Page 42 of The Lord of Whispers

We poked our heads into Bar Louie, and for once, Rhett wasn’t there.

“Probably has his head under a skirt,” I japed.

Al nodded in agreement.

We ended up at a burger joint a street over from Bar Louie.

“Luke, has Rhett always been like this?” she asked. “I mean, do you think he will ever want to settle down… you know, for more than a night or two? It’s just—”

“I know what you mean, Al,” I said, pushing my chair slightly back from the round table we sat at.

My friend put on a good face, pretending he enjoyed bouncing from girl to girl. But it seemed that Al had spent enough time around Rhett to pick up on what very few ever noticed about him.

“Believe it or not, that’s actually what he’s trying to do,” I said.

She looked at me skeptically.

I took a sip of my beer, and then a deep breath.

“Rhett was engaged once,” I said.

Al looked like she would fall out of her chair in disbelief.

I gave her a knowing, sad smile. “Like Rhett told you, women were—are—enchanted by him. I won’t explain everything about his powers. That’s for him to tell you.”

She nodded in agreement.

“But one of the things that comes with his magic is that one woman and one woman alone can be his mate,” I explained.

Alarie’s eyes went wide in shock. People could love one another and not be mated. Some fae went their entire life without ever finding a mate, although, undoubtedly, they loved. But, outside of Rhett, it was unheard of to be limited to the possibility of one person being their mate. People could form a mating bond with anyone they loved enough. All the women Rhett went through, it was just an impossible numbers game for him. He was trying to find a needle in a haystack.

“He thought he had found his mate. He certainly loved her. And he certainly believed she loved him. We all did,” I spat bitterly.

“She wasn’t his mate?” Al asked, wearing the heartbreak she felt for our friend on her sleeve.

I pressed my lips into a tight line. “No, she wasn’t.”

“She didn’t love him?” she asked quietly.

“She did. But not of her own volition,” I said.

“Who?” Al bit off her question, knowing all too well the kind of cruel games that proliferated through the High Court.

“Someone on King Vandros’s side. We never found out exactly who. It was a cruel plan to distract Rhett. They made her feel as though she were in love, made it seem as though she was in love, and then one day they just stopped.”

“Why would anyone do that to him?” she asked.

“They were scared of him, Al,” I replied simply, taking another sip of my beer.

“Scaredof Rhett? Sure, he’s…” she said.

I know what she wanted to say… abeguiling, sometimes bastard of a man.

“But he wouldn’t hurt anyone,” she finished.

I looked at her, and it was one of the few times I truly felt the gap in the years between us.

“Alarie, you’ve only seen the cute, fun side of Rhett’s magic. But Rhett was a formidable weapon for our side. Imagine for a minute that you’re a lord and you see your wife of fifty years fall for Rhett.”

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