Page 13 of Protected By the Fae King

Perching at the vanity, I did my makeup carefully, adding mascara to my already thick lashes, ensuring my green eyes popped beneath the subtle eyeliner and coat of eyeshadow. Completing the get-up with a pink gloss, I rose and found a pair of stilettos before making my way across the suite toward the hallway. It was only then that I realized my heart was pounding.

I have every right to be there. Jace invited me,I told myself, regaining my confidence. It beat sitting around in the room, pouting about being locked away. At least this way, I could meet others. And if Saint wanted me married off, I couldn’t do it from behind closed doors.

Let’s go find that duke,I told myself, striding confidently out of the north wing and into the main hallway.

Several staff members milled around, and I startled them with my presence.

“Oh, miss, you shouldn’t be up here,” one maid informed me worriedly. “The party is downstairs.”

“I’m Elix,” I replied. “I’m staying here. But I am looking for the party.”

Baffled, her eyes narrowed slightly, recognition overtaking her face. “Glynda’s daughter?” she breathed. “Your mother was a maid here, right?”

Taken aback, I nodded. “You knew my mother?”

The maid paled and looked over her shoulder, lowering her voice. “You’re the one who can control all the elements, right?”

I backed away. My mother wouldn’t have freely advertised my abilities to just anyone. I didn’t know how to answer, and my skin ran cold under her stare as she waited for me to answer.

“Cora!” The maid straightened as a butler called out to her, and she ushered me toward the stairs.

“The ballroom is down and to the left,” she said quickly, avoiding my eyes. I wanted to ask her how well she had known my mother, but there was no time to have a private chat when the butler stood waiting. I made a mental note to speak with her again.

“Thanks,” I said instead and headed toward the party.

But the ballroom wasn’t just to the left, as Cora dictated. It took me almost five minutes before the first beats of the DJ’s bass met my heels, the sounds of lively, upbeat music guiding me toward the east side of the palace where flocks of bodies headed through the double doors.

Several faeries stopped to check me out, their eyes widening in approval or jealousy, but I barely noticed as I scanned the massive, smoky room for Jace.

The lights pulsated, flashing in strobes, the tunes too loud for conversation, and while the ballroom wasn’t filled to capacity, it was difficult for me to make out faces, particularly when I didn’t know anyone there.

Liveried waiters wandered by with silver platters of champagne, and I immediately took one to calm my nerves. The alcohol did exactly as it intended, seeping through my anxious body, my eyes finally adjusting to the dim lighting. My gaze fell on the bejeweled throne at the head of the room. Jace sprawled lazily upon it, his muscled form encased in half a dozen admirers.

In his hand, he also held a drink, and a smirk sat on his face as the fingers of doting females caressed his beard and face, a body on each of his knees. The menage of females irked me, theirdifferences so similar, all legs and breasts, bare skin pressed to the king and vying for his attention.

Everyone around him fell out of their dresses, their mouths so close to his, Jace seemed ready to reach out and taste it all.

Which one would he take to his room? Or maybe he’d take them all!

A fusion of anger and disgust rose up inside me to see him drinking in all the attention, his misogyny rushing toward me in waves.

Look at him, soaking it up,I thought furiously.He’s loving every second of this!

I glowered at him, my hands curling around my glass so tightly, I was shocked it didn’t break, but as I stared, I realized I wasn’t just repulsed… I was a bit jealous.

Turning swiftly away before he could see me, I was determined that his piggish behavior wouldn’t ruin my fun. I was at this event to relax and unwind, not get worked up over the king’s bad habits. Jace's activities in his free time were of no concern to me. I’d already known that his ego was as big as the sun’s.

Putting down my now empty glass, I grabbed for another one as a waiter slipped by again and downed that one, too, relishing the euphoric feeling of the liquor as it washed away my annoyance.

I was going to have fun tonight, no matter what. Even if I had to pretend that the king wasn’t there, being the chauvinistic jerk that he was. Surely there was enough alcohol for that.

Chapter 5

Jace

Hot breath whispered in each ear, the collective voices sultry but jumbled between the two females vying for my attention. It was difficult to focus on them as two more slid up my legs, caressing the curve of my calves, snaking their way toward my dick suggestively.

“…upstairs?” one purred.

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