Page 65 of Fae Unashamed

Ness audibly groaned. “You do realize that means we’re all still stuck with that bitch, right? She’s been a thorn in my side since Ryder arrived in town. There hasn’t been a moment where she wasn’t trying to get her grubby hands on him.”

“Besides,” I added. “I don’t feel like moving worlds. I’d miss you all too much.”

“I didn’t mean you!” Vi spread her hands wide.

“I would have to go with them. I’m their leader. I can’t just make them a new house and leave them alone in it. Especially not if I expect everything to go well.” I stared down at my hands in my lap.

Beside me, Tal took a drag on his toxic energy drink concoction. “Cerridwen is correct. Leaving fae unattended in any world is asking for disaster. I know this from experience.”

We all sat in silence for a long while. Only the sound of melting ice filled the air. This was supposed to be a war council. We should have been moving little figures across a detailed map, like they did in fantasy movies.

I shot out of my seat and snatched the map of Syracuse and Lakesedge from the shelf. We’d used it for scrying several times in the past. This time, we would figure out our next move. I unfolded the modern map and spread it across the table, forcing everyone to move their drinks aside.

Rhoan placed his hand on my lower back as I leaned forward across the table. Warmth spilled over my body and ignited a spark deep in my core. My lower abdomen throbbed with a sudden need as if he hadn’t fulfilled it all last night. I did my best to turn away from the thoughts suddenly flooding my mind, but it seemed there was no escaping them.

I wanted him to bed me over this table and pull aside my shorts. I wanted to scream his name into the map and feel his hands along my back. I wanted him to turn me over and lovingly kiss his way down my stomach until he found the sweet spot between my legs.

But we had a war to plan, and I couldn’t afford to get so distracted.

Ness caught my eye and smiled knowingly. In fact, all of my friends had the same look on their faces. Cheeks hot with embarrassment, I turned away from them to hide anything else that they might see.

“Nosy bastards,” I muttered under my breath.

All at once, they broke out in laughter. Tal and Rhoan shared a confused look over my head. I pressed my lips into a line to keep from laughing with my friends.

This was what I was fighting for. I wanted a future where we could all sit around and share stories about our lovers. Someday, we would have children running around and they would grow up alongside one another. I couldn’t wait to meet Ness’s little one and see her become a mother.

Sucking in a breath, I steeled myself for what we had to do next. We could overcome anything so long as we were together. And everything would be amazing on the other side.

Right?

Rhoan

I watchedmy queen touch a fingertip to the wood table. Little sprouts sprang up from the surface, pulled themselves free of the wood, and took form as they ran across the map she’d rolled out. One sprout became Beryl and placed itself atop the restaurant at the edge of Lake Onondaga. Another became a figure of herself, seated on the other side of the lake. There were more, representations of her friends and alliances, that she didn’t place just yet.

The display felt right, like settling back into your favorite pair of worn-in boots. I knew how to function here. I quickly snatch up the figures representing the forces back at the Seelie castle and placed them in strategic positions around the restaurant.

We wanted to take the court back. This would not be a wholesale slaughter. We were planning a retrieval mission, and nothing more. Of course, we knew that we would have to corner Beryl and deal with her at the very end, but everyone else in her court was free to run.

If we displayed enough power, then no one would ever think to come back. I doubted that any of Beryl’s followers were really that devout. She didn’t have dedicated supporters, only those who took advantage of the court that she’d set up. It was her power that made them all toe the line, and if we dismantled that, then there would be no reason for her court to stick around.

That was the hope, at least.

I glanced back at Cerri for her approval. She gave a silent nod.

On one side, we would have the redcaps and dryads move in. The other side would have those who’d joined from Foxglove’s retinue. Vi agreed to lead them. She was a powerhouse, and we could use all the fire power we could get. Her husband couldn’t join in because of his ties to the local pack, unfortunately. That also meant that we couldn’t take advantage of Ness’s vocal command arcana.

“I really wish you could walk in and tell them all to leave,” I grumbled.

Ness raised a challenging brow. “And I don’t feel like walking into the middle of the enemy’s den while pregnant.”

I sucked my teeth. She had a point.

That also meant that Addie’s husband would be unavailable, too. Though he was some sort of odd shifter, he was still Pack. The Pack had an alliance with Beryl’s court. Should we fail, Cerri wanted her friends to be on the safe side. So long as no one in the Pack joined us, the alliance would be safe.

Just in case.

It was frustrating, to say the least. We had a bit of power on our side, but it wasn’t as much as I would have liked. Sure, the small fae that’d joined us could pack a punch, but I really wanted more. If we could have added all of Cerri’s friends and their partners to this plan, I would have felt better.

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