Page 49 of Twist of Fate

Cosmo pulled another chair closer. “You’re inside the Unseelie, a pocket realm created to shelter fae living in the human world.”

“Fae,” Gomez repeated.

“Yes.”

“As in fairies?”

Avaneel gasped.

“Not precisely,” Cosmo said quickly.

“I am a pixie,” Avaneel announced.

“You’re still magnificent.”

Her outrage vanished.

Cosmo’s smile widened. “You and I are going to get along beautifully.”

Luke returned to Connal’s side while Cosmo began explaining the realm, pausing every few words to answer one of Gomez’s increasingly enthusiastic questions. The healer continued working around them, apparently accustomed to being ignored.

“You should lie down,” Luke said.

“I am sitting.”

“That wasn’t what I said.”

“It is a reasonable compromise.”

Luke gave him a look but settled beside him on the arm of the chair. When Connal offered his hand, Luke took it without hesitation.

Across the chamber, Gomez discovered that Cosmo possessed horns. His reaction drew Avaneel closer and brought Asterius and Keir into the conversation. Even Zer remained near the bed, watching the chaos he had brought into their home.

Connal had imagined finding his mate more times than he could count. None of those imaginings had included magical traps, broken human laws, or an injured man demanding snacks while interrogating the King’s Consort about his horns.

Luke’s fingers tightened around his.

Connal had wanted the bond completed from the moment it recognized Luke. Instead, Luke had given him time, trust, and a place at his side.

For now, it was enough.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Luke had underestimated how quickly Gomez could turn being kidnapped into a social event.

Within minutes, Cosmo had been questioned about his horns, his hooves, his marriage to the King, and whether the vines growing across the chamber walls were sentient.

Cosmo answered everything with obvious delight, occasionally pausing long enough to correct one of Gomez’s increasingly creative assumptions.

The healer endured the conversation with less enthusiasm.

Gomez remained propped against the pillows on Connal’s bed while she examined the casts encasing his legs. Cosmo sat nearby, with Avaneel perched on the back of his chair. Several more pixies had gathered in the doorway, apparently drawn by Gomez’s enthusiastic admiration of Avaneel’s wings.

Connal occupied one of the oversized chairs across the chamber, where he could follow the King’s order to rest while still watching Luke. Asterius and Keir had settled near the wall. Zer remained at the foot of the bed, close enough to help if the healer needed Gomez moved.

Luke sat on the arm of Connal’s chair, trying to divide his attention between his injured friend and the strange warmth surrounding the hand Connal held.

“So you’re a faun,” Gomez said to Cosmo.