Page 137 of The Fallen Fae King

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

I wait, resting my ear against the stone.

At last, a short click answers.

I smile, revealing my fangs. “Watcher.”

Someone with the Power is never alone.

A glossy beetle hauls itself over the lip of a crack in the wall, which is no wider than my finger. Her polished shell flashes bronze and emerald. She pauses long enough to lift her antennae, before she scuttles across the floor, which is puddled with my blood.

Her hooked feet click on the stone.

I hold out my hand, and she weaves over the uneven floor and onto the tip of my finger.

I lift her up, until she is facing me. “Report, Watcher.”

Excitement surges through me to hear about my mates. The dragons believe that they can contain me with chains and bars.

Do sheep believe that they can herd wolves?

I have a million eyes beyond here, a million ways of flying free, and a million ways to kill.

I only control myself for my nestmates’ sakes.

And for Aurelius’.

The beetle flutters her wings. The beautiful wolf and the pretty fae no longer live in the evil dragon’s nest.

“Show the dragon respect,” I correct, but my mind is distracted.

Why aren’t my mates with Aurelius?

The dragon who I still think should wake each morning to my family infesting his bed. The beetle twitches her antennae.

The animals’ loyalty to me in this kingdom has been touching. I miss my animal friends in Sheut, but making new ones has at least killed the time between bouts of torture.

My people have been hunted and exterminated simply for possessing the Power. Yet I prefer most animals to people.

“Focus on doing that to the Guild of Assassins guards.” I grin, wickedly. “Is Taran still being tormented…?”

Bitten every night by bedbugs, the beetle replies, proudly. Plagued every time that he attempts to eat by flies, and we beetles fill his boots. He screams and cusses. Funny.

“He will break before I do.” But then, my grin drops. “Where are my mates living now?”

A cold house in the Shadow Court behind the palace.

I frown. “Why?”

Whispers say it’s an insult. Shaming.

My eyes flash.

Aurelius wouldn’t dare to abandon my precious bonded Omega and Blood Lover like that, would he?

“Thank you, Watcher.” I gently place down the beetle. “Go and watch over my mates. Report back tomorrow.”

The beetle twitches her antennae in agreement, before racing back to the fissure in the wall and disappearing into it.