Page 51 of Fae Games

I grabbed my glass from the table and gulped down its contents, barely tasting the sweet liquid. How could I explain things in a way he could accept? Prince Caulden placed a large palm on the small of my back and rubbed soothing circles. I wondered if he thought I was traumatized from being discarded by my faerie family with no memories.

My lips quirked into a sad smile. Prince Caulden had changed so much toward me since his confrontation in the remedial gym.

“It makes no sense until you factor in what Gala and the others did to become your fated mates.” I squeezed his hand, trying to convey the truth of my words.

Prince Caulden gave me an encouraging nod.

My chest loosened a little. Even if he didn’t understand, at least he was trying. “If those girls contacted faeries dark and devious enough to steal Helen’s magic without causing her death, then maybe those dark faeries found a way back to our realm.”

Prince Caulden paled. “The night you were cursed, did you sense their magic?”

“It was as powerful as yours and your brothers’,” I replied.

“I believe you.”

“What?”

“We lost a lot of magic when His Majesty banished Queen Maeve and her Dark Court to the Otherworld,” he said. “If those four could reach a powerful user of dark magic, they could make anything possible.”

The tight band of tension around my lungs loosened, and I whooshed out a long, relieved breath.

Prince Caulden nodded to himself. “Gala and the others must have glamoured you to take advantage of your connection with that Meadowhawks janitor, which perfectly explains why they maneuvered you into that display in the dining hall.”

I reached for his hand, gratitude swelling in my chest. He hadn’t reacted to hearing that I was once human, but I had to know one thing. “Do you—”

“Well, that explains a lot,” said a voice from behind.

A jolt of fear had me scrambling to my feet to find Prince Bradwell standing on the window sill, his cerise wings outstretched, and looking like he wanted to commit murder.

Chapter 14

I clapped a hand over my mouth and gaped at the faerie on the windowsill. Prince Bradwell’s features were much like Prince Rory’s with a frowning brow, prominent cheekbones, and a strong jaw. The main difference was their coloring. The wind blew Prince Bradwell’s cerise hair off his face, and his amber eyes burned like the afternoon sun boring through the clouds during a storm.

Sparks of power crackled against my skin, and my insides trembled with the force of his rage. Of all the people to immediately believe in my being human, I hadn’t expected Prince Bradwell.

Beside me, Prince Caulden sucked in a breath, his jaw tightening, and his body tensing at the oncoming hostilities.

With a gulp, I stepped back and tried not to remember our last conversation. He had accused me of conspiring with Elijah to pimp out women to high faeries. Now that he knew I was human, it wouldn’t take him long to work out that I had been one of Elijah’s unsuspecting girlfriends.

A cry bubbled up to the back of my throat. He had been so furious yesterday and ready to have me imprisoned. What on earth would he do to me now, and what would he say to Princes Caulden and Rory?

Prince Caulden pulled me behind his back. “If you’re planning to hurt Unity—”

“It’s Gazania,” said the prince of the Spring Court.

Prince Caulden’s posture loosened. “What’s happened?”

I peered out from the gap between his arm and his broad back. “What did Healer Tarax say?”

Prince Bradwell’s posture deflated, and he stepped off the window ledge, retracting this black-and-cerise wings. “He fixed her broken bones, but there’s nothing he can do to restore the damage done to her magic. She’ll never bear children.”

“What?” said Prince Caulden.

Without a word, Prince Bradwell walked across the room, plonked himself in the middle of the sofa, and held his head in his hands. “Her magical pathways have been destroyed.”

I stared down at the top of his head and asked, “From Lady Aster turning her into a spider?”

Prince Caulden sat next to his brother and wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulder. “And Gala stamping on her altered form, I expect.”