Chapter 48

My jaw throbbed from where Malcolm hit me. Didn’t feel it before, but as I walked into the weapon’s chamber with Avery the pain rushed forward like a damn has broken. Not that I couldn’t deal with the aftermaths of a fight. I’d had plenty of broken bones and busted noses in my life.

“Do you remember when you first brought me in here?” Avery asked, spinning toward me.

“Aye.” I drew her to me. “I was trying to keep ye from killing me.”

“That’s not what happened,” she pouted, looking up at me with gray eyes and dark lashes. “You stole a kiss.”

“Hmmm…not how I remember it at all, lass.” I nibbled along her jawline. “We played a game of target practice and I won. Ye told me I could have anything I wanted.”

She trembled in my arms as I nibbled along her neck.

“Ye feeling okay?” I asked, worried about her recovery, yet wanting to hold her in my arms and taste her, bring her pleasure.

“Yes,” came her breathless reply.

That was all the encouragement I needed. I kissed her mouth, sweeping my tongue inside to taste her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me with matching fervor.

My cock tented my pants and I wanted to rip our clothes off more than I wanted to breathe. But it was too soon. And Helga’s warnings paraded in my mind.

Reluctantly, I pulled away, laying my forehead against hers. “Ye know yer too tempting for yer own good, don’t ye, lass?”

“So are you.” She sighed, skimming her fingertips along my arm. “God, this is so unfair that we can’t do what we want. I want to murder the dark Fae that let their nightmares loose on us.”

I chuckled, rubbing her upper back. “That’s my girl. Now, what weapons were ye thinking of using?”

“Mine.” She eased back, her gray eyes glistening with excitement. “You didn’t throw them out or destroy them, did you?”

If I hadn’t fallen for the lass, yes, that’s exactly what I would’ve done. Thankfully, things had been too chaotic once she’d arrived in the palace and me fighting my feelings for her at the time, to have disposed of the blades properly. “I never throw away a good weapon no matter who it belonged to.”

“What about the poisoned-tipped arrow?” She cocked her head, sliding a hand down my chest.

“Oy, that. Got rid of it the same night.” I shook my head, then lightly bit at her pouty lip. “T'was too dangerous, lass. A mere prick could make someone so sick that even Helga’s magic couldn’t bring them back. And as ye’ve seen yourself, magic cannot cure everything.”

“But if we could’ve used it against the dark Fae—”

“Nay.” I didn’t want to admit that if handled carefully, we could have used it against the shadow kin. But I’d been so angry with Simeon for dismissing my concerns when I first brought the arrow to them that I had broken it out of anger. “We have plenty of other weapons… safer… that we can use.”

“All right, so where are mine that I brought over the barrier with me?”

“Feeling naked without yer knives?” I winked. “Aye, I know the feeling." Though I felt unprepared and off when she’d swept into my life. Fighting each other one moment and kissing each other the next.

“Each of you are so different.” She shook her head with a smile. “If Simeon stood here in your place, he’d try and talk me out of it. Malcolm too, to an extent.”

The muscle in my jaw twinged at my cousin’s name, bringing back his kicks and punches. “Malcolm would give ye a dagger and sword for an emergency. While Simeon would be the one who would want to protect ye with his life and would feel giving ye a weapon would mean he planned on failing. Both of them are idiots.”

She laughed, a twinkle of mischief in her gaze. “And what about you? What will you give me?”

“I’ll load ye up with weapons, lass.” I moved to the locked cabinet alongside the bows hanging on the wall. “‘Cause not only do I wish to protect ye, but I trust that yer enough of a fighter to hold yer own and could save my neck as well.”

"You know, you've surprised me, Darrius. Of the three of you, I'd have thought you'd be the one to be all macho and not want a woman to do a man's job." She grinned. “Macho… oy… in every other way, aye. But ye forget. I grew up on the border to Unseelie lands. If ye were old enough to hold a sword, draw a bow, or throw a blade well enough to maim or kill, ye fought. Didn’t matter if ye were woman or child.”

She placed a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry. It must have been hard for you.”

“Not much different from any else of my kin.” I shrugged.

Lowering her hand from me, she strode closer to the bows. Her slim fingers trailed over the edge of a yew one. “These are exquisite. Did you make them yourself?”

