Aline grinned.

"—of such heavenly and beddable physique, of the brain so big it's a wonder it fits in your noggin, would you find it in your big beautiful heart to forgive this wee poor bugger for his infraction…"

Maeve's face remained stern, but her shoulders shook. "Flynn…" she moaned, then a laugh burst out of her.

Flynn grinned and hugged her legs. "You laughed. I'm off the hook."

"Get up, you fool." Maeve lifted him to his feet. He threw his arms around her, nearly knocking her over.

"And me?" I lifted an eyebrow.

"Of course you." Maeve leaned in and kissed my cheek. "I know you weren't the brains behind this one. Or lack of brains, as it were. This is all Flynn. Come inside."

I slid my arm around Meave's waist as we trudged back through the inner courtyard into the Great Hall. Her sweet, spicy smell invaded me, mixing with the excitement of the car chase and the residual spirit magic that hummed in my veins. I'd given more than I'd meant to that statue, and my reserves were running low. Maeve hadn't been in the frame of mind for bedroom shenanigans since we'd returned, and I knew she'd last topped up from Rowan and Corbin in London, so she was good. I, on the other hand, was getting a serious case of blue balls (Flynn's phrase – descriptive and accurate). And although he was attractive enough with his floppy red hair and stupid grin, Flynn didn't want to ‘cross-swords' (another delightful phrase I picked up) with me, and I didn't think the others would appreciate my advances.

Also, I missed Maeve.

I hadn't had a chance to be alone with her since the empty office in London, the day I realised she felt more deeply for the others than she did for me. The rejection prickled at the back of my neck. I knew she'd told Corbin and Flynn she loved them, and I'm guessing Arthur, too, since she managed to tempt him into the harem. She probably told Rowan about her feelings for him that night she stayed away with him and Corbin and they came back reeking of each other.

Maybe she didn't want me anymore, now that they'd figured out they were hot for each other? Maybe she had no use for me any more?

I hoped not. Even though Maeve didn't love me, I didn't want to leave her. She meant everything to me. As much as I tried not to think of Briarwood as home – because I knew I'd have to leave one day – the feeling of returning to the castle after all those nights away was like the first spoonful of hot curry. I was kind of attached to the decadent human inventions of beds and whiskey and indoor plumbing.

Briarwood and Maeve had wormed their way under my skin.

And the guys…

I hated to admit it, but I kind of liked them. Ever since Corbin made the stop at my parents' old house, they'd all been treating me differently – Arthur threw insults at me every chance he had, and Rowan still barely made eye contact, but it the insults and the silence were good-natured, comfortable. I was one of them now.

One of them.

Don't get used to it, the voice in my head reminded me. Maeve's in charge – you're going to last as long as she needs your spirit magic, and then you'll be out of the harem, and her life.

If you even survive the Slaugh.

We crowded into the Great Hall. The guys flopped down on to their favourite chairs. I went to sit on the bean bag I usually chose, but Maeve tugged me toward the couch.

"Sit with me," she whispered.

I grinned. Yeah, like I could refuse Maeve with her heavy eyes and cheeks still pink from her anger at Flynn. I dropped down into the soft couch. Maeve slid in beside me, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. My fingers grazed the side of her breast, and all thoughts of leaving and the Slough flew out of my head.

"We were about to have a meeting before you showed up," Arthur said from behind the bar. He opened a bottle of mead and poured out a goblet for everyone except Rowan.

"About our fae situation, I suppose." I accepted the goblet he held out to me and gulped back the sweet alcohol. By Oberon, that stuff was good. The fae had honey wine, but like all their food, I'd never been able to drink it. At least Arthur's gave me a decent buzz before I threw up.

"Thanks to the Banksy wannabes here, we have a growing vessel of power to use against them." Maeve sipped her drink. "But we still don't know if it's enough to stop the Slaugh. I think it's time we spoke to Daigh."

"You do?" That was a surprise. It wasn't like Maeve to change her mind once she'd made it up, especially not when she believed she had logic on her side.

"I do," Maeve yawned. "But not now. It's late, and I'm about done with emotional beatings today. Bedtime, all of you. We'll summon the evil fairy in the morning."

