Page 34 of Prince of Never

And before I could scour the grounds and the skies looking for her, I found a note pinned to my bedroom door scrawled in Ves’s spidery hand.

You did promise you’d come to the festival.

That was all it said.I crumpled it in my fist, rage burning through me, leeching out into the rug beneath my feet until it was shrivelling, blackening, wasting away.

He wanted a reaction?He was going to fucking get one.

Chapter 16

Imogen

Istaredatmyreflection, feeling more than a little uncomfortable.Sarah seemed more excited than I did, and I couldn’t share her sentiment, no matter how hard I tried.The dress itself was beautiful; gauzy green fabric flowed around my legs, except for where the skirt split all the way up the side, exposing my thigh.It was a miracle of design or magic that it didn’t show anything more.Two strips of emerald green covered my breasts, tying around my neck, and an intricate gold band around my waist seemed to be the only thing holding the dress together.Gold sandals were strapped to my feet, the ties criss-crossing up my calves.I supposed I should have been grateful that I wasn’t being stuffed into heels for this little adventure.

‘I might as well be naked,’ I said as I turned this way and that before the mirror, each angle exposing a different stretch of skin.

‘Trust me, it will help you blend in,’ Sarah said, which was probably supposed to be comforting but somehow it wasn’t.‘You really do look like one of them.’There was awe in her voice as she looked me over.

‘I don’t think I should go.What are these festivals about, anyway?I don’t want to be party to a blood sacrifice or some kind of orgy.’

Sarah’s eyes grew wide in that way they did when I said something shocking.If we’d been in the human world, that sort of comment would have been expected.‘You’ll probably only be mistaken for one of them if you don’t say anything,’ she teased.

‘Wait, was that...did you just make a joke?’I asked, dumbfounded.‘I think I’m starting to rub off on you.’

‘I hope not.I don’t think the master would be quite so lenient with me,’ she said, a suggestive lilt in her voice.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’I asked, a strange sense of panic fluttering in my chest.Not because Tarian was lenient with me by any measure, but because the mention of him brought back the memory of him beneath that waterfall, pinning me against the wall.A shiver ran through me.

I had to think about something else.Anythingelse.

A knock at the door brought the conversation to a merciful end.Sarah opened it as if she was my lady’s maid before I could stop her.Perhaps she’d rightly guessed that I would have thrown something over me before answering it myself.

‘Lord Vesryn,’ she said eloquently with a light curtsey.‘She’s ready.’

Ves stepped into the room in the reflection of the mirror.He cast an assessing eye over me.‘Yes, she is,’ he said, a smirk tugging at his mouth.

‘And don’t you just look like the cat who ate the canary.What have I gotten myself into?’I asked, silently chastising myself for not being more suspicious of him earlier.

‘Ask no questions, hear no lies,’ he purred.

‘But you can’t lie,’ I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

‘Clever little mortal.’

Oh yes, he was definitely up to something.‘Maybe I should just stay here.’

‘Don’t be boring, pet,’ he said, coming up behind me, looking at my eyes in the reflection.‘How many chances are you going to have to attend Beltane with the fae?’

Don’t be boring.How many times had I heard those words when I’d chosen to hide away instead of taking risks, to play it safe rather than have fun?I’d been kidnapped, locked in a tower, lured into a bog, burned with acid plants, nearly drowned, and almost eaten alive.A little fun was probably exactly what I needed.Besides, how many chances was I going to get to explore an entire realm that most people didn’t even know existed?

‘How likely is it that something there is going to want to kill and eat me?’I asked.

‘I’d say about fifty-fifty,’ he said casually, as if those were good odds.‘But fear not, I’ll be by your side.’

There was a lot of grey area in that sentence.By my side for how long or until when?Was I overthinking it?His lips curled as he watched me mull it over.Finally, I let out a sigh.‘Fine, let’s go.’

‘Excellent choice,’ Ves said, clapping his hands together gleefully.‘Shall we then?’he offered me his arm and I took it hesitantly, that same question circling my mind.

What the hell was I getting myself into now?

---