Page 46 of Beltane

“You said no more secrets,” I hissed. “You’ve been keeping one since that conversation with the queen.”

“What’d she say?” Carter sat down opposite Miri and scooped a grape into his mouth. “What’d she want?”

“According to our prince, she wanted to have a good shag before returning to reality.” Miri huffed out a laugh and picked at her turkey. “I think she has better taste than a human who lies to his beloveds.”

“I turned her down, of course,” he said, giving me that trademark annoying smirk. “I am nothing if not loyal.”

“I don’t believe you,” I said, crossing my arms and staring him down. He reminded me so much of his younger self in that moment, his hazel eyes ablaze with challenge, his jaw muscles twitching with rage just below the surface. It was the same look he gave me right before he pounced on me, holding me down to smack me around and take what he wanted. “You know I’ll get it out of you one way or the other.”

Lex shook his head and dropped his gaze to the ground, dark hair falling in his face. I reached out to brush it back, the touch so familiar. I’d held his face a million times before, a thousand before we could even admit that we loved each other.

“It was all bullshit, okay?” He sighed and looked up at me again. “She didn’t have anything important to say.”

“She’s the queen of the fairies,” Carter cut in. “Anything she says is important.”

“I don’t buy into it. I don’t believe in fate, and I don’t believe that Siobhan or Diana or anyone can decide our future.”

“How can you say that?” I asked. “After everything we’ve been through? After the four of us found each other? After you and me?” I grabbed his cheeks with both hands now, forcing him to stare at me, imploring him to let me in, to let me see. “Lex, tell me what’s going on.”

“Please believe me, X. There’s nothing to tell.” He leaned down to kiss me, locking his mental shields tight. “We’re all making it out of this shit show, understand? There will be no sacrifice.”

A punch lanced through my heart at being shut out. “Lex, c’mon.”

“No more.” He lifted his chin to stare at me without an ounce of remorse. “For years, we’ve lived and breathed this bullshit. We’ve poured our blood and energy into this…and for what? If the four of us aren’t together at the end of this, it will have been for nothing. So I refuse to believe it.”

That hurt worse than anything he’d ever said to me. It was the first time I’d considered that we might not all survive, that I might have to face a life without one of them. I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t. And if it was between that or not returning to our realm, then I’d have to get used to Faerie. Iwould notlive in a world where the three of them did not exist—allthree of them.

“What are you saying?” Carter put his elbows on either side of his food and leaned forward.

“I’m saying that we stop worrying about the king and queen and this fairy bullshit. We need to make our own plans.” Lex sighed and rubbed his hands over his face, taking a step back from me so he could pile more strawberries on top of his dish. Then, he moved on to the potatoes and vegetables before taking his seat in between Carter and Miri at the head, gesturing to the spot opposite him. “What do you say, X? Can you let it rest?”

I thought of my siblings, my guilty conscience urging me forward. I couldn’t stop now, not when I’d gotten so close. I’d already wasted enough time in the woods, damn near becoming a three-course meal myself. Everything in me wanted to march into the forest to confront the king and demand he take me to my family.

Maybe I could lower the shields between my mind and his, maybe for just a second, so I could find them myself. I could find out what he’d done to Miri. I could find out how he was planning to attack.

“No,” Lex snapped, getting my attention. “Don’t you dare reach out to Alberich. I know what that look means; I know what you’re thinking. Don’t do it.”

“Are you seriously considering contacting him?” Carter raised his eyebrows.

I didn’t answer because no matter what I said, Lex would know the truth.

“We have the queen, we have the entire fairy army.” Lex bit into a berry and leaned back in his seat, smirking while he chewed. “If that fails, we need to figure out what else to do.” His attention danced to Miri. “You have the ruby dust, right? Do you think you could wield it? Could you do to him what he did to Diana?”

Carter pursed his lips but nodded at the seat next to him. I glanced at Miri, who narrowed her gaze on our husbands.

“I do,” she said. “I probably could. Ivy would need to figure out what incantation he put on her.”

“Suffer in silence, suffer in solitude,” I said. “Then you will know the pain you’ve caused.”

“There we go,” Lex said, biting into another strawberry. “Finally, something useful.”

The whole thing felt off. Even if I could find out where the king was, it wasn’t like I could go after him alone. Maybe Lex had a point. Maybe we should come up with a few contingency plans, just in case.

I glanced at the tent entrance again before giving in and sitting down at the square table. Carter smiled and plopped a big piece of turkey from his plate onto mine, giving me a few of his potatoes before replenishing his own.

“We’ll try to get the king alone, pin him down, and use the ruby dust on him,” Lex said, “And whatever happens tomorrow, remember we’re strongest together. We have each other. Until the end.”

“Until the end,” Miri and Carter echoed.

---