Tempted By Fae Page 4

  He yawns and stretches languorously, like a wild cat.

  But he doesn’t look tired to me. His every movement, his every word, his every look is carefully calculated.

  Do you expect me to remember…

  Suddenly I do.

  I do remember every word he told me.

  Salt. Iron. Steel. Socks. Underthings. Water.

  Follow the willow trail.

  He’s standing right next to a willow now, some twenty feet away from the one he was nearing moments ago.

  My eyes roam beyond that tree, and notice another one, then a fourth farther still.

  Inside my jacket, a pouch in my pocket almost burns now that I recollect putting it there right after breakfast yesterday.

  A pouch of fine salt.

  I have weapons, such as they are. Never mind that I’m not sure how to use any of them. I’m not entirely helpless. And now that Cal is here, I’m not entirely alone either.

  Chapter Eight

  Cal doesn’t spare me a glance. He doesn’t look at the other folk. His entire focus is on the queen. Rena, he called her.

  “I’m surprised you’d come here, after our last meeting,” he finally says.

  Rena narrows her eyes. There was a warning I missed somewhere.

  He knows she’d never dare enter these woods.

  I don’t know what happened between these two, but it can’t have been good.

  “And I’m surprised you’d settle for this thing,” she hisses, gesturing toward me.

  I now understand why Cal was offended when I used that word to describe the boggart.

  “What makes you think I’m even remotely interested in anything that bears your face?” he asks, almost lightly.

  In other circumstances, I would have protested. I’m hot, dammit. But considering the situation, I want to nod along.

  The queen ignores him. “She’s salt and iron. You, better than anyone, know what happens to the fae who fall for mortals.”

  “Rena, I don’t want to say you’re paranoid, but—” He gestures around him, letting the scene speak for itself.

  “If I were, you wouldn’t be here. Protecting it.”

  “The child’s aunt is a member of my court, you’ll recall. She would not be keen on finding pieces of a niece she loves scattered in the holt.”

  Julia.

  He’s talking about Julia.

  She’s truly in the faerie land. Despite everything going on around me, I can’t quell a sudden rapture, strong enough to overcome what’s left of my fear.

  “Let the girl return home. Scaring easy prey is beneath you.”

  I hold my breath as Rena’s lips thin.

  Maybe she’ll let me go. Maybe she’ll fall for his manipulation.

  Maybe, maybe, maybe.

  Seconds pass. In the distance, the sun fights for dominion over the darkness, as I see the two faerie monarchs engage in a still and silent battle of wills right in front of me.

  Rena’s hand darts out so fast I don’t have a moment to step back. She grips my throat in her strong grasp, her nails digging in my skin.

  “You could have had me,” she tells Cal. “We could have been happy, you and I. The Hunt and the Bright Court. We would have had a kingdom powerful enough to rival the High Court itself.”

  I kick out, desperate to free myself as my vision begins to blur. I can’t breathe. The pain is so violent, I could pass out. I’ll be pissed if I faint, like a stupid damsel in distress, but it’s a distinct possibility.

  Then I see something flash in front of me. I just have the time to close my eyes before it reaches me.

  To my surprise, instead of more pain, I’m suddenly free. I fall, my ass hitting the ground hard enough to bruise.

  Thick vines wrapped themselves around Rena’s wrists, forcing her to let me go.

  Cal places himself between the queen and me. He’s still not looking at me, entirely focused on her, but he speaks to me. Just one word.

  “Run.”

  Everything hurts, but I stand up.

  Run, run, run away.

  I only have a moment to decide where. Home is my first thought, but looking back, I don’t recognize the path. I don’t even see the house, although I’ve just crossed the yard and entered the forest. Behind me, there’s thick, unfamiliar trees.

  I doubt I’m anywhere near home. I doubt I could find my way back. Somehow, I crossed into the faerie realm.

  I start to sprint to the first willow tree.