The evil fairy. She had that right, and she barely knew the half of it. I wasn't really sure I wanted to see Daigh again.

A sliver of hope worked its way into my chest. Liah. Maybe I'd be able to get Daigh to talk about her. Even though she was trying to destroy all humans, I still wanted to know she was okay. At the church, Liah could have shot me right through the chest, but she hesitated. She told Daigh it was so that Maeve wouldn't hate him, but that seemed weak reasoning to me considering Maeve had already made her feelings about Daigh clear.

Maybe she lied. Maybe there was still a way I could reach Liah.

The group split up. Rowan went to the kitchen for his nighttime tea ritual. Aline trailed after him, holding up the hem of Rowan's jeans so they wouldn't slide down her narrow hips. Flynn and Corbin both gave Maeve long, lingering kisses. Arthur came over and held his arms out. "You want a lift up to bed?"

She shook her head, squeezing my knee, her fingers sliding along my thigh and springing my cock to life. "Not tonight. It's weird while Aline is here, you know."

"Sure." He wrapped his arms around her, pressing his lips to the top of her head. "Sweet dreams, Einstein."

Arthur's words sent a shiver through Maeve's body, but her face said it wasn't one of pleasure. Of course , the dream . She'd been having it more and more often.

A sickening thought occured to me as I watched her slink up the stairs. What if she'd snuck in a nap while I was busy being a guerilla artist? What if she'd seen whose body was on the sixth stake, and she knew I'd been hiding it from her? What if that's why she'd been keeping me close by her tonight?

I sprinted up the stairs after Maeve.

"Hey Princess," I whispered in her ear. "You fancy some company tonight?"

She smiled. "I was hoping you'd be keen, but fair warning – I'm probably just going to fall asleep in your armpit."

I lifted my arm to display my pit proudly. "Consider it yours."

We climbed to the first floor together, my heart racing. In her bathroom under the curving staircase up to her bedroom, Maeve handed a bulk pack of toothbrushes. "Choose one," she insisted, elbowing me as she spat her own paste in the sink. "I want you guys to have what you need in here."

I took a black one and pulled it to my lips. Maeve watched me smear the paste across my teeth, rubbing it in the with brush the way Flynn had taught me. "That's way too much pressure. Try in circles, like this." She demonstrated and I copied. "Atta boy. Now you don't have that fae magic keeping you young and handsome, you want to keep this up twice a day, or you'll end up at the dentist. And if you think Daigh's torture was bad, wait until you need a root canal."

I rubbed my chin, where a few days of stubble had grown in. "At least I haven't slit my throat shaving yet. There were a few hairy moments there, haha."

"Urgh, that's a horrible pun. You've been spending too much time with Flynn." Maeve ran her hand along my jaw, her touch searing my skin. "I like it like this. It makes look dangerous."

"I am dangerous."

She flicked my ear. "Of course you are, cutie. Just don't go full-on beard. I don't think Arthur could handle the competition."

After we finished our teeth, we climbed the stairs to her bedroom. I inspected the stack of science books on Maeve's desk while she tossed her clothes off and settled into her bed. She rubbed her eyes. "I keep having the dream," she said. "The one you showed me, with Briarwood in ruins and the burned bodies and the six stakes."

"I know." I pulled off my own clothes and slid in beside her, copping a look at her naked body, sinuous and languid, ripe for picking.

"You know?"

"When you have it, Princess, so do I."

"Shit, I'm sorry." Maeve lifted her neck so I could slide my arm behind her head. Her warm body relaxed against mine. "I don't want you to have to live through that nightmare ever again."

"I'm not afraid of a dream."

"I am. I'm afraid it's really some kind of premonition, even though I don't believe in premonitions. I'm afraid that I'm looking at the deaths of five people I love most in the world, and I can't do anything to stop them. I'm afraid that I can't see the sixth body on the stakes. Have you seen it?" Her eyes narrowed. "Can you tell me who it is?"

The five people I love most in the world. My heart pounded. Did she… include me in that list?

Should I tell her? Maeve had made it clear she didn't want any secrets. I was pretty sure this counted as a secret. By keeping it I was disobeying her direct orders.

