Page 67 of Fae Mates

Prince August’s features hardened, and his shoulders rose as though he was gearing up for an argument.

With a sigh, I crossed the short space on the deck and wrapped my arms around his lean waist. “I know you’re worried, but no one knows I survived. My heat is over, so no one will detect me.”

I stared up into his eyes, which were darker than the midnight sky. Surely he could see the logic of my idea. If he returned to the academy, claiming to have disappeared into the Summer Court or somewhere deep within the Mound, anyone suspecting Pokeweed’s involvement in the prince’s disappearance would go away.

When none of the princes spoke, I said, “We’ll meet tonight at the edge of the giant garlic field while Lady Gala’s sucking that centaur’s dick, and we can do the four-star ritual to rescue Helen.”

It took several more minutes of wrangling before the princes allowed me to leave, and even when they did, they all accompanied me to the weeping willow to make sure I reached Pokeweed’s place safely.

* * *

I bounded up the spiral staircase and into the room where Pokeweed lay. Sunlight streamed through the windows, coloring the white walls orange. Pokeweed lay on his back, his bottom half still covered by the white sheet. Next to him, McVittie slept curled in a little black ball.

The cat raised his head. “How did it go?”

“The mating?” I lowered myself onto the bed. “It was successful.”

“What are you doing here, then? You should be at the palace, getting the wishbone!”

“That only happens after I get crowned.”

“Right,” said McVittie. “We both know that the Duke of Nevermore plans to kill the king as soon as his daughter mates with the princes—”

“Which isn’t going to happen because they’ve mated with me,” I said.

“But that’s when you get your princes to pretend to be her mate.”

“Wait,” I snapped. “You want that centaur-sucking twat near my mates?”

The cat raised his paw in a feline shrug. “It’s part of the plan, remember?”

I ground my teeth. “You neglected to share that part with me.”

McVittie glared at me through furious, yellow eyes. “We had an agreement. I would help you, and you would use the wishbone to turn me human.”

“But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stand by to let King Oberon get killed!” I spread out my arms. “He hasn’t done anything wrong, and he’s the father of my mates.”

The cat jumped down from the bed with a huff. “I knew I shouldn’t trust a human.”

I shook my head and glared at his back. This was so typical of McVittie. If he had told me that his plan to get the wishbone involved letting an innocent person get killed, I would never have agreed. In my time at the Royal Fae Academy, I had discovered that there were multiple ways of achieving the same goal, and not all of them required bloodshed.

“Unity?” rasped a deep voice.

I turned to the bed, where Pokeweed stared up at me through bleary eyes. “You’re awake.”

“How did I get here?” he asked.

I lay at his side, rested my head on his shoulder, and wrapped an arm around his broad chest. Pokeweed’s earthy scent filled my nostrils, reminding me of what I would soon lose. Even though I couldn’t see it, I could feel the iron dagger on the bedside table in the space between my wings.

Tilting my head up, I told Pokeweed everything from us finding him unconscious outside his blacked treehouse, to Healer Tarax’s diagnosis of nightsbane poisoning. Throughout this explanation, Pokeweed didn’t once pull away. His black eyes fixed on mine, and his expression remained neutral.

When I stopped talking, Pokeweed tightened his lips. “I cannot fathom why someone’s hatred would run so deep to condemn me to such a horrific death.”

A lump formed in my throat. “You know about nightsbane?”

“The winged dormouse who brought me up mentioned it a few times.” His strong arm wrapped around my waist.

“McVittie and I brought you life-water, in case—”