Page 4 of Changeling
We leave the decorated hall through a pair of closed doors Dominus unlocks with a silver key. The décor changes from bright and extravagant to calm and sparse. There’s a sitting room with crisp, cream walls, brown furniture topped with cozy knit blankets and plush velvet pillows. Tables with clean polished surfaces, free of clutter, stand on either side of a lounging couch. A desk rests in the corner, with a neat pile of books on one side, a feathered quill in a little inkwell at the center, and a stack of ordered papers on the other side.
“My bedroom is through there.” Dominus points at an open doorway. “You’ll find yourself welcome if you’d like to join me.” His tail gives my waist a little squeeze. “Or should you prefer privacy, there’s a guest room made up for you that way.” He indicates past a modest dining area down a dim hall.
My breath catches in my throat at the invitation to his bed. I’m not opposed, but I don’t know this man. And Ivaz said he feeds off sex. So is he asking if I’ll be his dinner? What are the consequences for me? While I hesitate, he watches me with an amused expression.
“I haven’t swayed you if that’s what you’re wondering. Your decision is entirely your own.”
“Swayed me?” Why does that sound ominous?
He tuts. “Gracious, where did Ivaz find you?”
Finally, a question I know the answer to. “I’m from Greece.”
He spins us face-to-face. Or face-to-chest, I suppose. I’m not used to having to look so far up to see another person. His silver braids shine with a healthy luster. They look soft. I want to touch them.
Dominus runs an elegant ringed finger down my cheek. I tilt my head, and the caress continues to my throat. “Sebastian of Greece, fleeing for safety from what exactly?”
“They didn’t tell you?”
He gives a casual shrug and drops his finger. “I didn’t ask. My answer would have been yes all the same. I’m asking now.”
“From the villagers.” I hide my feelings behind a practiced hard shell. “They want me dead.”
“And what are their reasons?”
“I used magic to try and save my family from a house fire. Everyone saw.”
He tilts his head, an expression of sympathy settling on his ethereal features. “Your family couldn’t save themselves?”
I shake my head sadly. Images of the only home I’ve ever known engulfed in flames cascade through my mind. “They’re only human.”
He narrows his gaze. “But you’re not.”
“No.”
“What are you, Sebastian?”
I like the way he says my name, lingering on the middle syllable. His slightly parted lips hover near mine as he awaits my response, asking to be kissed. Perhaps I’ll take him up on his invitation after all. A good distraction will help me sleep, and one look at Dominus tells me he knows distractions I’ve never dared to dream of.
I touch his face, as he touched mine, fingertips at the curve of his jaw. “A faerie.” It’s the first time I’ve said it. My guides always spoke for me, and everyone I’ve ever known is a world away and miles behind, so I haven’t had the chance.
Until now.
Dominus’s bedroom eyes turn sharp. His pretty lips transform from a sultry pout to an angry scowl. He pushes my hand away and retreats, swinging his tail with him.
I stumble forward a step. “Wha—”
“A faerie?” His voice has gone hard. Crisp.“In this realm?”
I nod, baffled by his response. “You don’t like faeries?”
“Don’t speak.” He ushers me out the doors we just came through and down the hall to Ivaz’s room, where he doesn’t bother to knock, just throws open the door.
A groggy Ivaz glances up from his desk, quill in hand. “What the hell, Dominus? Is that Sebastian?”
Dominus has my shoulder in a tight grip. He thrusts me in front of him, lets go, and backs away as if he can’t stand to be near me.
I whirl around. “What the f—”
