Page 75 of Samhain

Ashley—standing with her hands folded over her stomach and a pleased, smug look on her face. I shoved at the body next to me. Lex groaned and cursed, sitting up with his hair all mussed and that adorable pout on his lips.

“Fucking what?” He squinted up at me with that characteristic sneer.

“Get up, DC.” I shoved him again.

“Jesus.” He rubbed at his eyes and followed my gaze. When he saw Ashley, he nudged Miri and Ivy on the other side of him.

“Good morning,” Ashley said. “I trust your accommodations were…to your satisfaction?”

I cleared my throat and reached for my boxers, tossed on the grass in my frenzy to get them off last night. I yanked them up and stood. “You said you’d come back for us.”

“And here I am.” Ashley swept her gaze over my spouses, now groaning to themselves and searching for their clothing. “Get dressed. Eat. Then come with me. My lady wishes to have a word.”

“She’s ready to answer our questions?” Ivy asked, yanking her shirt over her shoulders.

Ashley raised an eyebrow, widening her creepy smile. “The ritual has ended. She’s exhausted, but you are her guests. Please. Do not keep her waiting.”

Ashley turned to leave, and I met Ivy’s hesitant gaze. A conversation with the queen sounded ominous, and the look in Ashley’s eyes only raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

This was it. If the queen didn’t like us? Poof. We’d be dead in seconds.

“It’ll be fine,” Miri said, slipping her sweater over her head. “Like Ivy said, if they wanted us dead, they would have done it when we got here.”

Lex lit a cigarette and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m more afraid of her never letting us go.”

Valid.

“Some of the people here aren’t fae. I can feel it.” Miri took a few steps closer to us, lowering her voice as she spoke. “Smythe told us the fairies treated humans like thralls, that there’s a long history between humans and fairies we don’t know about.”

I finished getting ready, now more anxious about this meeting than hungry, so I grabbed a few pieces of toast to hold me over before we met Ashley outside the tent. She led us through the bodies piled on each other in the meadow, most sleeping, some whispering in hushed tones while the sun rose over the horizon. A misty fog floated in the distance, making the world seem like it had been on fire last night and now sizzled with the embers in the gaining light.

“My lady,” Ashley murmured when we reached the platform and climbed the stairs to the tent’s opening. Bodies rustled inside before the child appeared, a young blond girl with big brown eyes and rosy pink cheeks. Far away, she had reminded me of Lizzie, but up close, God, it yanked at my heartstrings.

“Hey there,” I said, leaning closer to her. “What’s your name?”

Intelligence flickered behind her eyes, but she said nothing, just darted her attention between us.

A tall female fairy with ivy vines on both arms appeared next, her long, ashen hair hanging in thick waves down the front of her body. She wore a white robe, which she hugged tight as she looked at us. But it was her eyes that held my attention. Piercing. Incinerating. Like she could murder us with them between blinks. I wasn’t entirely sure that she couldn’t.

“Ashley,” the queen said, staring down at us. “You have brought my guests.”

“Yes, my lady,” Ashley said with a bow. “May I present Ivette, Alexei, Miriam, and Carter.”

“Ahhh.” The queen walked to her throne and slowly sat, her movements fluid and graceful, like she’d had thousands of years to practice. They seemed so alien and unnatural.

I wanted to like her. I wanted to trust her. Any hesitation I’d had melted away in response to the soothing energy emanating from her aura. All the fairies had an appeal to them, but she made me want to buckle at the knees so I could pay her homage.

“Yes,” she said. “And which one is the recipient of our blessing?”

Ashley nudged Ivy forward.

“Ivette,” Ivy said. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Are you?” the queen said with a wry smile. “How pleased?”

Ivy opened and shut her mouth, seemingly unsure of how to reply. “It’s just a saying.”

“Hmm.” The queen glanced at Lex next. “And this one? Quite beautiful. I adore your markings.”

---