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“Um . . . you can say that again.”
Scattered through the writhing masses are decadent settees and low tables bearing exotic fruits, elixirs, and flowers with burning petals. Smoke unfurls from the blooms, wafting the heady spice into the air. Could be dangerous if I breathe too much.
“You’re not shocked?” he asks. “Not scandalized?”
I laugh. “I’m not seventeen anymore, Alfie.”
I’m still a virgin, but that’s by choice. I’ve fooled around, but my partners all looked at me and saw rumors, my traumatic history, or my heroic family. It was never just me.
“I know.” Alfie pauses. “A lot can change in five years.”
“This is true.”
“You know, we’re still technically engaged.”
“What?”
Something hot and intense burns in his eyes. “There’s been no one else like you. There never will be. I want you to know that.”
Does he still have feelings for me? I don’t know what to say, but he doesn’t wait for my reply. He returns to scanning the crowd.
“Everyone knows that what happens here stays in here, Willow. So, fair warning, it can getverywild.”
“Okay.”
Closer to the outskirts, natural grottos hang with gauzy drapes between the trees. Plush pillows, lounges, and lazy bodies are reclined in bliss as others tend them... some servants are mortals in collars and demeaning costumes. Other alcoves have the roles reversed. It’s the fae tending to the whims of mortals.
A muscular man is strung between branches, squirming against his bonds but begging for more as delicate females flay strips from his flesh. It’s almost like I’ve stepped into a dream where every carnal, violent delight is realized.
More beastly shapes prowl the shadows at the fringes. A horned one with swirling eyes crawls toward a couple fucking in the open. It’s being beckoned, invited to join.
It strikes me that the beastly creatures might not be from Avorlorna. Burn After Reading could be neutral territory like Cornucopia—a place where both sides of the faerie coin put aside their differences in the name of revelry.
Weirdly, for the first time since arriving in this strange new land, I feel closer to home. Those with unique appearances and desires aren’t met with scorn here. Instead, they’re welcomed with open arms.
This is the resistance I’ve been hoping for. A sign that not everyone is happy with this regime. It’s also proof that not all nightmares are banished to the subterranean. Legion said something to Ignarius earlier about the nightmares never leaving... I glance at the darker outskirts again, where the shadows play.
“This is wrong,” I mumble. “Isn’t it?”
“What?” Alfie glances down at me, still distracted as he searches the crowd.
“I mean—” I nod to the shadows where a hunched beast prowls on cloven feet. “Tell me that’s not a subterranean.”
“It probably is.” He shrugs, but a muscle feathers in his jaw. “We can’t do anything about it here. Just stay away from them, and you’ll be fine.”
“But isn’t it wrong that no one remembers some subterraneans are just people like us?” They’re certainly a far cry from the Cornertwister.
“I wouldn’t call that a person, Willow.”
“You’re missing the point. Why are the weak, different, or flawed”—I swallow—“like me, banished? It makes no sense.”
“It makes perfect sense when we’re at war.” He shakes his head. “We can’t trust anything we see. You’ve only been here for days, but I’ve seen Terrors that make you believe you’re going insane. Trust me. It’s better this way.”
The Nexus only teaches what Titania wants you to know.
“Anyway,” he continues. “I told you I have a plan. Come on. I’ll give you a quick tour, tell you who is who, and then you can ally with therightRadiants.”
His derision is clearly aimed at the Six.