“Nay. I yield weapons, not make them. We’ve dwarfs and others who craft for us.” I unlocked the cabinet with the spell combination Simeon and Malcolm had put in place. Worked like a human one but scanned my fingerprints or some shit. I was just grateful I didn’t have to memorize some spell I couldn’t pronounce. “What age did you start training to fight?”

“Mom was killed when I was eleven.” Her voice caught and she lowered her hand from the bow, crossing her arms.

“And?” I pressed, feeling there was something under the surface and I wanted to know more about her and her past.

She looked away from me, staring at the sword rack behind me. “I spent over a year wallowing in misery and grief. Then one day, Maggie dragged me to a movie and said I needed to start living. It was one of those superhero stories but with an assassin.”

Her smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

“Ye and this Maggie seem very close.”

“After my mom died, I was shuffled into foster care. Never got close to anyone and I lived in a state of depression. There are big gaps during that time that I can’t remember. Maggie was in one of the foster homes with me. She’s not only my friend, but my sister too. Together we tackled our nightmares and supported one another.”

I sensed there was a lot more to Avery and Maggie being stuck in the same foster home, but the fact the lock didn’t open distracted me from asking more questions. I spun the stupid thing again, nodding for Avery to continue.

“During the movie, I thought if the superhero could fight bad guys, why couldn’t I? So, I started training the next day.” She brushed her dark chestnut hair off her forehead. “Corny, right?”

“Not at all. Many in yer place who would’ve slipped into depression and despair. But ye found something to bring ye out of the darkness. Something to live for, to strive for.”

“Not everyone sees it that way.” She lifted her chin toward me. “Problems?”

“Can’t get the blasted thing to open.”

“Excuse me, my lord and my lady,” a brownie poked her head into the door.

Only servants I had approved were allowed inside this chamber to clean it. Even less now after finding the blasted arrow.

“She is yer queen, address her as such.” I ground the back of my teeth. Even though Avery was Fae like us and blood of the former queen, many still viewed her as an outsider. As a human since she’d been raised among them for all her life. And others thought her being with an Unseelie for eleven of her first years had tainted her somehow. Shit, I'd thought the same until I got to know her.

“Sorry, yer majesty.”

“Call me Avery, please.” She smiled. “What is it that you needed?”

“Oh.” She pressed a hand to her chest but faced me not Avery. “Prince Malcolm bid me to tell ye, Prince Darrius, to watch over the queen until he returns.”

“What the bloody hell is the bastard up to now?” I slammed a hand to the locked safe.

The brownie jumped, gasping.

“It’s all right.” Avery glared at me, before turning back to the woman. “Thank you, what’s your name?”

She didn’t wait for the dismissal answer, just bolted out of the chamber.

With a sigh, Avery turned back to me. “Does this get any easier?”

“Don’t know if it ever does.” I looped my arm around her waist and drew her to me for a quick kiss. “I’d be lying if I said otherwise. But ye haven’t even ruled our kingdom for longer than a few weeks. Some will come around, some may never. None of it is getting yer se wound up for. Well,” I gave her a rakish smile, “unless it’s for me and involves us getting naked.”

Tinder let out a yowl and we jumped apart.

“Blasted mongrel. What’s wrong with ye?” Then the blood in my veins went cold. Last time he’d acted like this, there’d been a shadow kin attacking Avery.

She squatted down; concern etched on her face. “I think he’s trying to tell us something.”

“Aye, that we have a damn unwelcome visitor somewhere.”

“You think he knows where the dark kin are in the castle?” She straightened, standing.

“I do. And we need to get your weapons out now.” I spun to the locked cell and twisted the ‘effen lock again. Finally, it clicked open.

Tinder hissed, his back arched and his fur stood on end. I reached inside the safe at the same time Avery said, “Don’t—”

Pain shot through my hand like a bloody snake had bitten me. I jerked backward. All of Avery’s weapons were gone, and a poisoned dipped arrowhead, like the one I’d found and destroyed, lay inside with blood coated along the edge. My blood.

“Darrius,” Avery’s voice sounded like she was in a tunnel.

I stumbled backward, knocking over the sword rack. The metal clanked onto the stone floor. My knees buckled.

Warm hands touched my face, but I couldn’t see or hear an ‘effen thing. My tongue felt like it was growing in my mouth as I tried to form the words. Tried to warn Avery.

Poison.

Malcolm.

There was a traitor in the castle and every bone in my body said it was my cousin. We three were the only ones who could have had access to this safe—the only ones who could open it.

Avery didn’t know that.

Fuck!

Everything went black.