Page 70 of Fallen Star

“Can we call each other something else?” I snap, although I immediately feel bad about my tone, so I shift it back to friendly. “‘Pets just sounds so…” I pause, searching for the right word. “Dehumanizing.”

“That’s sort of the point,” she says, pity shining in her eyes. “But words won’t change what this place is. What we are. At least, not to them.”

As much as I hate it, I suppose she’s right.

Besides, no matter how demoralizing it is to be called someone’spet,I have more important things to focus on than semantics.

“Where are Elijah and Henry now?” I ask, since what matters the most right now is talking to Matt.Reallytalking with him, where no one else can hear.

“Elijah’s been secluding himself recently,” she says. “He’s probably in their suite.”

“Then take me to their suite,” I say, quickly adding, “please?”

Her frown deepens, but after a moment, she sighs. “Fine,” she gives in. “But you saw how Matt was earlier. He’s… entranced by her. By the queen.”

“I understand. But entranced or not, I want to see him,” I say, and she leads me through the maze of corridors, past other doors that lead to suites like ours.

Finally, we stop in front of a large wooden door carved with intricate designs of moons and stars, embossed with gold paint, with marble columns on each side. It’s far fancier than the doors to our suite. As if the queen’s declaring that her pets are more important than the others.

“Go on,” Sophia says, motioning for me to knock.

I do, and after a moment, Elijah opens the door.

His expression clouds when he sees me.

“Matt’s not here,” he says before I can ask.

“Where is he?”

“With the queen.” His voice is flat. “In her quarters.”

I frown and glance at Sophia, who won’t look at me.

There’s no need to ask what Matt’s doing in the queen’s quarters. I’ve been getting a decent idea of what goes on around here, and judging by the look in Matt’s eyes when he spoke about the queen, she’s doing more than just drinking his blood.

“When will he be back?” I ask instead.

“Don’t know.” Something bitter creeps into his tone. “He’s been sleeping there every day since he arrived.”

“Sleeping—” I cut myself off, processing this. “Wait. What about the king? Doesn’t that… bother him to have someone else in there with them?”

Elijah’s laugh is hollow. “The royals don’t share quarters.”

“Oh.” I frown again, since I’ve never heard of a husband and wife who don’t share a room. “So, Matt will be back tomorrow night?”

This nocturnal schedule is going to take a while to get my mind around. And I hope I’m not here for long enough for it to start feeling normal.

“Sometimes she keeps them longer,” he says simply.

“Them?”

“Her favorites.” His eyes are distant, like he’s remembering something he’d rather forget. “She always gets attached to the new ones. For a while.”

“And then what happens?” I ask.

“Then they end up here.” He gestures to the suite behind him. “With the rest of us. Until she finds someone new to obsess over, and to eventually replace one of us. But look—if you want to talk to Matt, come back tomorrow night. Just don’t expect him to be the person you remember. None of us are. Although, he’s changed faster than most. She really did a number on him.”

I remember how quickly Matt fell for Sapphire—basically at first sight. Obviously, it’s happened all over again, but this time, with the queen of the Night Court.

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