Page 31 of Bitten By Chaos

Speak of the devil, I said and released my hold on Julian. Unfortunately, the magic I’d gained from drinking from the wizard had ebbed substantially since the day before. Unlike Elsa, I had no intention of draining anyone to maintain their powers.

“I hear you conveniently fell into some rose bushes,” Julian said, his voice like ice.

I bit the inside of my cheek, glad I hadn’t mentioned my theory about Merlin dosing my coffee with his blood. But even as he skipped down the steps toward us, his scent had me salivating. My fingers flexed at my side as I recalled the power I’d felt when I held on to Grival’s sword.

“Clumsy of me,” Merl grinned, showing dimples. But his eyes hardened in challenge.

I grasped Julian’s arm.

“I’ve never seen you stumble in all the centuries I’ve known you,” Julian said through one of his too wide smiles. He set a hand over mine on his bicep.

“Then you’ve never seen me sent off-balance by a woman as beautiful as Charlotte.” Merlin had the gall to reach out and run the backs of his knuckles down my cheek.

The act sent shivers of multiple kinds of desire through me, but I tightened my hold on Julian, knowing the wizard was baiting him into attacking. Thankfully, despite his body going rigid, Julian maintained his neutral appearance.

“What did you want to speak to us about?” Julian asked, tugging me toward the mansion. “We have to find Elsa. It’s urgent.”

Merlin trailed behind us, staying close enough to make me fight to keep my fangs from extending even when I stopped breathing. The memory of him smearing his blood over my lip played on a loop in my mind.

“I wanted to invite you both to dinner tonight.”

The distinct feeling of something small and warm dropping into my bra right between my breasts startled me, but I kept quiet lest Julian freak out and attack, like Merl apparently hoped he would.

“We’re busy,” I said over my shoulder as we climbed the grand steps. “Maybe another time.”

Merlin grinned at me, stopping at the bottom as we hurried on. And though Julian faced forward, determined to ignore him, I caught an exaggerated wink.

I couldn’t focus on the wizard now. I had to be ready to handle whatever Elsa threw at me—at us. I was bringing her the heart as requested, but inside, the itch to take it to the queen grew stronger with each passing hour.

Julian knocked on the door to Elsa’s office, and it swung open to admit us. She sat on the couch in a cream-colored suit that hugged her curves and revealed quite a bit of her ample breasts. A bottle of champagne chilled in a silver bucket to the side, and she sipped on a glass of the bubbly liquid.

“You’ve brought me the heart?” she asked, leaning back with a smile.

“Yes,” I answered, nodding to Julian who fished in his inside jacket pocket for a moment before retrieving the box and handing it to me.

Elsa motioned with her hand to bring it to her, so I marched it forward and set the box across her open palm. Her eyes glowed gold for a moment, and the lid popped open, revealing the grotesque thing.

“Excellent work, Charlotte,” she praised, setting it on the coffee table. Then she closed her eyes and mumbled some unintelligible words. From a porcelain dish on the table, small black specks streamed upward and into the box, penetrating the heart. Each miniscule bit hit so hard that the organ seemed to jump and twitch until the entire dish was empty.

When she finished, Elsa passed a glowing hand over the heart, and the smell of fresh blood tickled my nostrils. The heart began to beat. Clasping the box closed, she handed it back to me but held tight to the other end for a moment, waiting until I met her eyes.

Once again, I felt her glamour invade my mind, worming inside of me as I stared helplessly while clutching the box.

“You did not bring this to me first. You saw nothing of what was just done. You have no knowledge of iron being added. You simply brought it to the queen directly after your fight.”

“She will see through this, Elizabeth” Julian warned from somewhere far away.

“Not if I make her look just right,” Elsa answered.

She waved a glowing hand at me, and the golden light sharpened into the shape of a blade. “Stay still,” she ordered, sending the light straight at me. The blade sliced through my dress, cutting a gash into my thigh then smacked me in the side of the face. Elsa jerked her head at me, and my body was covered in earth, grime, and dried blood. When she finished, I looked and felt as though I’d just battled the demon yet again even as my injuries closed. The aftermath remained, however, and the warmth of the heart permeated the wood of the box even as the beating slowed to an end.

“Run and fetch me the queen while Jules and I raise a toast,” Elsa said.

I raced past Julian and out of the mansion, pumping my legs as fast as they would go. The trees flew by as I darted across the wood toward the fairy circle. The white flash in my peripheral confirmed that Poppy was pacing me again, which comforted me since all I felt was confusion. When had we spread Tabitha’s ashes? She’d just died in the fight. And why was the sun up when I could have sworn I’d killed Grival at night?

Letting the worries rush from me along with the wind, I hurtled on until I finally reached the circle of stones where I’d last seen the queen. I stopped, letting Poppy catch up so I could give her a quick pat before entering the fae realm.

“Wait for me,” I told her and gave her a kiss on her nose before striding between the closest stones.

---