Page 39 of All the Devils are Here

Trin held out a hand. “I know. I saw you with her through Prospero’s scrying. But it’s what she thinks. And…” He shook his head. “She needs to see you. We can get her out, and he won’t be able to follow. But he’ll be pissed.”

I didn’t give a fuck. “Take her to my birthplace,” I said, and Trin flinched. None of us had particularly good memories of that place, but it was as good as any for a reunion, and it was far away from Prospero and the mountain. “You’re sure he can’t leave?”

“Yes,” he said. “But you still need to be careful. Just because he’s confined and weak doesn’t mean he’s powerless.”

I forced myself back into my fully human form. “I know. I didn’t come to give him what he wants.”

Trin kept looking at me like there was something else, and I stared. “What?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head and smiled. It wasn’t convincing. “It’s good to see you. And we all certainly have… a lot to talk about.”

The splash took me off-guard, him jumping into the water before I could ask him what he meant and the waves of his passage moving away too quickly for me to keep up. But it didn’t matter. I would be there soon, and she was safe.

Or rather, she was alive.

Safety would have to come later, but I was coming.

Hold on, Meg. I’m almost there.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

____________

MEGHAN

Prospero didn’t come back.

Like he’d said, I didn’t see him again. Good riddance, for all I cared. But I was nervous about what he meant when he said the magic would run its course. I’d had about enough of the vague threats and all the things that seemed to be common knowledge to everyone here but me. And he said I would die…

At some point during the afternoon the breakfast tray disappeared, and then, when the sun was once again beginning to turn the sky gold, another one landed on the bed with a rattle.

Another of my favorites. Fettuccine alfredo that tasted like it was from a five-star restaurant. I didn’t really want to enjoy it, given my current situation, butfuckit was delicious. At least the magic here was good for something.

I shut the thought down almost immediately. The whole day had been nothing but me drowning in my own thoughts and longings. Now that I had one good thing I wasn’t going to allow myself to sink back down into wallowing.

Just enjoy the fucking pasta, Meg.

I put the tray back by the inside of the door when I finished and curled up under the blanket, watching the sky dim through pretty shades of violet.

When you read the stories about the damsel in distress, those stories never told you how boring all the waiting was. Then again, the women in those stories usually knew someone was coming for them.

I wasn’t sure of that. At all.

A breath of air moved, and I looked up. Ariel was inside, looking determined. “Go away.”

His jaw hardened, and he came toward me in a fully human form, solid and real, dark pants slung low off his hips. I didn’t have a chance to sit up fully before he was leaning over me, so close I could feel heat rolling off his bare chest. The kind of heat that shouldn’t be coming from someone who was made of smoke.

His hands were on the cuffs circling my wrists, pinning me beneath him, but still not technically touching my skin. I ignored my own flare of desire because it wasn’t real. Nothing here was real. Despite how badly I wanted it.

There was fire and determination in Ariel’s eyes, and they were on mine, only dropping to my lips briefly. Him kissing me was all I could think about, imagining how it would feel. What the fuck was wrong with me?

I was furious with him. I didn’t want him near me.

Right?

I shook my head, more to myself than anything else. This was insane, and it was nothing more than magic. Seeing my expression, Ariel’s eyes hardened. “I know you’re pissed at me, Meg. I know that. But you should know I’m not going to stop trying. You think you know everything, but you’re wrong, and just like Ban, you’remine.” His face dropped closer to me, and all the breath went short in my chest. I hated how much I wanted the words. Ihatedthat I couldn’t let myself believe them. “And I will show you it’s real,” he said softly. “But right now I need you to come with me, and quickly. We need to move fast.”

The chains on my wrists fell away, and I gasped. “You could have done that this whole time?”

---