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“After our little conversation in the woods, I couldn’t resist the urge to play matchmaker. After all, Rafferty is no longer available to you.”
“He seemed pretty available yesterday when his hands were on my body.”
She appears in front of me, and my head whips to the side with the force of her slap. “He. Is. Not. Yours,” she snarls.
“I see that I’ve touched a nerve.”
“Your quite mouthy for a woman chained to a wall.”
“I’ve faced worse,” I growl back. “And I’m still standing.”
“But you’re not standing, are you?” She grins and kneels. “I can assure you that I am quite different.”
I meet her gaze, warm blood trickling from my now busted lip. “I doubt that.”
Her answering smile accepts my challenge, and she stands, moving toward Taranus. She reaches down and rips the chain from the wall as though it’s not iron embedded in stone. Then she drags it—and him—toward me.
Swallowing hard, I battle with the urge to pull back, not wanting her to know she’s getting to me. What is it about not showing fear to an animal?
She drops him close enough that I can see him clearly. I almost—almost—feel bad for his suffering. But then I remember that he nearly raped me, and it seems his fate is not harsh enough.
Bracing both hands on either side of Taranus’s head, she raises him to his knees. “Did you know that even though Taranus here is not your true mate, his death will kill you and vice versa?”
“Old news,” I growl.
“Is it? I cannot be sure how much you know, seeing as how you are a simple human.” She bares white teeth. “Your soul may not be tied to him, but it is using his magic to keep you alive until you can be made a fae, too. If you’d simply opened your legs and let him fuck you, you could have avoided what comes next.”
“And what is—”
She snaps his neck. A sickening crack. The contents of my stomach heave, and I vomit when she tosses him to the ground in front of me. Eyes wide open, he stares up at me, mouth slack.
“Pathetic human. Weak stomach.” She kneels at my feet. “Rafferty will fall to his knees and beg me for your life. I will rather enjoy that.”
“And why would he do that? You are his mate after all, are you not?”
She grins. “He still hasn’t figured it out, then? I thought for sure when you arrived he would have discovered the truth.”
Unease twists in my belly like a blade. “Figured what out?”
“Rafferty has always been a powerful fae. Powerful, sexy—” She bites her lip. “Damn he’s sexy. Anyway, I knew I wanted him but my true mate?” She scoffs. “A farmer fae. Can you believe it?” Shaking her head, she straightens and begins to pace. “I knew I deserved more so I went to a witch. She was no help, but a dark fae?” She chuckles. “They can order a fae to do anything.” Her eyes glitter with amusement. “Combine that with a—well—love potion for lack of a better term, and I had him exactly where I wanted him. That was, of course, until the dark fae came back and threatened to tell Rafferty everything if I didn’t trade that little bitch, Niahm. That’s when things really went to shit.”
Heart pounding I stare at her. She lied to him. This entire time Rafferty has believed his true mate is a monster. But—she wasn’t his true mate. Rafferty never belonged to her.
Before I can fully comprehend everything she’s saying, Ailis reaches down and rips my chain from the wall then drags me toward the stairs. The stone bites into my skin, scraping, ripping, until I manage to stumble to my feet as she starts up the stairs. “Let’s go have some fun, shall we? After all, now that you know my secrets we’re practically best friends.”
I am helpless to do anything but stare at the source of all my nightmares lying dead in a pile of my vomit. Taranus is no longer a threat. I should be grateful, right? Given the fact that dying doesn’t scare me…
But how much worse is Ailis? And the other fae she had with her?
I can’t help but think we just traded one enemy for a much, much greater one.
We emerge into a hallway I don’t recognize. White marble streaks with blood as the cuts on my body scrape against it. Ailis continues to drag me, not giving me a chance to stand. Statues line the walls, white creatures standing atop pedestals. They’re sickly lifelike as are the heads mounted on pikes in between them.
My stomach churns as I try—and fail—to not look at the dark ooze dripping from their eye sockets. If I thought Taranus was a monster—this woman is a creature straight from hell.
We reach the end of the hall, and I glance up at the half-horse half-man statue at the entrance of the hall. Its gaze shifts to me, and I scream.
Ailis stops and turns toward me, and the statue’s gaze shifts back. “What?” Then she laughs. “Pay no attention to them, dear. They are simply here for entertainment.”
