Chapter 15

Fifteen

WESLEY

M aybe I could feed it to him. He wouldn’t know to find Sebastian, and would likely wake up thinking it was all a fever dream, but he’d be safe. Did we have to eat the whole cake to escape? And why did I care about a mortal I’d only just met?

I picked up the cake and used the fork sitting on the plate beside it to slice a piece off and hold it out for Finn. “Try this.”

“I can’t touch it.”

“You’re not. That’s why I’m trying to feed it to you. I want to see if the magic will recognize me, but let you eat it.”

“You should try it first.”

“I don’t think it’s poison or anything.”

“But you don’t know either,” Finn said. He folded his arms across his chest. Would the cake turn bad if he could touch it?

“I think the cake is from a fae I committed to serve from outside the realm,” I said.

“Committed to serve? Like slavery?”

“I know it sounds strange to an American, but it’s normal among the fae.”

“I’m actually from Canada,” Finn said. “Committed to serve sounds like some sort of ownership to royalty. Slavery or indentured servitude.”

“It is. That’s how being fae works. The other fae is the Summer king. I believe he or his mate sent the food to try to connect with me.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you have to be a slave to this guy?”

“Because he’s more powerful than I am.”

Finn stared at me; eyes narrowed.

“Yes, it’s archaic, but Sebastian is young and part human. I think he’s a little more laid back as a leader.”

“Okay, but they wouldn’t know me at all.” Finn pointed out.

“Sebastian is that sort of sickly-sweet type who tries to rescue everyone. He and his mate own a bakery and a tea shop. They have the most delicious teas,” I said wistfully.

“A fae king owns a bakery?” He eyed the cake.

“I’m hoping if I feed it to you, you can eat it and maybe get pulled out of this world?”

“What about you?”

“I can drink the tea instead. You eat the cake.”

“What if you need both to get out?”

Why did he have to ask so many questions? “Can you try it, please?” I asked, unable to hide my frustration. What was it about this man that made me impatient to save him? I’d watched plenty of mortals die. The fae were really good at killing the fragile things of the mortal world. “I still don’t know if you can touch it, but I’m hopeful. As a mortal, you shouldn’t be in this realm at all.”

“Wait, mortal? Does that mean you’re immortal?”

“No one is really immortal,” I huffed. “Some things are just harder to kill. Like the fae…”

“Creepy.”

“Please just try the fucking cake.”

“Fine,” Finn said and leaned in, opening his mouth.

I stared at him for a half second, then carefully slid the fork of cake toward his mouth.

The cabin trembled, a booming shake rippling through the walls and floor as though it were meant to shatter. The cake never made it to Finn’s lips, and I dropped the cake and the fork, both of them landing together on the plate as though drawn by a magnet. Finn grabbed my arm to steady me as the entire cabin rolled and shook, noise deafening. The light flickered and vanished.

“What the fuck?”

The cabin crumbled, pieces of the ceiling tumbled around us in broken bits of logs and debris. Finn pulled me close, arm strong as a vise around me, warming me as he yanked me out of the path of a giant beam that landed where we’d been standing.

“Okay, maybe we angered your Summer king or something?” Finn said.

The tea sat on the counter, unmoved by the shaking, cake also perfectly still. But the wood stove opened, door swinging hard to the side and fire leapt upward, engulfing the cabinets in seconds.

“I don’t think this is Sebastian’s doing.” Fire licked at the walls, exploding through the kitchen part of the cabin in seconds.

“Jesus, fuck,” Finn said as he dragged me toward the door.

A giant beam fell over the door as if to block it. I knew there couldn’t have been anything in the roof of the cabin that large. Did that mean it was an illusion?

Finn cursed, and reached for the beam, trying to lift it, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Step back,” I told him.

He hesitated only a half second, and I kicked the beam, expecting my leg to go through it like it was an illusion, only the wood splintered in half.

“That was helpful. Fae are super strong, eh?” He grabbed at the broken edge shoving it aside to push open the door.

A gust of wind slammed into the cabin, making the entire thing sway. Deep into the woods, surrounded by trees, I knew wind of that force wasn’t scientifically possible, which meant only one thing. Fae magic.

Was this world trying to kill Finn? Why?

He shoved at the door until the narrow slit was barely wide enough to crawl through. “Come on,” he shouted, the crackling fire, wailing wind, and popping of burning wood muting his words. “You first.”

“Gentlemanly and all, but I think you better go first.” A thousand fears of him getting trapped inside after I was already freed crossed my mind. I put my hand on my chest. “Fae, remember? Harder to kill.”

“Are you fireproof?” he asked.

Another beam fell, this one a flaming stretch across the living space that left us only a few inches of space to move, heat rising, and smoke choking.

“Fuck, you better be right behind me,” Finn cursed, crawling out the door and shoving at it as he went. He waited until I slid into the space too, shoving and holding the opening, then reached back to yank me out as he popped free.

We both tumbled a few steps from the door, a wave of fire and heat lapping at the open space we’d crawled through, the entire cabin engulfed and blazing. Finn swallowed hard enough for me to hear and gripped my arm, gaze upward. For a half second I thought the trees had caught flame too, but it was worse than that.

“Please tell me that’s another form of our kitten friend,” Finn said face inches from the snout of a dark dragon with more teeth than a shark, and shadows dripping from its scales.