Page 82 of Filthy Fae

“Can you move, Summer?” I whispered.

“No.” He gave me a sad smile. “And my name is Marius, please.”

“Aw, cute. I’ll leave you two to get better acquainted.” Mab headed for the door, and I knew that the moment she stepped outside, this would all be over. Mab would get away with her mother’s assassination—and by extension the murder of the four fae princes—leaving me locked up at the crime scene.

I took a steadying breath as a new wave of exhaustion threatened to pull me down. Shaking my head, I returned my gaze to the fleeing princess. “You’re smarter than I gave you credit for.”

Mab paused at the door to glance over her shoulder. “You’re not the first person to say that to me.”

Gathering all my strength, I moved to a crouch. Just as Mab turned the knob, I called, “And framing my pack—nice move. Now, after your mother dies, you’ve paved a road to take over Heartland and exterminate the wolves. The other fae courts will support you as well, grieving their fallen princes.”

“That was the plan.” Mab kept one hand on the doorknob, keeping it in a turned position, but she pivoted toward me. “No one else was supposed to die. You can lay the blame for that at your sister’s feet, Scarlet. She blocked the incubus from his target at the party. The demon had gathered so much strength that he broke free of Morte for a couple minutes and went into a frenzy to slaughter the mages who were keeping him contained. He may have taken the lives of twenty-two fae and three mages, but your sister is responsible. Zeezee Riley and your pack deserve to die for that alone.”

“Your logic is so fucked. My sister protected her mate, and therefore it’s Zeezee’s fault you lost control of the demon you summoned.” I laughed. “Oh, Mab—you are exactly like your mother. You’re like her spitting-fucking-image. The apple fell in the tree and got caught up in its branches to rot.”

Mab’s nostrils flared, and she dropped the doorknob to run a hand over her floral dress. “You have no idea what I’ve been through. My mother has been trying to kill me for eight-hundred years. She’s sent assassins after me. She’s thrown me off cliffs. She’s blasted me with so much wind it tore off my face.”

“But has she ever killed dozens of innocent people and kidnapped more as mere collateral?” I clicked my tongue. “Yeah, on the bloodthirsty narcissist scale, you have your mother beat by a mile.”

Mab spun entirely, pacing toward me. “She bound my little brother to her lifeforce.”

I shrugged. “And you killed him. Yeah, sorry, Mab, you are a real—”

Mab reared back to kick me, but I grabbed her other leg and yanked. The princess went down, her back slamming into the wood floor, and I pounced. It was what I’d been planning, but my body was slow to cooperate.

My wolf pushed to the forefront, her energy sluggish. My fangs and claws elongated, but not nearly fast enough. A violent wind slammed into the front of my body and face. As I flew away from her, I just managed to hook my hands around her shoulders and dig my claws through the straps of her dress and into her flesh. My whole body elevated in the wind, and my arms seared from the pressure of holding onto the princess, but I clenched my hands, piercing my claws deeper.

Mab screamed as blood pooled under her. Her face twisted in rage, and the air blasted even harder, feeling like sandpaper rubbing my naked flesh. Blood dripped down my cheeks, and the area around my eyes ached like a raw wound doused in salt. My vision whitened as my eyes seared with piercing pain as if they were being ripped from my skull.

Pulling on my wolf, she surged into me, her strength gaining by the second. Fur pushed out of my aching skin as my bones shifted. Soon I’d lose the dexterity of my human hands, so with all my strength, I yanked my body closer to the princess and clamped my teeth around her neck. Hot blood filled my mouth, and I drank it in, burying my teeth deeper.

Mab gurgled, and wind hit me like a solid wall. Her skin shredded in my jaws, and I went tumbling end over end. I rolled and slid across the room, spitting out a chunk of the princess’ torn flesh. Adrenaline pumped through me, and I dodged, expecting immediate retaliation, but when I looked back, the princess lay prone near the hearth, blood bubbling from her neck.

“She’s not dead,” the queen called out from across the room. “Mab is far too powerful to die from simply having her throat ripped out. I’d appreciate it if you don’t kill her, either. She is my child and heir.”

I spun, baring my fangs, only to see Queen Titania leaning in the doorway.

“You don’t believe me? Mab loves to regale everyone with how much of a victim she is, but if I truly wanted her dead, I would have just killed her. I’m tired, and I don’t want to have to play these games with any of my other children.” The queen looked as if she were fresh from a workout at the gym, her color warm and her eyes bright. Her hair was tousled with a just-had-sex look. She wore a silk robe with a cord wrapped around her thin waist several times. She held the tasseled end of one of the ties in a hand and spun it lazily. “How about you change so we can talk a while, Scarlet Riley? Unfortunately, it appears I can’t kill you, so there’s no harm in turning into your less lethal form.”

An image filled my mind, a small red wolf leaping over Princess Mab’s supine body, knocking the queen to the ground, and sinking my fangs into her throat.

Part of me agreed with my wolf, but this situation was just too fucking weird. Hesitating only a moment, I pushed down my wolf, urging her back. My skin itched as fur slid back into my pores, and bones once more shifted under my skin. When I’d completely changed back, I stood and spat the princess’ blood onto the floor. “You call this a game?”

“Of a sort.” She sighed. “You’re right. My daughter and I are too alike. It happens when you spend nearly a thousand years with someone you both loathe and love.”

“The man in there is a—”

“Demon? Yes, I know.” Titania swept her hand toward Marius, who lay slumped on the floor, his eyes shut. I studied him, only looking away when I saw the telltale rise of his chest that whispered that he was still alive.

“They’re alive, too. This isn’t my first time with an incubus. I know when to stop. I can have a little fun as he drains my guards’ energy, but I stop before he has access to mine.”

“That’s sick,” I whispered.

Titania’s shoulders shook. “You sound like her.” She tilted her head toward her daughter. “Next thing I know, you’ll be calling for witch burnings. It was one of Mab’s favorite hobbies for a time. I found it rather distasteful.”

“There are worlds of difference between Mab and me, but that doesn’t make what you did any less twisted,” I said. “So, you were what—in on this whole thing? Is there really no curse?”

“Oh, there’s a curse. Hence me not killing you, daughter.”