Page 56 of Blackwarden
Something dark stirred inside me as her hips moved against him. The reality of what she was doing ignited a molten fury so intense it burned away the haze—I was instantly sober. But still frozen.
The shape of the word“Go”on his lips shattered whatever spell held me.
I turned and fled, leaving the queen alone to have her way with her Blackwarden.
Chapter 28 ~ Punishments and Pleasures
Keres
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I stood staring at the portal. The events at the last revel had been agony, and every waking moment since, my mind tumbled over any possible solution to get her back through.
It was obvious I wasn’t going to be able to keep Bevgyah from destroying Rosalin.
My Rosalin.
I closed my eyes, forced to relive the moments over and over again. Bevgyah’s hands as they roamed over Rosalin’s body. The shift in Rosalin’s emotions—from terror to anger.
“What an unusual place to hide.”
I straightened as the Hag’s voice shaved over my skin. I was hoping she wouldn’t bother looking for me quite yet. It usually took her a day before she grew interested in me again. The bruises from the shadows she’d shackled me with hadn’t healed yet.
“I’m curious to know why you seem so adamant I not enjoymy newest maiden.”
I closed my eyes, taking deep breaths, trying to keep my expression as innocuous as possible.
“Have you touched her without my permission?” she asked as she circled me.
I tried to force the fury that was burning in my chest deeper down where it could simmer until I had a moment to myself. Getting angry in her presence never served me well.
“I’ve only embraced Tesanna in your presence, my queen.” I couldn’t lie. But she wasn’t Tesanna until she’d come to this place.
“Have you met with her alone? Have you talked with her?”
I tightened. Bevgyah knew there was something different about Rosalin, and I knew I couldn’t hide it forever. She’d eventually ask the right questions.
“Is she intrigued by you?”
“Yes.”
“Is she attracted to you?”
I rolled my eyes. “They’re all attracted to me.Youare attracted to me.Everyoneis fucking attracted to me.”
She laughed, the sound grating against my growing anger.
“You poor, pathetic, beautiful monster.”
Her hands dragged down the length of my silk shirt, her fingers tucking into the low neckline so she could touch my skin. Always my skin, because she owned me and could do whatever she wished with me. She never failed to remind me, like she had the night before. I wasn’t sure if I was angrier about the fact she’d fucked me in the harem, or that she’d drugged me and restrained me to do it.
“Tell me, Gatekeeper, did you fuck her in the human world?”
I couldn’t lie. No Fae could lie. I wasn’t supposed to touch these women, not in the human world, not in the Unseelie Court. She would punish me and while I’d accepted that in the moment, I knew I’d regret my decision when the time came for me to actually receive my punishment. I swallowed, hoping she’d ask another question before I had a chance to answer.
“I can taste your attraction to her. It’s thick and sweet.” She groped lower. “How many rules have you broken, my tantalizing Blackwarden?” she crooned in my ear. “How am I to punish you this time?”
She stepped around to face me with a sinister grin. I had long since learned the beautiful face she wore was the greatest lie anyone could ever tell. Uttering lies was impossible, but there were other ways to change the truth without using words. For instance, her powers of glamour and shapeshifting, which were magnified by the lifeforce she siphoned from the human girls.