  You’ll have to follow the willow trail, and come dance for me under the starlight.

  I hope the invitation still stands at dawn.

  I find another willow, and a third, and a fourth. Behind me, I hear the ring of laughter, and footsteps that barely make any sound as they touch the ground.

  I’m being followed.

  No, not followed.

  Hunted.

  Run, run, run away.

  I pass meadows and groves, ignoring the pain in every limb, the lack of air in my lungs.

  The thought that the folk are playing with me dances at the edge of my mind. They could have caught up to me by now, but what’s the fun in that?

  I know they mean to corner me before I reach—wherever it is I’m supposed to go.

  I hear water somewhere close. A stream, maybe. Reluctant to stray from the willow path, I ignore it. I have salt. That’ll have to do.

  I near a bridge, and the last willow I can see stands tall and proud, larger than any others around me.

  There’s nothing else here.

  I try to contain my panic. Think, Keira, think.

  I can’t believe my own words. Cal didn’t save me just to entertain himself with my growing despair. I can’t believe it. I refuse to.

  I’ve stopped running, but I walk to the tree.

  I’m a couple of feet away when I’m knocked to the ground, thrown down with a powerful thrust.

  I roll to see the boggart hovering over me, its nasty teeth shining under its curved lips.

  He might well have taken a bite out of you—or led you down to the depths of his hole, where you’ll never see the light of day again.

  I yell, kicking at him as hard as I can, but if he feels any pain, he doesn’t seem to care. He pins me down with surprising force.

  “Be a good girl and stay, mortal. The queen isn’t done with you.”

  “Yes, she is!” Hands shaking, I pull the pouch of salt out of my pocket, rip it open, and shove it at him.

  The boggart screeches, jumping back as the salt erodes his skin like acid.

  I don’t take the time to wonder at the craziness of all this. I get to my feet, only slipping once, and rush to the willow tree, my hand outstretched.

  Come, come, come to me.

  In the wicked realm,

  Beneath the willow tree.

  I don’t know what I expect at all, but the tree is the answer. I have to believe that.

  When my hand comes into contact with it, instead of the roughness of tree bark under my skin, I feel…nothing.

  Nothing at all.

  The tree is gone.

  So is the boggart, and everything else. The bridge, the forest.

  I’m standing in the center of a great hall lit with a thousand black candles, surrounded by unfamiliar faces who look at me with curiosity and wonder.

  The walls are covered in black ivy, flowering with red blooms I’d be hard-pressed to name.

  The smell is sweetness, ash, and blood.

  Though I see no musician, no instrument, a deep drum thunders, beating like a heart.

  I’m standing in a dark, dangerous, sensual faerie court.

  A thick mist gathers in the air, and coalesces into the shape of a man. Then Cal is standing next to me.

  “Not at all badly done,” he comments.

  I let go of a sigh I didn’t realize I was holding.

  I’m safe.

  He’s safe.

  Safe and home.

  * * *

  The end.
<
br />   Note from May and her alter-ego Alexi.

  * * *

  I had the best time writing this short story, The Willow Trail.

  After finishing it, I realized that I’m so attached to Keira and Cal, I feel like continuing their story.

  Look out for Pick Your Poison this summer!

  A full-length standalone novel concluding their romance.

  You can follow me on Facebook or join my newsletter to be notified of releases.

  Copyright © 2020 by Amelia Hutchins

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Chapter One

  I watched the plumes of sage that burned from the many fires that littered the courtyard of the Witches’ Court. My hackles were already on edge while we waited for Kerri to give us further detail about why we’d been summoned tonight. Obviously, it hadn’t been for guard duty, since multiple guards stood around, heavily armed to the teeth tonight. Almost as if they planned on there being a problem.

  “Does this feel off to you?” Dominick asked, forcing my stinging eyes to his steel-blue ones.

  “Everything with Kerri seems off,” I muttered, doing my best not to rub my burning eyes and ruin the makeup the agency had applied generously to them.

