Chapter 3

Izael was scheming.

It was what he did well.

He had sent Puck to fetch his songbird, but the unpredictable and untrustworthy half breed had yet to return. That meant he was not likely to return at all. Either Puck was playing his own game, had ignored Izael's demand, or had become entirely distracted by a squirrel and had lost sight of the importance of what he had been tasked with.

Or all the above.

It meant there was only one option left to get Alex back. One card he could play. And he loathed doing it, almost as much as he loathed asking Puck for help. It was less embarrassing, sure—but it was far, far more dangerous.

He had to ask Valroy for help.

Shuddering at the notion, he straightened his suitcoat and strolled into Valroy's home. It was daylight, so the Unseelie King was likely sleeping. Izael knew it was entirely the wrong time to bust in on the fae ruler unannounced, but—there might only be seconds before Alex was murdered by the Seelie.

If she wasn't already dead.

Or claimed by someone else.

No, she is mine! Mine!

Urgency drove him forward. Urgency and need. And perhaps a broken heart. Damn it, damn this foolish love! It was incredibly inconvenient. Lust, he enjoyed—it could be used and discarded. It rarely lasted. And it rarely caused such agony. But love? Love was painful.

Valroy was, thankfully, not asleep. He was sitting at his table, leaning back in his chair, staring off into the middle distance. One of his long ears twitched at hearing Izael approach.

The King sighed. "Finally, you arrive, snake."

Wait. What?Izael grimaced. "You were expecting me?"

"I am here, wondering how I can get us both out of this mess you have caused." Valroy shot him a withering glare. "We had all we needed in my hands?—"

My hands. Not yours. Izael didn't dare correct his King. He liked having his limbs exactly where they were meant to be.

"—and you have squandered it! You idiotic thing. What did you do?"

Izael fought to keep a wince off his features. "I must have her back."

Valroy pushed up from the table, anger now clearly winning over his amusement. "The human is with Abigail. My wife is absent this morning, which tells me that is certain. She has the human. A human with a wish due to you—one that I planned to wield for the good of our people. We were on the verge of freedom, you fool!" He bared his teeth as he spoke. "And now I must solve this problem for both of us."

Izael did his best not to bristle at that, but it was unavoidable. "Alex belongs to me."

"And you may have her, once she wishes away the treaty." Valroy sneered. "Until then, she is mine to do with what I wish. That much should be painfully clear to you."

There was no amount of grandstanding Izael could do that could force the King to back down. He was, after all, nigh unstoppable. Izael could attempt to pray to the Morrigan for favor—or even perhaps approach the Seelie Queen herself.

Both paths were doomed to fail. No, he had to deal with Valroy.

"Your method of convincing her to use her wish to aid us will leave her scarred and shattered—I do not wish to have you break my toy." Izael could not reveal to the King his real feelings for Alex. Any confession like that would mean that Valroy had leverage over him. And that was deadly.

"And what shall you do, little Duke, to stop me?" The King smirked, staring at him like a wolf. To look away would be to defer. Such was the way of challenges like this in the wild.

Izael grimaced.

Valroy was the Unseelie King.

Valroy was unnatural, even by their standards. The son of the Morrigan and an archdemon, with the soul of the void itself.

There was nothing Izael could do to stop Valroy.

Not directly.

Izael turned away, pacing in his frustration. It was the only thing that legs did better than his tail. Valroy chuckled, a sound that only further served to irritate Izael.

Izael ran through the options in his mind. He could confess his love for the witch—but Valroy would only laugh harder and have a terrible new way to hurt him. Threatening the King would only get Izael turned into a pair of snakeskin boots.

No. He had to be clever about this. "Either way, her presence with the Seelie serves neither of our goals."

"That is quite true." Valroy sighed. "I will have to go contend with my wife." He unfurled his wings from his back before folding them around his front, clasping the claws in front of him like the hasp of a cape.

That was at least one thing that Izael did not have to do—fight with the Seelie Queen.

"Return to your home, Duke." Valroy looked to be bracing himself for war. It was close enough.

"You must bring her to me when you return with her. Her wish is mine, and our bargain still stands—as is the law of our people. Three days remain to my bargain with Alex, and those three days, I shall have." Izael tightened his fists, careful not to puncture his own palms with his long nails. "She is mine by right."

"You lost her once. Who is to say you will not lose her a second time?" Valroy smirked. "No, she will be kept safe in my care once she returns."

"But the laws?—"

"You may visit her whenever you like." His smirk turned into a sneer. "Whatever is left of her when I am finished."

