Page 32 of Fae Mates

My hand shot up to my mouth to check for tell-tale signs of spunk. “How can you tell?”

“Your magic is stronger.”

“Do you think Unity will be able to fly?” asked McVittie.

Pokeweed’s lips turned down. “Soon, she will fly away from here.”

“Good,” said the cat. “Unity, she needs to learn how to dodge next, in case anyone throws a spell at her or throws her off the side of the mezzanine like last time.”

“What happened?” asked Pokeweed.

I shook my head. “It’s not worth mentioning. Just an accident.”

He stared at me for several moments, his gaze seeming to rake over my body for signs of injury.

A dozen sentences rushed to the back of my throat. Most of them were reassurances that I hadn’t meant to suck Prince August’s dick. I’d only done so because it was an opportunity to gain a bit of magic for the upcoming battle to save the princes.

Pokeweed exhaled a long breath and walked to my side. I straightened and readied myself for his touch. But he only took one of the warm bowls and lifted its lid, revealing porridge with baked apples.

“Have something to eat,” he murmured before walking away. “I made a little extra for your guest. There is a nightshirt on the dining chair. Please ensure he is presentable when I examine his curse later.”

He walked out of the treehouse, presumably to get away from me on the pretext of tending to the apple trees. I placed both bowls on the tray and trudged toward the stairs to the awaiting Prince August.

As I placed the bowl of porridge on the mattress beside the golden-haired Summer Court Prince, he glowered at me through hard eyes. “You’ve had what you wanted. Why aren’t you setting me free?”

“That’s what I’m trying to do.” I took a seat on the floor out of reach.

He leaned forward and gave his bound ankles a pointed look.

“Not that way.” I placed a spoonful of warm porridge in my mouth. “You won’t believe me, but you and your parents are in grave danger.”

“Enlighten me.” He picked up his bowl, sniffed its contents, and placed a spoonful in his mouth.

“Do you deny your parents are in danger of being murdered as soon as Lady Gala succeeds in mating with you and your brothers?”

Prince August raised his shoulders and shoveled another spoonful of porridge in his mouth. “It might be another twenty or thirty years before Gala’s ready to mate with us.”

“And then?”

“She will become our queen.”

I placed my spoon in the bowl. “How?”

He continued eating, seeming to think about the question. “The usual way queens are made.”

“By usurping the current monarch?” I snapped. “That’s how King Oberon got a chance to rule.”

Prince August’s hand tightened around his spoon. “And now the island is teeming with outsiders.”

“You didn’t seem to mind that when you stole those apple boxes,” I muttered.

I wasn’t expecting a reply from Prince August, as he usually remained silent when he lost an argument. He didn’t ask how I knew about the incident down at Saltbay Port, but then Prince Bradwell had told Queen Titania about how I’d been transformed from a human girl to a faerie.

“Why did you burn my body?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes. “Clearly, we didn’t succeed. Otherwise I wouldn’t be stuck here, forced to tolerate your incessant questions.”

“The quickest way to gain my silence is—”