Page 40 of Blackwarden
“I don’t know why, but my glamour doesn’t seem to entirely work on you.” I reached and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, trailing my finger along her jaw. “I should have black hair, round ears, no horns.”
Her eyes traveled over me with confusion.
“What do you see when you look at me?”
“Fae,” she said so fast I assumed she’d had the answer ready. She ran her fingers over one of my horns. “Black eyes and horns, blue hair, pointed ears and incisors.”
“Even my teeth?”
“Even your teeth,” she said with a soft grin, trailing that same finger over my cheek to my lips.
“And the color of my skin?”
She looked confused for a moment looking down at my bare chest then back to my face. “You’re pale. Almost too pale.”
So, some of the glamour worked, but not all of it. I assumed if she could see my wings she would have mentioned them, but it still made me feel so incredibly vulnerable not knowing.
“You’re beautiful, you know,” she whispered as she nuzzled against my neck.
I closed my eyes, adoring her skin against mine. “This face has gotten me into more trouble than I care to admit.”
She giggled. “Is that so?”
I was smiling along with her, thinking I might pull her beneath me one more time before we needed to climb from this bed. I had to decide if I thought I could imbue her portrait before I took her through the portal. I worried I’d be too exhausted afterwards. If we were late Bevgyah would know why. But being exhausted was nothing compared to the pain she’d endure if I couldn’t protecther. I was already trying to think of ways I could spare her from Bevgyah’s harem, or how I could get her out of the Unseelie Court all together. The curse kept me from doing so many things. I would have to hope I could figure something out once we were there.
She ran her fingers over my arm to my chest, following the lines of my muscles, a look of sorrow melting onto her face.
“What do you want, Rosalin? If you could have anything.” I ran my fingers through her hair. “What would chase away your frown?”
She gazed at me for a long time, her eyes wandering over my face.
“As crazy as this sounds, to never leave this place.”
I pulled her tight against me. “I wish I could keep you here,” I said. I wished for it more than she knew—more than I should ever wish for something I couldn’t have.
“I wish you could too.”
Chapter 21 ~ Different Skin
Rosalin
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I couldn’t stop staring at Keres’ tattoos as he sat on the side of the bed to pull on a pair of pants. Without sheer fabric covering his back, I was able to see every delicate detail of the serpents as they danced around his shoulder blades and twisted down his spine. They weren’t quite dragons as I originally thought, they were something else entirely, long and lean, like him. The ink almost shimmered in the low light, as if made of scales, the wings spreading out to his shoulders. My curiosity got the better of me, and I reached for him.
He flinched at my touch, lifting his head for a split second before he relaxed. I traced my fingers over the soft skin of his back. So elegant. That’s what they were. Like much of the Gatehouse, they were ornate without being gaudy. And while the tattoos covered his entire back, they fit perfectly. Another facet to him that I’d found behind the door he’d kept locked tight.
I knew I shouldn’t ask more questions, and yet I couldn’t stop myself. “What are they?”
“Ancient Blackwardens from a time before the Earth Mother created the High Fae.”
A shiver ran through me at his words. So much time, a concept that was hard for me to grasp. He was speaking of thousands of years—to when the world was new. It left me with even more questions.
“Are you High Fae?”
“Yes, in a way? And no.” He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Dark Fae are...complicated. There’s more than High Fae in my blood.”
“Are you...a serpent?”