  To those in attendance, we looked like a couple. It couldn’t be any further from the truth. We were owned halflings, wielded by men of power to do whatever their slippery, slimy clients wanted. Kerri, the host of tonight’s party, was among the worst of the agency’s clientele. She enjoyed being a dark witch, but more than that, she enjoyed power over weaker beings.

  “There she is,” I nodded to where she’d entered the courtyard, searching it until she found us leaning against the courtyard wall.

  “Hey, Eli,” Dom said, grabbing my arm to stop me as I pushed from the wall to go to where she stood. “You need to know, she placed a bid for us.”

  “They’re selling us?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

  “After tonight, you won’t be worth much, and I’ve not had much success in using my powers, which makes me worthless to them. We’re too old, according to Jarrod, not worth the cost to house and feed anymore.”

  “We have the highest kill rate of our agency.”

  “I don’t think they care since they’re moving toward less brutal means to subdue creatures. They’re sending the men away and keeping the women, but you don’t fit the mold they plan to keep around. I overheard them last night. If you can’t earn monetary gain on your back, you’re not worth keeping.”

  “But…” I paused as Kerri reached us, kissing my cheeks, which sent chills rushing up my spine as I took in her silver eyes that smiled in victory, which caused more chills to move through me.

  Kerri let her horrid gaze slowly slide down the wide V-line dress I’d worn tonight. Bringing her hand up, she traced the globe of my breast, causing nausea to churn in my stomach. Blood-red nails continued their slow exploration until they pulled against the skirt, smirking as she discovered the garter she’d explicitly asked for me to be dressed in tonight.

  “Perfect, but then you always have been, Elianna.”

  “Thank you,” I replied demurely, allowing her to think I was subdued by her presence.

  Under the contract, we were unable to argue with a client, or be anything but demure and polite. They paid for it, after all. We were the unwanted, the owned halflings their unions with humans produced. Most of us were either murdered at birth or abandoned by our mothers. That left us with two choices: be owned or become the hunted to end up killed for circumstances we held no control over.

  “You called us here, why?” I asked carefully.

  Her hand lifted to my chin, tightening painfully, causing me to wince from the pain. “You speak when I say you can, Elianna. Follow me, and keep your beautiful lips closed or I’ll put them to good use doing what I want them to be doing, instead of wasting them on what I paid for you to do tonight.”

  Swallowing back the bile rushing to the back of my throat, I followed her silently. It wasn’t a secret that she typically preferred the company of women to men, or that she enjoyed torturing them for daring to touch her flesh, even though she’d paid for just that to be done. She wasn’t referred to as the wicked witch of wantonness for no reason.

  Dom’s fingers brushed against mine as we silently followed Kerri through the courtyard as people watched us. It was his way of offering comfort, and mine wrapping around his was my way of telling him I was okay. We’d done it since we were twelve, ever since we’d first been teamed up to partner together. Unlike the other kids who either ended up dead or drained of life unexplainably, we’d survived the agency—for the most part.

  Once we entered the castle, she continued into the library, closing the doors behind us before moving to a large, oak desk. Settling behind it, she stared longingly over my body. Her tongue licked her lips, silver eyes slowly lifting back to settle on mine.

  “I’ve secured the use of your body for tonight, Elianna. You will seduce and murder the lord, who will arrive shortly.”

  “The agency is aware that you purchased the use of both?” I asked, knowing that if she hadn’t secured two separate contracts, I wouldn’t be doing both jobs tonight. I’d be sure she had, even if it meant speaking out of turn.

  “I paid for your virginity as well as the hit of this particular mark, yes. Pity your innocence will be wasted on him, but times are changing, and certain sacrifices must be made for the greater good.” Her tone dripped with lust, etched with a hardness that raked over my nerves.

