Thunder rattled the old building, causing the windows to shake in their frames. The iPad in my hand crackled with electricity as lightning lit up the night sky.
Glynda’s face fell as smoke poured from her now-dead device. To my discomfort, she burst into angry tears.
“FUCK YOU!” A vicious fire spell singed my eyebrows off my face before she teleported away.
I smothered the flames and huffed crossly, ignoring the twinge of guilt that perhaps she was right and I was a dickhead.
17
Raven
So this was my mother-in-law? Wow. With her glossy blonde hair and pale blue skin, she was exceptionally beautiful in an ice-cold sort of way. So beautiful she made me want to look away.
Goddess, did she expect us to bow? I probably should have checked what the protocol for meeting royalty was.
I stole a glance at my mates, but none of them were scraping the floor at the queen’s arrival. Nor was Farris, although he dipped his chin briefly.
“Farris, lovely to see you as always,” the queen purred in a voice that screamedwe’ve fucked before and I’d like to repeat the experience.
The queen’s turquoise aura swirled around her like pea soup. The strands of black among the green suggested darkness in her soul, which made sense given she was trying very hard to murder her son.
But I wasn’t thinking about that, just in case her magic included a mind-reading ability. Something else I should have asked Farris about. He clearly knew the bitch well.
“A pleasure, my queen. Please forgive me for the long delay between visits.”
Queen Laryssa licked her lips and smoldered at him before finally acknowledging us.
“And your associates are…?”
“They are consultants I’m working with to improve productivity in the mines. Rasimor from the Winter Court, Maven and Zane from the shifter community, and Rania, an earth witch.”
He’d given us all different names, in case the queen had heard of us, but from her bored eye roll, she was deeply uninterested in Farris’s consultants. Hardly surprising when she continued to eye-fuck the hell out of him, not caring that her fated mate stood less than a foot away.
Honestly, it was gross, and I rued the day I ended up with a slut of a mother-in-law.
Weren’t mothers-in-law supposed to be kind, homely types who baked cakes and offered to look after the grandkids? I couldn’t picture Queen Laryssa bouncing bear cubs on her knee or teaching baby mermen to throw a trident.
Kai had told me nothing about his family, but the queen showed no signs of possessing a maternal instinct. Goddess, did she abandon her fertilized eggs in a cave somewhere and let nature take its course?
Or maybe she was the type of mother who gave birth and let the father raise her offspring?
“Is Malakai not attending the banquet this evening?” Farris asked innocently.
The queen’s mouth tightened and her green eyes darkened. “My son is unwell,” she said with a sniff. “But we expect him to return to the court in a few days.” My stomach churned as her frown turnedinto a gloating smile. “If you stick around, my dear, you may be party to an exciting announcement!”
The queen’s mate dropped a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
“My love, we should circulate.”
“Yes, yes.” The queen shook his hand off irritably and resumed preening for the fae. The way she thrust her ample breasts in his face was disgusting, but he gave an excellent impression of enjoying her attention, and from Zane’s glowing eyes, he was soaking up all the lust with great enjoyment.
“Those two should get a room,”Kenji said in my head. His voice made me jump; I hadn’t spotted his arrival.
“Where did you disappear to?” He’d vanished shortly before the guards arrived to escort us to the palace.
“On a reconnaissance mission.”
My hand jerked, knocking my glass sideways as the queen purred something sultry aboutcatching upwith Farris later. From the way she sank her surprisingly sharp incisors into a plump lilac lip, I assumedcatching upwas a euphemism for fucking him senseless.