Valroy vanished to the tune of his cruel laughter.

Izael snarled in rage, disappearing as well. Best not to destroy any of the King's home and ensure his own downfall in the process.

Puck's intervention might be the only thing that could save Alex from Valroy.

Where is that irritating half-breed?

"I brought donuts!"

Alex screamed as Puck appeared out of thin air next to her, holding a box of Dunkin' Donuts. She would have punched him if it hadn't startled her out of her chair and sent her sprawling to the floor. "Fuck!"

Puck cackled. "Sorry."

"No, you're not." Alex grunted. She was still in Abigail's little home, and the pine floor wasn't so soft when she hit it unexpectedly like that.

Abigail simply shook her head.

"No, you're right." Puck put the donuts down on the table and immediately opened it to shove a powdered confection in his face, not caring about the mess it made. "Donuts are the best."

Alex got up from the floor and brushed herself off. "Why're you here?"

He jerked his head at Abigail, sending a few strands of his silver hair in front of his eyes. "She's my boss."

Alex arched an eyebrow. "You have a boss?"

"Insomuch as he is capable, yes." Abigail leaned back in her chair, watching the exchange with mild amusement. "Insomuch as one can put lightning in a bottle. But the question remains—Puck, why are you here?"

The fae lunatic blinked. "I mean, I can't share some donuts with my favorite ladies? Sheesh. Way to make a boy feel unwanted." He sat heavily in a chair, talking around the donut he was still devouring, sending specks of powdered sugar flying.

"And it has nothing to do with the fact that our dear Alex is now my guest?" Abigail tilted her head, her expression both dubious and knowing. Alex figured the Queen probably had several hundred years of putting up with Puck's antics.

"Just because I want a front row seat to the shitshow doesn't mean I'm up to something." He had devoured the first donut and was reaching for a second. "You know me, sometimes I like to watch."

Another comment she wasn't going to touch with a ten-foot pole. Alex sat back down with a sigh and took a chocolate donut and split it in half. "The donuts were thoughtful."

Puck smiled beatifically. "See? She likes me." He batted his eyes at Abigail.

The Queen simply shook her head. "And our dear Duke of Bones did not have anything to do with your arrival?"

Puck shrugged nonchalantly. "He might've asked me to come get Alex and bring her back to him. But that slippery bastard can go fuck himself with both his dicks."

Alex snorted despite herself. She shouldn't like Puck. She really shouldn't. But she did. "And are you going to?"

"What, and pick a fight with the boss lady? Fuck no. Besides, I told him I'd take you wherever you wanted to go. I don't owe him shit." Puck shoved another piece of a donut into his mouth before starting to work on a third.

"That's fair." She sighed. "I have three days until this deal with Izael runs out and I have to make a wish if I have one. And I—I don't know what to do. Valroy will?—"

"I will what?"

Speak of the devil.

Half-devil.

Valroy stepped out of the shadows like a nightmare.

Alex shot up from the table fast enough that she knocked over her chair. She didn't know what to do. Instinct took over. She hid behind Abigail, putting the Seelie Queen between her and the Unseelie King.

Who were married.

This is fucked up.

Abigail stood, serving to further block Valroy from getting near her. "You have no claim over her, Valroy. Once more, I know what you are after."

Valroy huffed, took a few steps forward, and leaned down to kiss Abigail, who greeted him in kind.

This is seriously fucked up.

Puck smirked at her. "It's complicated." He shoved the last part of the third donut into his mouth.

"No shit," she muttered back.

Valroy ran the backs of his fingers over Abigail's cheek. "She has a contract with an Unseelie. That gives me all right to enforce that the deal be met in good faith. And keeping her here violates the terms of the contract."

"Hm. A contract that we both know you were going to supersede." Abigail shook her head. "I have no reason to believe you would uphold the contract if I were to release her from my care."

"I don't want to get tortured by this fucker. I'm not going with him." Alex clenched her fists. She didn't want to see what would happen if she messed around with Valroy's music—all pipe organs and deep strings, unsurprisingly. She wondered what would happen if she changed it from a minor chord to a major chord and then made him entirely piccolo. Maybe he'd turn into a very angry hamster.

The idea almost made her laugh.

Almost.

But so far, Valroy didn't know anything about her weird magic—and it would probably be a very good idea to keep it that way. It was best to play it cool.

"Your objection to being tortured has been noted." Valroy sneered. "For what it matters."

