Page 12 of Fae Mates

It was like the worst kind of electric shock. My arms and legs flailed, knocking McVittie off the bed with a yowl.

Pokeweed held me in place, whispering words of encouragement. I clenched my teeth, wondering why he hadn’t performed this during the time I was unconscious, but a deeper, red-hot poker of agony burned me from the inside-out.

Moments later, the pain subsided, and Pokeweed stepped away, leaving me slumped on the bed. With a muttered apology, he hurried out of the room.

McVittie jumped onto the bed and curled up at my side. “Pokeweed is a powerful male. I can see why you’re so eager to mate with him.”

I wrapped my arms around his warm, furry body and inhaled the cat’s meadowy scent. “We’re just friends.”

“Yeah,” muttered McVittie. “Keep it that way unless you want to birth a litter of moths.”

A yawn pushed my mouth open, and my watery eyes fell shut. Right now, I needed to focus on getting the wishbone.

The cat twisted around and placed the pads of his front paws on my chin. “I’ll let you sleep that off, because tomorrow, we’re going to train you to use your magic.”

“Alright,” I murmured.

“But first, we need to capture the Summer Prince.”

Chapter 4

The next morning at dawn, Pokeweed and I ate a breakfast of curds and whey with berries and dandelion coffee. Then he took me up a spiral staircase to the highest level of his treehouse.

What I thought was a skylight was actually just an opening in the tree with branches all around it like a crown. A half-moon shone down from an indigo sky with clouds streaked crimson by the rising sun.

Still staring up to the sky, I asked, “What happens when it rains?”

“The tree absorbs the water. It’s a living thing.”

Nodding, I marveled at the tree’s splendor.

“I’m going to teach you to fly,” he said.

“Oh.” I turned my gaze a hundred feet down to the ground floor. The old me might have gotten vertigo at this stage, but I’d flown with faeries and jumped from the palace’s tall tower. Experiences like that were enough to turn a girl’s fear of heights into dust.

Pokeweed and I hadn’t spoken about the incident with the bandages. What was there to discuss? If it was meant to happen, he would have made a move, but he didn’t. Pokeweed needed me to break his curse, and the only way I could do that was if I mated with all four brothers and obtained the wishbone.

I climbed the railing and balanced on the ledge. If we had kissed, it would only lead to more, and I would never get round to rescuing the princes.

Pokeweed placed his large hands on my waist. Warmth seeped through his fingertips, making my nerve endings zing.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Jumping.”

“Without training your wings?” he asked with a chuckle.

My shoulders deflated, and I stepped down from the ledge. “I thought little faerie children just flew?”

“I didn’t.” His lips tightened, and he turned his head to the side. Pokeweed’s brown and orange moth wings made an annoyed flutter.

“Was that because of the curse?” I placed a hand on his bicep.

He exhaled, and his muscles relaxed as though my touch could calm his nerves. “It’s hard to tell, but my wings were always underdeveloped for my frame.”

Without thinking about it, I trailed my fingertips over the edge of his wings. Pokeweed’s eyes fluttered closed, and he sucked in a breath. Instead of the petal softness of my wings, his were covered in down, similar to the fur covering every inch of his skin.

“Am I hurting you?” I asked.