Page 19 of Fae Games

“What did you see?” I asked.

Flora blinked. “Huh?”

“When you looked out in the hallway, who was there?”

“Lots of people.” She scratched her head. “The Starlight sisters, those girls from the Noble House of Kellas, Mistress Ellyllon and Master Gladiolus—”

“You can’t see through glamours, can you?”

She reared back. “What?”

“I swallowed a pinch of salt.” My fist opened, revealing the pink sachet. “When my eyes cleared, it was just those three standing alone.”

“Oh, my Lord.” Flora clapped both hands over her cheeks. “What did they do that for?”

“They’re angling to blame Lady Gala for what all four of them did to Helen.”

“No!” she cried, although from the tone of her voice, she had believed every word.

“Think about it.” I wrapped a hand around her arm and guided her through the quiet hallway. “Prince Rory has made it clear that he prefers me over his supposed fated mate. If they can pin their crime on Lady Gala, she’ll get locked up, and he’s going to need a mate.”

“You,” she whispered.

I raised my shoulders. “Maybe, if I joined forces on them, people might believe Lady Gala was working alone.”

“Devious bitches.”

My teeth ground together. “It’s how they got me naked in front of the school with Elijah.”

She rubbed the back of her neck. “I did wonder about that.”

“Well, now you know,” I said. “Let’s get a wingless horse from the meadow around the back.”

Flora shook her head. “Please. I grew up around winged horses. We’re flying.”

“Alright then, but let’s take the long route. Something just exploded against those doors, and I’m not going back out to inhale a lungful of poison.”

We walked around the back of the remedial building, through the outdoor barbecue area and around the other side of the stables. When we reached the courtyard, we found Prince Caulden stroking the muzzle of a white horse with wings that shimmered like silk.

“Going somewhere?” he asked.

Flora bobbed into a low curtsey, leaving me standing like I had no sense of etiquette. I folded my arms across my chest. It was hard to defer to a guy whose thick, pulsing dick had been in my mouth the day before.

“We’re going shopping for the next round,” I replied.

His gaze dropped down to my wrists, and he frowned. “With no family patronage, how do you intend to pay?”

Flora straightened and kept her eyes to the ground.

“Barter,” I muttered.

“Nonsense.” He strode forward and offered me his hand. “No future mate of mine will ever need to trade her favors.”

Flora gasped.

A barrage of retorts rose to the back of my throat along the lines of how dare he assume that I was swapping sexual favors for fabric, and didn’t he know I wasn’t that kind of girl… anymore, but they evaporated on my tongue as I realized what he had just said.

“F-future mate?” I asked.