Page 4 of The Autumn Prince

Chapter 2

Iwas literally a half-second away from putting a cluster of honey-covered almond pieces into my mouth when I remembered the rule about not eating or drinking anything here. The person who’d brought the tray of treats in had definitely been fae—as evidenced by their pointy ears—so now I was also worried that I had accepted something from them. Was I already doomed?

“Is something wrong with the food?”

I closed my mouth and looked over to find that Prince Incendis had gone from naked godlet of muscular divinity to wickedly sexy pirate. He had a nipped-in little waist circled by a shiny brown belt holding up some kind of linen trousers that hugged his thighs and his bulge in ways I’d heretofore only seen gray sweatpants do. Above those sinful things was a billowy cream-colored shirt he’d tucked in but forgotten to tie up, letting his chest be free to dazzle me. His sleeves were pushed up, displaying the muscles and veins of his forearms like trophies. His boots had heels that click-clacked as he walked toward me.

No doubt about it, I was going to fuck this fae before morning.

Which had me looking again at the sticky treat I held because did putting a fae’s dick in my mouth and swallowing his cum also count as eating something?

“Zalman?”

“Um… Will I be trapped here for eternity if I eat something of this realm?”

“No.”

I relaxed. I hadn’t eaten any of the trail mix Bridge had made for us, so I was hungry. And since he’d promised not to lie to me, I believed him.

“You’re trapped here because the magic that brought you only goes one way.”

“What?!” I tried to drop the honey almonds but, of course, they stuck to my finger. “But if I got through the barriers to get here, why can’t I go back through it to leave? After I help with the curse, of course.” I shook the treat off my finger angrily, making it ping onto the plate. “But still!”

“I’m sorry, Zalman,” he said regretfully. “It’s all to do with the curse.”

I snatched the almonds back up and crunched on them. I wasn’t particularly upset about being here—it was, technically, a dream come true—but I did not like being unable to leave whenever I wanted to. Me and authority didn’t always get along. This curse saying I wasn’t allowed, made me want to show it that yes, I fucking was.

Incendis sat down at the table, too, and just crossed his legs like I wasn’t going to watch that happen. Those long legs sliding against each other, his bulge practically sitting on his lap, and what? I wasn’t supposed to stare? Please. I was trying not to jump him right this second simply because I was cranky about being trapped against my will.

“Zalman?” His eyes were so big and concerned.

I waved away his worry and took a drink of what tasted like a lemony black tea. If it had caffeine in it, I’d be up all night. I glanced at what I’d be doing into the wee hours, he smiled a little, and I smiled back.

“It’s fine,” I said. “I just didn’t realize the curse was going to include me like that.”

“Well, it did bring you specifically, so…”

I was the The Chosen One. A happy little noise peeped out of me and I wiggled a bit in my chair. It made sense, of course—I was pretty amazing. It had probably been inevitable that a powerful, if evil, sorcerer would recognize my awesomeness and do something like this to me. Why didn’t matter.

Wait, no. It did so matter.

“Why would the person who created the curse bring someone here who could break the curse?” I frowned as I selected another morsel to eat. This one was a little squishy and covered in sugar. “Or are there two opposing forces at work here?”

Incendis stared at me, his eyes wider as he nibbled the corner of his bottom lip. Though I wanted at that lip, too, I frowned, daring him to go back on his word.

He uncrossed his legs, his foot thumping onto the floor, and leaned his elbows on the table, head in his hands. “The curse was intended to force myself and my three brothers to change our ways,” he practically moaned. “All of us were combative with each other, neglectful of our responsibilities, or lacking in some way that was detrimental to our people.”

I wasn’t unsympathetic, but… “So you’ve had three years to change?”

He nodded without looking up.

“Have you?”

He sat back and stared at me, his expression pleading. “I’ve done everything I could think of! My court has never been so efficient, productive, and peaceful. Except for the hardships placed on us by the barriers and the weather, my people are happy.”

“But the curse stands.”

“Yes.”