“And y’all in some sort of … agreement?” Gil questions, holding up his hand to keep Magnus quiet. You know what? I think I like him. My thoughts get caught on this whole idea of an agreement. Holly asked almost the same thing before our phone call cut out. That can’t be coincidental.
“It’s not like I’ve signed any paperwork…” I say, searching through the threads of the conversations Magnus and I have had in the little time we’ve spent together for anything damning.
“Heather, my sweet, this is the second time I have stated my very clear intentions.” Magnus pulls at the strands of his red hair. “You have agreed to stay in my castle or at my side—and find me a suitable match by the end of the week.”
“I didn’t think it was binding!” My eyes go wide while I look between the two men. This has to be a mistake.
“How?” Gil and Magnus reply in unison.
“I’m kind of new here, okay!?” I clutch at my chest. I’ve been around faeries for a year now, and while Moth doesn’t remember enough to fill in the gaps, shouldn’t someone have warned me about this kind of thing? If a bargain is as easy as a few spoken words and a handshake, we’re lucky I didn’t get into trouble sooner.
“How do I get out of it?” I ask, panic starting to set in. “Because, full offense: I would rather eat a live cockroach than marry him.”
I don’t need to look at Magnus to know that he’s gaping in horror.
“That should be the easy part,” Gil says through his laughter. He turns to the vampire king, “Surely, you’ll let her go now that this misunderstanding has been—”
“I won’t give up earning her favor just because of a few missteps!” Magnus cuts him off, as determined and stubborn as ever.
“Take. Her. Back!” Gil shouts with the sternness of someone trying to tell their housecat to drop a dead mouse.
“No,” Magnus replies, his tone flat and uninterested. “We still have two days, and I intend to win her over by the end of them.”
“Magnus!” The fish man’s gills flair as he lunges toward the vampire with his yellow claws splayed.
“What?” The vampire king narrows his eyes, his teeth bared. “I have been imagining my life with this woman since she agreed to be my bride last season.”
I take a step backward. I’m used to Moth’s grumpy expressions. It can be fun to make him a little angry from time to time, but Magnus is still a wildcard. I haven’t seen the depths of his temper, and I’m not taking my chances.
But it’s Gil who has the advantage here. He leaps in the air with unexpected ease, tackling Magnus onto the deck with a resoundingthud.
In mere moments, the vampire king is flat on his back. Hastily, I search the area for an escape, running down the uneven wooden dock toward the house.
“You can’t just kidnap peopleyouwant to marry!” Gil shouts, just as Magnus floats—literallyfloats!—up, knocking Gil off his feet. My new scaly friend, however, is agile and grabs Magnus by the ankle, his claws sinking into the vampire’s flesh. Just like that, Magnus is pulled back down to solid ground and trades blows with Gil on the dock.
“I’m not taking relationship advice from the man who’s been pining over some human for over a decade. You know, ifyou just—” A splash cuts off Magnus’s words as the two crash into the water. It’s deep, but still they fight just as easily as they had on land.
“Do you know how expensive this coat was?” Magnus shouts, reduced to a whining fashion model as opposed to royalty.
“You’ll buy a new one!” The swamp monster wrestles him under the water.
“It’s vintage!” Magnus shouts when he resurfaces.
In this fight, I’d have my money on him. In the moment, I can’t figure out if this is a brotherly spat or he’s about to murder my captor. Can vampires even drown? I don’t know, but this whole violent scene is making me uneasy.
I don’t want to marry the vampire king.
But I don’t necessarily want him dead either.
“Okay, okay, okay!” Magnus sputters. “You have made your point.”
“So you’re taking her home?” Gil asks, seeming to be ready to call it quits.
“Home to my castle, of course,” Magnus croons. Yup, not the answer Gil or I wanted. Gil dunks the vampire king back under water.
The two spar with violent splashes, and as much as I would love to keep watching this train wreck of a fight, this is my best chance to escape. But the dock is wet and considering I am the clumsiest person I know, I slip right as I reach Gil’s house. The walls look like they’re made with sea glass and shells and hurt like hell when my arm scrapes across them. Just like that, the splashing from the scuffle behind me is replaced by eerie silence.
Rising from the water on what I have to assume are glamoured wings, Magnus floats toward me; his eyes flash an unnerving red, as if possessed.
