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She eyed the rows of neat houses they passed. Each of them was unique to the type of fae it housed. The brownies’ abodes were small and round, while the Formorian houses were large enough to shelter a family of giants. The effect was discombobulation, unevenness, chaos. So unlike the neat suburban neighborhoods of the humans, where all the houses looked alike and everyone cut the grass to exactly three inches.
Dear Gods, how Ronan loved Piefferburg. He’d been beyond the borders, thanks to the Phaendir. He’d seen the human world. All the fae wanted out of here, but he couldn’t see why. There was no magick out there.
“I guess hotels are out,” she muttered.
“In a normal hotel, even with countermeasures, the guard would track us so fast our heads would spin off our shoulders.” He grinned. “Never fear. I know the perfect place.”
She gave him a suspicious sidelong glance. “Where?”
“A love hotel.”
Her steps faltered. “A what?” Her gorgeous brown eyes grew wide.
“You’ve lived a sheltered life. A love hotel is a totally anonymous establishment. You check in via an unmoni tored computer system and pay cash for the room. Very popular with the affair-having set. Small, simple rooms, since usually people don’t go there for the décor.”
“They go there for the bed.”
“They go there to fuck.”
She averted her gaze, looking straight ahead. “No way.”
“You’re going if you don’t want to freeze to death, or be captured by the Queen’s Guard, or both.”
“Why couldn’t you have just left me alone? I could be home in bed right now.”
His boots crunched the snow-covered ground. “Why didn’t you leave me alone? You could have left me in my prison if you’d wanted and you didn’t. I didn’t want to put you in danger. I didn’t want you on this journey, but maybe it’s better you’re out of your prison too.”
“Prison? What are you talking about?”
“Come on, Bell, you know as well—”
“Bella.”
“—as I do that all the Seelie nobles are locked in a prison.”
“Every fae in Piefferburg is a prisoner, Ronan.”
“You know what I mean. The Seelie are expected to behave a certain way. They’re indoctrinated into a restrictive culture and told half-truths and outright lies about the outside world. Being born into that court is akin to being born with shackles on for an eternity.”
“Wow, Ronan. You never used to feel this way. When I knew you, you weren’t so negative about the Seelie. Is it because they recently tried to get rid of you?”
He shook his head. “My opinion of the Seelie Court has never changed. I petitioned the Summer Queen to reside in the Rose Tower because I had a good reason to do so, that’s all.”
“What was your reason?”
His reason had been her. He’d visited on an errand for the Shadow King all those years ago, had met Bella and fallen in love with her. He’d petitioned the Summer Queen immediately for residency. Circumstances being what they were, he’d been forced to eventually end his affair with Bella, but he’d never wanted to leave her proximity, so he’d remained in the Rose instead of returning to the Black. No matter how much it had hurt to see her so often and never be with her, he’d remained. “I stayed at the Rose Tower for you.”
“Stop, Ronan. Just stop. You confuse me.”
“Let me explain.”
“No.” She shook her head. “You have no idea how badly you broke my heart. I don’t want to hear it. I just want to get through this.” She crossed her arms over her chest and hugged herself. “Where is this hotel, anyway?”
“In good time. We’re almost at my friend’s place.”
She looked down the quiet, snowy, house-lined street. Then she looked back at their footprints on the walk behind them, quickly being covered over with a frosting of snow. “Your friend lives in the Ceantar Láir?”
“No, not exactly.” He murmured a low, magickally charged Maejian phrase, took two steps forward, and disappeared.