The sixth stake flashed in front of my eyes, and I set my resolve. She's strong, but she's not strong enough for this. It will break her. Arthur and Corbin will protect her body. I have to protect her mind.

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. Either you're right and it's not a premonition, or it is a premonition, in which case there's no way we can change it."

She stroked my cheek. "Do you think it's some kind of fae magic planted by Daigh?"

"No. Dream magic is human magic. Faeries don't dream. Daigh used to ask me about my dreams. Sometimes he would paint what I described – vicious landscapes, tortured souls, weird creatures that didn't exist in the fae realm. He took great interest in this dream when I first had it. He painted the stakes, and the briar, and the castle in the background, exactly as I described."

"When did you first have it?"

"It was recent, maybe ninety days ago?—"

"But those are fae days. How long was your solar day?"

"Huh?"

"The time it takes the planet the fae realm exists on to make one full rotation so the sun appears in the same position in the sky. Or the sidereal day, that's how long it takes for—" Maeve shook her head. "No, ignore that. It's too complicated. Here on Earth, our solar day is 24 hours, as you might have noticed. But since the fae realm is in another entire part of the multiverse, your day could be longer or shorter."

"It was longer, I think. We didn't measure it in hours and seconds, so I don't really know."

"Could you draw some of the constellations you saw at night? Maybe we could figure out where it's located, if it's even in this galaxy or—" Maeve smiled. "Sorry, I got distracted. What happened when you told Daigh about the dream?"

"Daigh was super interested in it, as I knew he would be. It was what made him start all the preparations to come to earth. It was why he sent Kalen to spy on the coven and follow Corbin to America, where he found out you were still alive."

Maeve paled. "Have the others been dreaming it, too?"

"I doubt it, otherwise they'd have mentioned it. Unlike your sexy dreams, I think this one is just for you and me."

"And Daigh."

"Hey, don't hate me – it was all in aid of getting to you," I stroked her cheek. "I had a cunning plan – I give the dream to Daigh, he decides now is the perfect time to launch an attack on the human realm. He starts testing the limits of the gateway so he can get his hands on the sacrifice. I prove myself in battle and seize my chance to escape."

"Great plan," Maeve said sarcastically. "Considering you'd basically be escaping into a land about to be overtaken by the Slaugh."

"I figured if the Briarwood coven had defeated him once, they'd be able to do is again," I shrugged. "I didn't count on the remarkable incompetence of its current ranks, present company excepted."

She punched me in the arm. "What about Daigh's plans for us?"

My heart stuttered. She was referring to Daigh's belief that I would wed her, and we'd produce strong spirit children he could mould to his will.

"I wasn't keen on it, but that was before I saw you in person," I said, one of the few honest things I'd ever spoken. "When you leapt over that wall to protect Flynn, I knew I dealing with a truly exceptional witch."

Maeve wrapped her arms around me. "Tell me a story."

"A story?"

"About the fae realm. I want to know what it's like."

"You saw it."

"I mean, what it's like to live there."

"What do you want to know?"

"Tell me about Daigh. Tell me something that might make me not hate him."

I cast my mind back, searching for a memory that fit her criteria. It was hard, not least because Daigh could be easy to hate. Fae have different ethics to humans, and I knew many of the stories I found hilarious would disturb her.

Finally, something came back to me. I couldn't believe I'd forgotten it. "Daigh had a celebration every year, on the day he took me from my parents. He called it my ‘fae-day', because it was the day I became a fae in his eyes. As soon as the sun rose he placed a crown of rowan on my head, and I didn't have to remove it until sunrise the following day. It meant?—"

"How long was your sunrise?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Is this your way of dragging me into a conversation about time in the fae realm? Because I can see through such an easy trick."

She laughed and threw up her arms. The blanket tugged down, revealing the swell of her naked breasts, and it was everything I could do not to grab her and devour her. "You got me."

I fluffed her hair instead. "You're ridiculous."

"And you're amazing." Maeve wrapped her arm around my neck and pressed her lips to mine.

Amazing .

I drew back from her kiss, breathing hard.

