Stannog growls, and then something smashes, followed by a loud crash.
I push Ivy towards the stairs before we get caught in the crossfire, and soon we find the master bedroom at the end of a carpeted hallway. There’s no doubting who the room belongs to once we step inside, finding the large four-poster bed immediately. The wooden monstrosity swallows up the entire room, and as we approach one of the bedposts, Ivy runs a finger along a carved rose. I can’t help noticing the chaise longue by the ornate fireplace, and the pincushion ottoman at the foot of the bed.
Darn. Bannog really does have good taste.
My eyes land on a changing board in the corner. I hand Ivy the gossamer. “Hurry up and dress. We need to leave as soon as possible.”
She regards the gossamer hesitatingly, then sighs, taking it from my fingers so she can get dressed.
Shouts echo outside, and I approach the window, muttering a curse. The street is swarming with faeries, and I just hope that everyone is too drunk to take much notice of the human when we leave later.
One group of dancing females catches my attention, and I duck when they glance up at the window.
Shit. It’s Marrow, or whatever her stupid name is again. Of courseshewould be here. Never one to pass up on a revel.
“Erm… Tegwyn?”
At the sound of her meek voice, I glance at the changing board, regretting it immediately.
The blood rushes through my head once I spy her curvy silhouette behind the canvas, and I ignore the hardness in my pants.
Fuck. Notnow…
“Yes?” I ask, covering my eyes.
“I…need you to help me with the glamour. I…can’t see it.”
Yes. How could I forget?
With a deep breath, I keep my eyes closed as I step around the changing board, opening them long enough so I can see the glittering swathe of material.
I lift the glamour, telling her to turn, and she offers me a view of her slender neck.
My gaze latches onto her pulse, and my fangs ache, wishing to bite into that tender patch of skin. But then I shake some sense back into myself, focusing on my current task.
Dressing her. That’s all this is.
Helping her dress…
Notundress.
Still, her pulse is inviting, the way it flutters beneath her neck, andshit…I can’t do this.
She angles her head, giving me a small glimpse of her rosebud mouth. “Are you okay?”
I inhale a shivering breath, “N-never better. Come on, let’s get this thing on already.”
With careful fingers, I slip the gossamer over her like a veil, stepping back as it moulds to her shape.
Her ears grow at the tips as her form changes before my very eyes, but when all is said and done, I don’t see much of a difference. Her beauty is pretty much unchanged.
However, her skin harbours a lucent glow, and her hair shines like shafts of sunlight. And herbody…
The same round hips and small waist, now visible through the cut-out sections of her diaphanous dress. That gauzy dress of soft jade matches her eyes perfectly, and I stumble for words, taking her in from head to toe. My blood whooshes through my head, and I don’t know how I even manage to hold it together.
I could kill Bannog right now; he gave her that fucking dress on purpose just to tease me. The dress breathes to life, leaves and vines curling around her arms and legs, and she’s spring personified.
Flowers bloom in her hair, and I stagger back against the wall, unable to take my eyes off her. A goddess stands before me, and I forget how to breathe.
