Page 86 of How Does It Feel?

Good. I didn’t need to diffuse another war between the two queens today.

I sized up the two brothers. Aurelius was the taller brother, though still not at tall as me. Langmure was more muscular, but in a lean “I run away a lot” sort of way. They both wore the typical Seelie dress, all white with a gold crown atop each of their obnoxiously blonde heads. I had refused my crown tonight. They all knew who I was, I didn’t need a crown to evoke what their nightmares reminded them of.

Aurelius downright gawked as his eyes found Callie behind me. I watched as pure desire flooded his golden eyes. His flaxen-feathered wings popped out from behind his back, startling his brother and everyone else in the room as he stared at my pet.

A male Fae’s wings only appeared when they wanted to fuck or fight.

Darkness shadowed the light as my own wings snapped out. I stepped in front of Callie, and the action drew Aurelius’s stare to me with a small smirk as he and his brother walked to the center of the room to meet us, wings still spread.

“So it’s true then,” Langmure stated as he glared at me. To his benefit, he didn’t look intimidated like most. Idiot. “We heard that you held a captive human, but I thought even for you that was awfully low.” Even if they knew more, they wouldn’t admit to anything here at the Court of Faerie.

“We hope that you have been treated well,” Aurelius moved in front of his brother to take Callie’s hand. His broad golden wings almost knocked his brother down.

“I uh—” Callie stared wide-eyed before I shoved her behind me.

“I suggest you go to that far back corner with your brother and stop touching what’s mine unless you want your throat slit, Aurelius. Whatever your interest in the human, it ends now,” I growled.

Langmure’s wings unfurled with a smile.

“How sweet, the monster has fallen in love with the human,” Langmore mocked as he stepped closer to get in my face.

My blood itched—screamed—to break his neck, even though it would cause a small war we couldn’t afford to be in right now. The Court of Faerie was supposed to be neutral territory.

I had been so focused on Langmore in my face that I hadn’t noticed Aurelius had moved behind me and pulled Callie to his side, gripping her close.

Her eyes connected with mine, full of fear and something else I couldn’t place.

“Remove your hand, or you are as good as dead, Aurelius,” I warned.

Darkness seethed and smoked from my every pore as it clouded the room.

“As you’ve brought a captive human to the Court of Faerie, it is our duty to make sure she gets back to the human realm safely. We have every right to take her Mendax, and you know it.” Langmore smiled smugly, clearly enjoying this.

The entire room was hushed, frozen and tense as they watched us. We had walked right into this.

“She comes with us. Let’s go,” Aurelius said as he moved Callie toward the door.

She was stunned as she stared at me. Far too weak to do anything against the strong Fae male. Even if he had not had the strength gifted to Fae royals, she was no match for him.

His hand snaked around her middle as he pulled her back against him and toward the door, his wings spreading wider the more his hand touched her body. He leaned down to whisper something against the crook of her neck, and the golden feathers trembled.

Seeing the other male touch her sent a thundering crackle of rage through me like nothing I’d ever felt.

Every vein in my body vibrated with the unbridled need to get him away from her. What if they took her away from me?

Letting out a snarl, I grabbed Langmure’s head and ripped it from his body.

A loud crack broke the air as his spinal cord severed. Smoke flowed from my hands like a tornado, shredding Langmure’s Seelie body and sending pieces of him everywhere. His gold blood speckled the room and every person in it.

I would not let them have her. War or not.

I shadowed behind Aurelius, now the only living Seelie prince. The room gasped and screamed, knowing how strong you had to be if capable of shadowing in the Court of Faerie itself.

I reached out to grab Aurelius’s throat, and he struggled to wrap his wings protectively around Callie. How saintly of him.

It made me feral seeing him attempt to shield her from me.

She was mine.