Amazing was not the word to describe me.

I continued with the story. "So when I wore this crown, the princes had to do what I said, no questions, no exceptions. God it was fun. I was drunk on my power."

"What did you do?"

"For the first ten years of my life, I did the revenge thing. I got the wankers back for all the things they'd done to me throughout the year. I made Airell burn his twin brother's face. I forced Pwyll to eat processed human food and he threw up for six days ." I grinned at the memory. "It was fun."

"The Unseelie have a weird idea of fun."

I grinned. "I didn't have a Flynn for entertainment."

"Is there more to this story, because so far I'm not really seeing this good side of Daigh."

"There's more. After a few years, the revenge thing got boring. So I decided I'd have an actual party instead – a party that included everything I liked about the fae realm. Daigh sent fae to the human realm specifically to bring me back some cake, and had his chefs prepare a fae version that they could stomach. I invited the Seelie fairies to our revel, and for hours we drank and danced and Liah and I laughed and talked and there was no violence or ill will. I declared that all grudges must be healed and all debts were wiped. Daigh thought it was such a great idea, he made the party an annual tradition – once a year all fae had to clean their slates. I always admired that decision."

Maeve nodded. "Okay, yeah. That's nice. It doesn't make up for kidnapping you and torturing you and forcing you to live in the fae realm without human contact and killing my parents and conniving to annihilate the entire human race, but it's nice ."

I snorted. "You have very high expectations, Princess. Expecting your leaders to be kind and non-genocidal."

She laughed, her breasts bouncing against my chest. "In a weird way, we're almost like siblings, you know? In another life, in another multiverse, we might've grown up together, like Kelly and I. I might've called you my brother, instead of my boyfriend."

My heart leapt into my throat. "I'm your boyfriend?"

"Sure. That's what you call a boy who you're committed to. What do you call them in the fae realm?"

I grinned. "Lunch."

She punched my arm again. "Flynn has been a bad influence on you."

"Our father would be so proud."

"Don't say that. It's gross." She laughed bitterly. "Now that I know about the binding, I'm even sure about it anymore."

My heart hammered against my chest. "Not sure you love me?"

Maeve kissed me again. Spirit magic sparked from her lips, dancing over my tongue. "I'm more sure of that than anything. What I mean is, I don't see how I can possibly be Daigh's daughter. Not scientifically . Aline slept with Robert while Daigh was inhabiting his mind. So to her, Daigh's my dad. But that's not how genetics works." She broke off into a long explanation of chromosomes and DNA sequencing, which I didn't pay much attention to because I was distracted by her taste and her breasts swelling against me.

"You keep talking, Princess." I nibbled along her neck. "Don't mind me."

"Blake, this is serious. Do you have any idea if compelling someone would mean they retain some of your chromosomes…"

Maeve's words trailed away as I kissed a line across her collarbone. She leaned back against the sheets, pulling me on top of her. My lips crushed hers, my whole body lighting up as our spirit magic clashed against each other, rolling together inside of us and becoming one.

"I thought we were going to sleep," Maeve whispered, her mouth curling up into an enchanting smile.

"When beautiful women rub their naked breasts against me, sleep is the last thing on my mind."

More sparkling kissed landed on my lips. The room, the castle, the world faded away, unimportant against Maeve's unrelenting need.

She slid back, tucking a curl of black hair behind my ear. "Did you know the last time we were alone together was in the bathroom at Jane's cottage?"

"I had so many evil plans for you in that bathroom."

"Oh yeah, like what?"

I grinned, cupping her breast in my hand and pinching the nipple lightly. Maeve sucked a breath in through her teeth. "Let's just say those candles along Jane's windowsill would've looked great dribbled across your skin."

"You'll have to show me some time," she grinned, pinning my lips with hers.

"I've been waiting for this for so long." I moaned, my hands roaming over her body.

"Me too." She wrapped her legs around my torso, pulling me closer as she arched up to kiss me.

