Page 131 of Atop the Faerie Throne
“This is a bad idea,” Florian stresses, running hands through his hair in a gesture that makes his armour clink. “If Caedmon dies?—”
“That sounds awfully close to questioning the Nicnevin’s decisions.” I poke his perky ass with a dagger.
Gryffin flicks the blade away casually. “He’s merely concerned for our mate. She cares about her cousin. We need to come up with a plan for his protection.”
“Eh, he has six swords for protection.”
Can I play with them now? I really,reallyneed to know if they’re sharp or just stabby—it’s an important distinction.
“And a habit of getting himself imprisoned or tortured on a regular basis,” Florian grunts.
“Weren’t you responsible for a good number of those imprisonments?” I point out, unbothered. “Besides, he’s a quarter redcap. We’re hard to kill.”
My hat perks up in pride, becoming a Fomorian helm for a brief second before returning to a cosy knit cap that keeps my hair from being ruined by the awful sea spray.
Rose finally steps on deck after what must be a small eternity, and I make a note to stab wolfie for being such a slow rower as I blink over to her and kiss her senseless.
She doesn’t even realise I’ve stolen her away from the rest of her mates until she’s across the deck. Burying my neck in her hair, I take a deep gulp of her scent and squeeze her plush ass.
“We need to discuss what we’re facing over there,” Florian interrupts.
Don’t behead him. Rose likes him.
He doesn’t need both hands to live, though.
Rose kisses my throat, and I lose my train of thought.
“It’s a three-day journey,” Prae corrects, accepting his offered hand up onto the deck behind the others. “There’s plenty of time to argue strategy.”
But the moment is already ruined. Rose’s body, which was soft and pliant against my own, has stiffened. Shame. I had hopes she might lock me in the brig and fuck me through the bars if I asked really nicely.
I’m a simple redcap with jailbird fantasies.
“We need to know more about whatever Elatha has unleashed,” Jaro insists. “We’re going in blind.”
Caed shrugs and points at Prae. “Ask the one who actually paid attention to the elders’ lectures, not the one who kept getting flogged for falling asleep.”
His cousin narrows her eyes. “You just don’t want to break the news that we don’t know much.”
Kitarni cuts through their struggle. “You’re forgetting one thing.” She hefts a heavy tome from her bag and shoves it at Jaro. “Portal lore.”
Oh Goddess. Not reading. Anything but that.
“Sneak away with me, pet?” I ask Rose quietly. “We can have some fun while she bores them to sleep.”
“Lorcan!” Kitarni snaps her fingers, the sound of bark on bark making me grimace. “Focus.”
“I want to learn,” Rose agrees, and I groan all over again.
“Many portals take time to stabilise after they’re opened.” Kitarni flicks to a specific page. “Elatha might’ve unlocked it, but if it’s been closed for a long time, then there’s no way anyone would be able to cross for the first few days.”
Bree nods. “So we steal the pendant back and?—”
“Locking it again would require intricate knowledge of the portal that we don’t have,” Kitarni corrects. “I imagine Balor understood enough bàsron magic to create it and lock it behind him. We have no such luxury, and we can’t risk it being opened again.”
“You want me to destroy it,” Rose whispers. “Like I did the portal that brought me to Faerie.”
The dryad’s black eyes glimmer as she pushes back a branch from her face, moulting several leaves in the process. “Exactly.”
