Page 154 of Gemini Wicked

Zephyr says nothing, but his hidden smile deepens.

The minute we clear the stairs, he beelines for the platform.

Where the thrones—and the crown—are waiting.

Zaraaaaa, the damn thing breathes as we approach. I hold the power you seek. But you claim me at a great cost.

Zephyr’s hand tightens around my arm. Clearly I’m not the only one hearing this. But he’s the Dark Fae King. Maybe that crown’s always spoken to him.

Once I am yours, that tinkling voice whispers like the chime of silver bells, I can never be renounced. I will become your destiny—and your doom.

“Fuck me,” Ronin mutters from the rear. “You lot hearing this shit?”

“Every word,” Vasili murmurs. “It’s like surround sound. However does one turn it off?”

“I wish you good fortune with that,” Zephyr says briefly.

Okay, so I guess my guys are all picking this up, one way or another.

Once I am yours, Gemini queen, the crown purrs, your precious freedom is no more. Perhaps, after all, ’tis better to yield to the demon.

Ash’s wings unfurl and spread wide in menace.

“Not about me,” I mutter, loud enough so all my guys can hear. “It’s not about my freedom anymore. What we’re doing is, like, way bigger than me. Bigger than any of us. If I wanna save the arcane races before we all go extinct, I gotta ascend. And for that, we need that crown.”

Fired with purpose, Zephyr leaps onto the platform. I scramble up with him (a maneuver my slitted skirt barely allows, and I practically flash the whole room my thong in the process).

With a single downstroke of his mighty wings, Ash alights beside us.

Vasili, never one to be outdone, levitates onto the stage in his Saturday Night Fever tux, then drapes himself right over one of the thrones like his Goblin King namesake in Labyrinth.

I wait for Zephyr to tell V to get out of his chair, like he did yesterday in the study when those two almost came to blows.

Instead, Zephyr levels him with a look and mutters, “It suits you.” Then he swoops in to lay claim to Vasili with a blazing kiss.

I swear to fuck, I almost burst into flames. For real.

That kiss just about sets my thong on fire.

While those two get to know each other better, my other guys claim the stage and range themselves around me. Max all protective and growly with rut, Lucius grave and serious, Neo excited and happy.

V’s hand snakes around Zephyr’s head and fists in his hair, so he’s the one controlling the kiss. Zephyr grips the arms of the throne to fence Vasili in. Ronin lurks at my side and stares at the two of them with amber eyes smoldering like he’s seriously thinking about crawling onto that throne between them.

But Ash is watching the crowd.

He’s watching for the demon.

Where the fuck are you, Mordred? I shift my gaze to the impenetrable depths of the midnight sea. Cuz this is about the time we figured you’d show yourself.

I can practically hear the low rumble of demonic laughter.

Meanwhile, Zephyr finally emerges from kissing the shit out of Vasili (though I can’t tell whether Zephyr breaks free or my snake pushes him away or both). Anyway, Zephyr sorta staggers back from V and straightens. Smirking, V fishes his silver compact out of his tuxedo pocket and touches up his lip gloss while he sprawls elegantly over Zephyr’s throne. Looking kinda dazed, my Unseelie draws a hand across his mouth.

Then Zephyr reaches to lace my fingers through his, draws me in close for my own slow kiss—a leisurely claiming of my mouth with his that makes my pussy melt—then turns to face the silent stares of our viewing audience.

I mean, I guess with him, they’ve seen it all by now.

But written like headlines over that sea of cold, unfeeling Dark Fae faces, I read astonishment, outrage, and smoldering anger at the sight of an impudent mortal warlock coolly fixing his lip gloss on the Unseelie throne.

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