Maeve's skin sizzled and melted under my touch. I swirled one finger around her nipple, extracting a deep rumble of pleasure from her. With the other hand, I pulled her against me, mashing our bodies together as if I might be able to crawl inside her. We went to that clinic in London a few days ago, and I didn't quite understand why but Flynn told me it meant we didn't have to use condoms anymore. My cock twitched with anticipation as Maeve moaned against my lips.

As we kissed, the spirit magic fluttered inside me, flaring through my whole body and breaking out of my palms. Maeve and I swapped magic as our bodies writhed against each other. Her tongue wound around mine and I nearly fucking lost control of my magic completely.

I drew away, kissing a trail down her body while I tried to wrestle back control. I didn't want to accidentally fall into her head, not without her permission. Maeve moaned as my tongue circled around her nipple. I licked and sucked as she arched beneath me.

My hands drew down…down…between her legs, cupping her mound. My desire flared as Maeve's wetness touched my fingers. I slid a finger between her folds and drew it up, swirling it around her clit, pressing it against her until she came undone beneath me.

"Blake," Maeve moaned as her body shuddered with the remnants of her orgasm. I teased her entrance with the head of my cock. She tried to push her hips up to force me inside her, but I pulled back. She groaned in protest.

"If I really am part-fae, you must show me how the fae shag," Maeve whispered.

"As you wish, Princess." She yelped as I flipped her over. I grabbed her hips, yanking her on to her knees. "Brace yourself against the headboard."

Maeve wrapped her fingers over the top of the heavy wooden frame, bending her torso up toward me. She watched over her shoulder as I slid the tip of my cock down her back, resting it between her ass cheeks, admiring the shimmering quality of her pale skin. My cock twitched with irritation. It wanted to be inside her.

"Don't tease me, fairy." Maeve cooed, rocking her his back and tightening her cheeks around my cock. "I won't…oooooh."

I entered her with one stiff thrust. Nothing had ever felt as warm or sweet. Maeve Moore – skin on skin. Her scent swirled around me, pushing me closer to the edge.

Maeve's back curled as her hips shoved back against mine, driving me deeper still. The bedframe slammed against the wall as I pounded her body, binding myself to her with every shuddering thrust.

I reached around between her legs and touched the tip of my finger to her clit, so that every thrust would drive that sensitive bud into it. Maeve moaned her approval as she slammed her her hips back against me.

A wicked idea occurred to me and I withdrew my finger. Maeve groaned in protest, but her groan turned to yelps of pleasure as I opened the palm of my hand and sent a wave of spirit magic straight into her clit, exactly the way Flynn had taught me with the statue. I fed her all the shimmering heat she'd called up from inside me, until she slithered and slid down the bed.

"Blake…I…I can't…" Maeve gasped.

Her orgasm tore through her, and she thrashed wildly. I grabbed her waist and held her tight, bracing myself against the headboard so she didn't throw us both off the bed. Her walls closed around my cock, squeezing me until stars appeared in front of my eyes.

I lost control, and slipped through my magic, falling into Maeve's head. Her thoughts slammed into me – a wave of sensation and emotion rolling over me, plunging me deeper into her mind. With every fibre of her being, she reached out to me, her spirit humming as her sinapses converged on a single thought.

Love.

Waves of the stuff rolled off her and flowed into me, a whirlwind of warmth and comfort and devotion and passion and affection swirled through me, touching every part of me, inside and out. No one had ever expressed feelings like that about me, about me . I didn't even know it was possible to feel that deep about another person. But Maeve did. She loved with her whole heart and head and everything in between. She loved so hard her spirit magic loved, too.

She loves me. She loves me.

My whole body exploded. My own orgasm dragged me out of Maeve's mind and back into my own, which had turned to a mushy ball of primordial ooze. My limbs slackened and I collapsed against Maeve's body, sweat rolling down my back the last waves of warm pleasure coursed through my veins.

I was so spent, I couldn't even feel my cock any more. It was probably just as well, because my head was a complete mess of feelings.

Maeve rolled over, holding my head against her shoulder, her fingers rubbing lazy circles on my shoulder. "I'm yours," she whispered as her eyes fluttered closed.

She was mine. I'd never had anything I could call my own before, especially not a person as incredible as Maeve.

Mine.

And I was totally and utterly hers.