I’m having fun.
As I dip back in a low arc, I find his heated gaze.
Tegwyn regards me, rather impressed this time, and I can almost read his thoughts from where I dance.
Not bad.
That’s when I catch a flash of gold in the corner of my eye, and I find that beautiful, yellow-eyed female heading my way.
My gut clenches, and then my every inhibition returns with a vengeance. It's her. From the tavern.
Minnow.
And she still has that sour expression on her gorgeous face. Tegwyn was right; thiswasa bad idea.
She knows exactly who I am, and now she’s going to make me suffer.
Finally, Minnow reaches my side, and she really is a sight to behold. That flash of gold I spied earlier was, in fact, her crown of leaves, and they match her eyes perfectly.
Her companions wear similar wreaths. A fair-skinned female with hair as white as snow wears a crown of holly berries to match her red lips, and the other wears woven branches of frosted pine. They all have beautiful wings, too.
The white-haired female has translucent wings of shimmering green, and the other has the spotted red of a peacock butterfly.
Minnow tucks her dusty, mottled wings behind her back, giving me a once-over. “My, where did you learn such a dance?”
I lower my gaze, muttering under my breath, “I… made it up.”
She flutters her long, feathery eyelashes. “Come again?”
I should get back to Tegwyn; he will be waiting for me on the pavement. He was right. We should have left after all, and if I survive tonight, then I will tell him personally. He will be so smug.
Minnow leans closer, and her scent of spiced apple chokes me. “What’s your name, fair one?”
That’s where she’s wrong. I am not fair.
I am deceiving these creatures, and when they finally discover who and what I am, they will kill me.
“I-Ivy.”
Minnow hums. “Ivy? Like the parasitic plant? Most befitting.”
The snowy-haired female laughs like a pealing bell, and the pure timbre seems to mock me. Minnow’s smirk widens, and that’s when she shows me her perfect teeth—teeth perfect for rending flesh.
“Aspen, Willow, will you help medisposeof this beautiful parasite?”
Aspen and Willow wear matching sneers, and soon all three faeries crowd me, gripping my arms with cruel, cutting nails.
“Maybe she could show us that lovely dance again,” the pale-haired faerie, Aspen, warbles.
“Or we could gouge her pretty eyes out,” Willow whispers, and I release a silent gasp when she exposes her fangs.
Now these beautiful, winged creatures turn before my very eyes, dragging me closer into the jaws of hell for daring to crash their revel.
When I blink again, Tegwyn is standing in front of me, shielding me from sight. All three faeries release my arms the moment he snarls,“Back off.”
Minnow produces a husky laugh, flicking back her long, chestnut hair. “Tegwyn, why haven’t you introduced us to your lovely friend?”
The growl rises at the back of his throat, and my heart quivers at the merciless sound. “I told you toback off…”