Abigail ran a hand down her face. "I shall not release her to you, my love. If you admit your plan to dishonor the contract, then I have no reason to abide by it."

"Hm." Valroy pondered the situation for a moment. "Then I suppose I shall have to abide by the contract. I believe three days and three nights are what remains of it, yes?" Faintly glowing blue eyes flicked to Alex.

Alex took a step back. "Yeah."

"Then I shall return you to Izael. He shall convince you to break the treaty. I shall stay out of it."

She narrowed her eyes. "Izael wants to torture me to give you what you want, so he gets to keep my soul. It doesn't matter if you agree not to torture me. He will."

"And? Izael's business is his to decide." Valroy reached down and picked up a donut, turned it over with a look of sheer disgust, and then dropped it back into the box. He wiped the powdered sugar on his pants. "I have no say over how he wishes to spend the rest of his time with you."

"No. No, I'm not doing it. I don't want anything to do with Izael right now. I want to stay here." Alex took another step back. "Home isn't safe. Izael isn't safe. Here's my best shot." She laughed in disbelief. "Which is ridiculous."

"I fear you have no say in the matter. Our laws are clear—a contract with a human is unbreakable, not even by Abigail or me." Valroy wiped his hand on Puck's shoulder, leaving a smear of powdered sugar on the fabric.

Puck rolled his eyes. "You were just about to break it, you—" A withering look from Valroy stopped Puck in his tracks.

"You must return to Earth during the day, and Tir n'Aill at night for three days. If he wishes to torture you, and you do not find that amenable, well…" Valroy chuckled darkly. "I suggest you learn to protect yourself."

Or I turn him into a newt. Alex shut her eyes and took a breath. "Abigail?"

"If you attempt to meddle with Izael and Alex, I will intercede." It was clear the Seelie Queen was used to pushing her weight around with her husband. "I will personally ensure that you do leave them to their business."

"No—you're serious? You're going to make me go back?" Alex felt her eyes go wide. "But Izael?—"

"You are resourceful. Clever, and quick witted. You will be all right." Abigail smiled at her gently. "And I will be watching. Should you need my aid, call for me or for Puck."

"Now who is meddling?" Valroy glowered at Abigail.

"Simply the threat of it, as you have threatened the same," Abigail retorted calmly. It was obviously a conversation they'd had a thousand times before.

"Fuck." Alex put her hands over her face. "This just keeps getting worse."

"Then wish it all away. My war with the Seelie has nothing to do with you. Wish the treaty away, and all this ends, human." Valroy almost sounded kind with those words, like he meant it.

"Yeah, until you try to torch Earth. Again."

"My wife will foil my attempts, as she has before." Valroy gestured idly. "It is still no matter of yours. You do not belong here. Wish the treaty away, and all will be well."

"Except then Izael gets my soul," Alex reminded the King dryly. It seemed he liked to skip over that part. "Then it really does matter to me what the Unseelie and Seelie do to each other.

"That is not my problem. You were the one foolish enough to deal with him." Valroy shrugged a single shoulder, as if he couldn't be bothered enough to shrug with both.

Gods, she wanted to punch him in his perfect face.

Placing her hands over her eyes, she took a deep breath and counted back from ten. She ignored Puck's quiet snickering at her obvious frustration.

She had to go back to Earth for three days, and to Tir n'Aill for three nights. But after what she had just done…? There was no way she could face Izael just yet. No way in hell. Dropping her hands, she met Abigail's gaze. "I am petitioning for a delay in my contract."

Puck cackled. Valroy smacked him upside the head, nearly sending the half-breed's face into the box of donuts.

Abigail hummed thoughtfully. "I will consider your request, human. Why are you asking for a delay?"

"The contract I made with Izael was under different circumstances. Things weren't this, uh—" She glanced at Valroy. "I only had my own soul to worry about. Not your world and Earth. This changes things. I need time to consider what to do next."

Abigail tapped her finger on her chin. "For how long?"

"One month." It seemed fair.

Valroy's expression twisted into disgust. He opened his mouth to speak.

"Oh, shut up. You're immortal," Alex snapped at him. She honestly didn't know where she got the nerve. Her patience had worn thin. "Thirty days is like a fart to you people."

Puck was cackling again, slapping the table in joy. "I love this girl!"

Valroy went to swing for Puck's head again, but the lunatic half-breed blinked out of existence before reappearing on the other side of the room, floating there with a stupid grin on his face. The Unseelie King snarled, clearly not enjoying being made a fool of.

