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“Tell me you don’t want me right now,” she whispered, her tongue flicking out to taste him.
He closed his eyes. Inhaled a ragged breath. He couldn’t push her away. Not when she asked for it with that sultry sex-me voice. When he could smell the wet, hot center of her. That left him only one choice.
He reached within. Unchained the darkest part of him. Let it rise to the surface. Take him over. Howling its release, the beast clawed its way through him. Sank its fangs into his soul. Ate away everything human and left only the cold-blooded fey behind.
Muscles hardened. Blood pumped hot and hungry through his veins. His gaze narrowed to a pinprick. Focused on her. He grabbed her off her feet. Held her so that he saw the reflection of his clear gold gaze in her frightened eyes.
Behind him, he heard the horses screaming. Banging against their stalls in mindless panic. They were right to be scared.
“You once said you didn’t fear the Heller in me,” he snarled.
She swallowed. Made no move to escape. “No. I don’t.” He dropped her so that her legs buckled. She scrambled back against the stall where the bay plunged and reared.
“Well, you should, Ellery. You should be very afraid.”
Ellery picked at the plate in front of her, her appetite not really up to Cook’s lavish spread. She ate dinner by herself, Glynnis’s death scattering the family as they prepared for the funeral.
Sh
e’d not seen Conor since yesterday and that was from across the hall. He’d shot her a grim focused look, but it was impossible to read the thoughts behind his eyes.
Just as well.
He’d made his intentions very clear—or should she say, lack of intentions. He’d done everything but club her over the head with his indifference. But none of it rang true. She recognized desire. Knew lust. And it was obvious that whatever Conor said, he wanted her. Just not enough. And that was all right. She hadn’t expected anything more. She’d dreamed a little. Fantasized even more. But she should have known it would come to nothing in the end. She didn’t care what Lowenna said, love was too risky a gamble. The stakes too high.
Jamys came in, breaking off her gloomy introspection. He looked disheveled, a day’s growth of beard shadowing his jaw. “I guess I didn’t have to worry about getting here before it was gone.” He offered her a tired smile. “May I join you?”
“Of course. You look dead on your feet. Haven’t you slept at all?”
“It’s not been easy reassuring the tenants that Aunt Glynnis’s death wasn’t the result of fey malice. They’re a superstitious lot to begin with. And there’s enough that goes on around here to keep them that way.” He piled his plate with enough food for two men.
“That coupled with the inquest in Penzance and coercing a priest to come to Daggerfell to oversee the funeral, and I haven’t seen my bed in days.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “I think I managed to catch ten minutes standing in a corner. That must count for something.” His expression was teasing but warm.
“Here. This should help.” Ellery poured him a cup of coffee that he accepted gratefully.
“At least, you seem to have recovered from Simon’s attack with flying colors,” he said. “Not many women would handle such an ugly episode so well.”
“I’m a tribute to my sex,” she said, “And my upbringing. I wasn’t raised to scare easily.”
“I can only thank the gods that Conor sensed something was wrong,” Jamys took a long swallow, “and that Simon’s aim has always been bad. I might have lost a brother and a cousin—and you.”
The light in his eyes made her wonder if he suspected anything. She kept from having to answer by scooping another forkful of ham into her mouth.
“Asher’s influence grows.” Jamys clutched his mug with both hands, his jaw firm. Looking decidedly like his deadlier cousin. “We’ve heard his army of Keun Marow have struck twice since your arrival. With each killing, they become stronger. Bolder.”
Just thinking of those creatures put her off her food. She dropped her fork to her plate. Swallowed around the knot in her throat. So much for not scaring easily. “Beltane can’t come fast enough.”
“Beltane?”
“Conor says that’s when he’ll send Asher back and reseal the reliquary.”
Jamys sat back, astonishment wiping out his exhaustion. “He’s going to take on Asher? He’s crazier than I thought.”
Apprehension flickered over her skin. “Why?”
“You saw what Simon almost accomplished the other night. That was just a taste of Asher’s power. He’s all but indestructible. Mighty even by fey standards. That’s why they imprisoned him in the first place.”
She wished he would stop looking at her as if she were mad. This was Conor’s idea, not hers. And until now, she’d thought it made sense. In a magical, nonsensical way. “Conor says the magic found within the thin places will help him.”
