Page 56 of Lady of the Nightmares

“Please do, as long as you’re both staying.” The bartender laughed.

I felt more than heard Scion growl. “Careful.”

I wasn’t sure to whom he was speaking, and perhaps the bartender wasn’t either because he leaned closer to me, meeting my eyes with his enormous blue ones. “Hungry?”

Was that a question or a declaration of intent?

Scion slammed a hand flat on the bar between us. “She’s not your concern. Don’t fucking touch her.”

The male’s eyes flashed a paler shade of blue, and he took a deep breath through his nose before he took a step back, his mouth falling into a comical pout. “Yes, I can see that. Interesting smell. Like…dogs marking territory.”

Scion growled low in his throat. “That’s enough. We’ll take two of whatever’s fresh while we wait and—” He glanced at me. “—tell the cook to warm up something to eat, but no fruit.”

The unnerving bartender’s smile faltered, his eyes narrowing, before he nodded and turned away.

“I’m fine,” I muttered. “I don’t need anything to eat.”

“Don’t be absurd,” the prince said without looking at me. “You haven’t eaten since you woke up.”

Oh, I was well aware of that, but my appetite had suddenly fled, and now I wasn’t sure I wanted to eat anything offered in a strange Fae tavern by a sparkling male who looked more like he wanted to eat me than feed me.

I shook my head, trying again to clear it. It became easier as seconds ticked by with the bartender not standing in front of me, better still the further away he walked. “You know him?”

“In a sense.” Scion ground his teeth and glanced down at his hand on my leg. I looked down as well, having only just realized it was still there. “Will you be alright?”

I wasn’t sure. “What happened?”

He removed his hand, running his fingers through his hair. “Kaius is an incubus. They have abilities that are the exact opposite of a mating bond. They feed on lust, not love. They seek out power, not to share in it, but only to take it and leave you drained.”

That probably should have been more alarming to me than it was, but I could hardly focus through the remnants of the fog in my mind. “Really?” I craned my neck for a better look. “He looks like High Fae.”

Scion laughed harshly. “No, he doesn’t. He’s quite adept at glamour, which apparently you are susceptible to. It’s strange—I thought you could see through glamour.”

I frowned. I didn’t have to ask why he thought that—I’d been able to see through his glamour when we first met, and for the most part, his powers didn’t work on me. “I have never claimed to be immune to all magic.”

“Yes.” He frowned. “But that is less easily explained.”

Sidestepping the issue, I focused on my folded hands on the bar. “If this is your friend’s bar, I take it he’s a thief?”

Scion nodded. “This tavern is something of a waystation. I’m sure someone is already on their way to let Cross know we’re here.”

“Fascinating.” I bit my lip, feeling a bit embarrassed now that the sparkling haze was wearing off.

“Do not concern yourself over Kaius, rebel. I will not let him eat you.” Humor flickered in his gaze, and a smug male smile crept across his face. Then, without warning, he reached over and ran his thumb over my bottom lip, pulling it free of my teeth. “I have no intention of sharing my meal.”

I choked, even as heat crept up my neck. “I despise you.”

He merely smirked, as if to say that hardly mattered.

I knew what he was doing, flirting with me as a way to both remind me who was in control and distract me from more pressing issues. To be fair, I’d played into the game myself, but not today. “Do not speak to me unless you have to. I want nothing to do with you.”

He didn’t reply, which I took to mean he understood, but I did not like the way the smile had not left his face.

21

LONNIE

THE CUTTHROAT DISTRICT, INBETWIXT

---