  I lowered my gaze to the wood of her desk, hiding the disdain and worry her statement sent rushing through me. If she’d paid for both, it meant I had no other choice but to do as she instructed. If I didn’t know she’d find it a slight, I would have requested to see the contract, but the bitch was loaded, and I knew if she said she had, she’d paid handsomely for it. Dom’s earlier confession replayed in my mind, and now I knew why I was expendable.

  Kerri opened the locked drawer in her desk, carefully withdrawing a vial filled with liquid. Standing up, she walked around the desk, leaning against it. She held her hand out for me to accept the vial. The moment my hand touched hers, she grabbed it, holding it too long for it to be considered anything but inappropriate.

  “Such a waste indeed, but I must admit, you’re the perfect vision of purity tonight. Free your hair; he will prefer it down,” she demanded, and when I moved to do as she’d asked, she made a noise of impatience. Moving around me, she slowly removed the hairpins that held my wild, dark blonde hair in place. “Perfect.” She ran the tips of her finger over my neck before her lips brushed against it, causing unease to fill my stomach.

  “If he is powerful, he will smell you on her,” Dominick pointed out, bringing himself to her attention to spare me her touch. “Use me, Kerri. Leave her for the mission you procured her for.”

  “Tempting, Dominick. However, you’re unable to use the one thing that would make you worthwhile. An incubus demon without magic is as useless as tits on a male pig.” Neither one of us spoke as she stared him down before finally moving away from me. Once she’d taken her seat in her chair, I broke the silence.

  “What is this?” I asked, watching as angry eyes locked with mine. “I only ask because you intend for me to kill the mark, and knowing what will happen with whatever this is inside of me, it’s best to know now and remove the unknown. I do not wish to fail you.”

  I could act like a puppet when the need arose, but drinking an unknown substance? That was dangerous, especially when it was from her. She was skilled in creating concoctions, but she also enjoyed taking the will of others away. It wasn’t wrong for her to do so, and considering I was expendable, she was within her right to poison me to get to her mark. After all, I w
as only a worthless halfling, who would miss me when I was gone?

  “It’s what you lack, and why you’re up for bid. Fae pheromones, the ones your body doesn’t create on its own because of the human blood running through your worthless veins, destroying them. The magic I’ve added to the pheromones will increase your scent, but it will also highly increase your libido, making you mindless with need. Anything more than a sip and you’ll be worthless for anything other than fucking. It is rather fast-acting, so once he enters the party and I signal, you’ll take a sip, and then quickly dispose of it.”

  “And the mark, what do you know about him?” I asked, and she snorted.

  “That you’re asking too many questions, girl. I am starting to regret requesting you, as you are rude and insolent tonight.”

  “I am trying to learn the mark so that I may engage him.”

  “You’re his gift, he will engage you whether he wants to or not. To turn down a gift from the witches or Lord Lennox is highly frowned upon these days, and there would be dire consequences if he tried.”

  I nodded as my stomach churned. Lord Lennox was worse than Kerri and heavily indulged in brutality to get his way. Luckily, he didn’t request me often. His marks were mostly innocent creatures that stood in the way of what he wanted. Fueled by greed and power, that was pretty much everyone alive, but he tended to fuck his enemies before destroying them.

  “Out, both of you,” she announced, shooing us with her hands.

  “His name?” I asked, observing her.

  “Evander, and I’ve heard he’s hung like a horse and enjoys hurting pretty girls. He’s perfect for your first time.”

  I nodded, turning on my heel to exit the library before I spewed yesterday’s rations over the expensive carpet. Once we were outside of the room, I didn’t stop, even when Dom tried to make me. Outside, the fresh air washed over my face, and I swallowed down the unease her words created, sensing that, once I was alone with the mark, I had two choices: kill him and run, or allow him to take my virtue and then kill him. If I didn’t let him take it, I had no choice if Kerri took it because legally, she’d paid for it to be taken tonight. If everything failed, and I ended up stuck here, I didn’t want that to be hers for the taking.