Page 82 of A Deal with the Shadow King

My gaze darts to the mirror, and I wonder if the monarch could have been watching my fight with One, just now. I hide under the covers, smoothing them over the length of my body, but sleep evades me.

I loathe Mara for the enraptured sounds she imprinted in my ears, and my hand snakes down my abdomen of its own volition. I bite my lips, infuriated by the wetness I find there, aware that I’ve been thoroughly corrupted by the Shadow Court.

Two’s salacious remarks haunt me, along with Three’s naked buttocks and One’s deep, hypnotic voice. Envy cramps my guts as I touch myself for the first time since I came to Faerie, the forbidden caress seemingly innocuous compared to the temptations of this world.

I finish hard, shivering and panting in my two-person bed, feeling emptier still, and pray the shadow obscuring the glass is only a figment of my drunken imagination.

Chapter 28

Morning Glory

The next day, a humongous headache keeps me in bed for the entire morning until Baka brings in water and a special Fae medicine for hangovers. After dark, I finally summon enough motivation for a brisk walk, my usual routine forgotten.

The night is warm enough for me not to need a jacket, so I leave the thick uniform on the bench near the gym and head straight for the path weaving closest to the Hawthorn. I’m about fifteen minutes into my walk when I hear powerful footsteps up ahead.

The main path crosses the smaller trail around these parts, and I walk around the bend in time to see One running with his back to me.

“One! Wait!”

Ignoring my plea, he dashes toward the northern section of the gardens at the same strenuous pace, and I break into a run.

Up ahead, an arched trellis encroaches on the path on both sides, the hedges thick with flowers and leaves. The vines are so tightly knit in this section of the trail that they hide the night sky, and darkness swarms around me.

One slows down because of the narrower path, and it allows me to catch up to him.

I graze the flesh of his upper arm. “One, stop!”

The Fae screeches to a halt with his arm balanced on each side, the little rocks covering the path scattering in all directions. Three’s iridescent mask is dark in the night, and his long hair is slicked back over his head, making him look too much like his brother. He checks both sides of the trail like he expects a nightmare to jump from the bushes before I feel the weight of his gaze on me.

His usual magnetism turns my belly to lava, and after what I saw last night… I can’t breathe.

He motions to my navel, my chest, my face with one hand before making a downward motion and opening his palm. Are you okay?

I nod, bottom lip tucked between my lips, and his spine eases.

He removes two small white contraptions from his ears. High-pitched music blares from them, the harsh rhythm pounding like a wild animal in my ears despite the low volume, and I realize he truly didn’t hear me chase or call after him.

“I’m sorry I startled you. I was looking for your brother,” I admit quietly.

His shoulders hike up, his neck angled to the side as he scratches his breast bone. Am I that much of a disappointment? he seems to ask.

“You look like him in the dark.” I hate the weak tremble in my voice, but there’s no use denying it.

He gives a soft smile and a gentle nod. That makes sense.

An elusive grin ghosts over his lips, and he snaps a white, bell-shaped flower off the vines that snake around the trellis and offers it to me.

Taken aback, I murmur a quick, “Thank you.” My gaze zeroes-in on the wispy scar over his heart.

Holy horses! That scar… Three brothers with the exact same scar, it’s not natural.

Three combs a rebellious lock behind my ear and tips his chin down to his chest. You can see it, right?

I nod at the unspoken question. One seemed spooked that I could see the black wisp of smoke, but all I get coming from Three is a sense of quiet acceptance.

He wraps my hands in his and presses them to his chest, the gesture tender, but bold.

My breath stutters when he bends down to kiss me, but I retreat swiftly, pulling away from his grasp. “Well… Goodnight.”

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