"One day," Valroy countered, glowering at her.

"One week." Abigail's statement was firm. There was no arguing. "One week shall be the duration. And where shall you spend this time?"

"Not here," Valroy hissed through his teeth. "Neutral ground. Earth."

After a pause, Alex nodded. She'd be without the protection of the Seelie, but she also didn't know if she could trust them. At least on Earth she'd know what to expect. "And Izael stays away from me. I need seven days to think."

"I will inform Izael he is to stay here in Tir n'Aill." It was clear Valroy wasn't pleased.

Alex tilted her head to the side slightly. "Oh, like he listened before?"

Abigail had the faintest smile on her face. But her eyes were glittering in something Alex could only describe as pride. The Queen seemed…proud of her. "She has a valid point, my love." Abigail turned to Valroy. "You know Izael will stop at nothing to reach her."

Valroy sighed. Yes, he knew. And that had been his plan, it seemed. "Then she should be guarded by a neutral party."

"Me! Me!" Puck raised his hand, flailing it about. "Pick me!"

"No," Abigail and Valroy responded in unison.

Holy shit.They were like a dysfunctional family in a sitcom. What the fuck had she gotten herself mixed up in? She scrambled for an idea. "What about—what about that goat guy and his broken glass boyfriend?"

Valroy's expression twisted up in one of confusion and clear revulsion at having anybody described in such a way. "Bayodan and Cruinn?"

"Yeah—those two. They're Abigail's friends, but they're Unseelie. Right?" It'd be a weird time, sharing a house with a man who looked like Dracula crossbred with a goat, and a walking disco ball, but whatever. If they weren't going to choose Puck—which she was vaguely in agreement with—she didn't know of any other options.

Abigail considered it for a moment. "I find this amenable."

Valroy's expression was one of a man who was feeling a migraine coming on. "Very well. One week, you shall remain on Earth without Izael meddling or visiting you, to allow you some time to consider your new circumstances. You shall do so in the company of Bayodan and Cruinn."

"You suck," Puck muttered as he folded his arms across his chest. "I'm still gonna hang out with her, though. She's fun."

Abigail shook her head. Valroy rolled his eyes. But neither argued. They probably knew they couldn't do anything to stop him, anyway.

"And if Izael still doesn't listen? What happens to him?" Alex hated how obvious it was that she…cared. Izael wanted to do terrible things to her. He wasn't exactly a safe person to be around. She shouldn't care what happened to him. But she did.

Valroy's knowing smirk told her that he could see right through her. "I shall finally have those new boots I have wanted for so very long."

"You don't even wear shoes, you—" Puck shrieked as Valroy picked up a tea kettle and lobbed it at his head. He vanished in a blink, reappearing behind Alex, grumbling.

Yeah, she really shouldn't like the crazy fae, but she did.

"His life will be forfeit. Too much rides upon this wish of yours, human." Valroy bared his teeth, showing off his fangs like a wild animal. "You have your seven days. After which, you will be returned to Izael. What he does with you then?" He smiled. It sent a shiver up her spine. "The mind can only imagine."

Without another word, Valroy disappeared in a swirl of dark smoke.

Alex finally let her shoulders relax away from her ears. God, he was terrifying.

"Ass," Puck grumbled.

Abigail shook her head. "You did well, Alex. But I fear you have only delayed the inevitable."

"I know. But at least a delay lets me think." She rubbed her hands over her face. "And I really, I just—I can't deal with Izael right now. Not after…" What he said. What he was going to do.

"I understand." Abigail approached and gently took Alex's hands. "Believe you me, I understand. More than you know. You are clever, far more than I ever was. Bayodan and Cruinn are two of my oldest, truest friends. They will keep your secrets. They will keep you safe. You played your hand excellently."

Compliments from the Seelie Queen. Alex's life had taken very strange turns lately. "Th—" She stopped herself and let out a heavy sigh.

Abigail laughed before hugging Alex. "Take her home, Puck. She needs rest."

No kidding.

"I appreciate the help." Alex smiled down at Abigail. "I know you don't need to help me. Killing me is the easier way out of this whole mess."

"It is. But I've learned one thing over my years, dear girl." Abigail reached up and put a palm to Alex's cheek. "Never get in the way of love."

Love.

Right.

Alex took a step back and shook her head. "I don't love him."

Abigail's smile was knowing and sly. "Safe travels, Alex."

Puck grabbed Alex by the shoulder. "Toodles, babe!"

The world around her folded in half and disappeared.