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It was malicious, what I was doing to her. Using the mortal masquerade like this. What had happened that night, I had not planned for it. I knew long before then what that mortal did. How that man’s actions played into this, how he had mistreated her. It weighed heavily on me and I carried it with me now. It was not something I would easily let go of. This was cruel, and I knew it, even for me. More than once I had gone to her rescue, more than once I had saved her life. How could I not though? How could I let her perish? The answer, I couldn’t. Not anymore.
I could not keep doing this either. I could not keep this up. I was more than drawn to her. I craved her presence, her touch, her smell. Her scent lingered in my mind, the sweet smell of chamomile and bergamot. The underlying tone of vanilla and that sweet intoxicating scent of spice. It was impossible to forget it.
Even after the first time.
With every fiber of who I thought I was, I longed to be near her, and it was going to be my downfall. Just her being here had caused so much to happen. I’d been waiting for years for this moment, for this time. I felt the magic coming back to me with each new vision and memory she had. And I still could not explain what her touch had done to me.
But the hold the curse had over me?
It was starting to come undone. Each new memory I had lost in all of this, came back the longer she was here. But it only took one memory for the pieces to all fall into place for me. Bringing her back here had been the right choice. But was it for myself, or for her now? I was bound by forces out of my own control.
I- like everyone else, was bound by the curse. But I wasnotbound to keep her here. I was not obliged to follow every order or command.
I was not the beast.
I was not cruel, or malicious, or evil.
I was not what she thought.
While I had freer rein than those around me, the consequences would be severe. The rules had been bent. And I knew what was going to happen if I made this choice. If I acted on what I was thinking. I knew what the right thing to do was. Whether it was going to break me or not.
She just could not stay here.
“Sir?” Hendrix’s voice infiltrated my thoughts.
“What?”
His voice pulled me from the inner recesses of my mind, from the dark spiral I was on. Hendrix was standing next to me, wearing a contorted goat mask with antlers furling around his face. It was ugly and nauseating, but this was essential. It was necessary to scare her, as much as it pained me to do so.
“They’re getting testy.”
“Let them toy with her a moment more.”
My eyes flashed back to where Serra was, finding her amongst a large group of Fae males. They’d surrounded her. They were relentless in their jabs and sneers. Even from where I stood, hidden from view by a set of pillars, I could see the hands that tried to reach out and touch.Reaching for her hair, her skirts, anything they could get their hands on, but they never laid a finger on her. The irritation blossomed in my chest, the feeling grating on my patience. It was nothing like I had ever felt before, the need to whisk her away at that moment should not have materialized. The feeling caused shadows to dance at my fingertips..
“Sir, I-”
“What, Hendrix? You what?” The shadows intensified. Darkening around my hands, my fingers disappearing. My irritation was growing with each passing moment, with each second that she was in danger.
He looked away. “Do they know?”
Baring my teeth, my own voice was cold and malicious, it was hard for me to recognize it. Harder enough to recognize the male I was becoming. “They will not touch her; they will not harm her.”
“But Sir.”
“Go back to the Castle. You are done here.”A crude dismissal of him. But he’d done what was ordered, he was no longer needed. Glaring down at Hendrix as he bowed before slipping away into the crowd.
It was time, it was time to end this.
Carefully slipping into the crowd, my presence unknown until then. Those around me finally recognized who I was, they knew better. Kept their eyes down as I passed them, a few brave Fae drunk on wine tried and failed to vie for my attention. But my eyes were set on her.
Always on her.
Only once did I need to bare my teeth. Only once did the growl rumble deep in my chest, a warning to the female whose hands found their way to my chest. Touching me as if she had once been my lover, and she probably had been once upon a time. I don’t remember many of their faces. Females put in my path and I had taken advantage of it. Lucky for her though, a male had scooped her up before I could lay a finger on her. A laugh escaping her lips as he did so.
Deceitful and lascivious.
I only paused briefly in my quest to watch the couple, my eyes following them as they wove their way through the crowd to a sofa. The male dropped her amongst the cushions covered in pillows, landing on top of her before engaging in whatever acts they desired. Pulling my attention away, searching for Serra it took all of a few seconds to finally find her again. Her chocolate brown hair catching in the light, her cheeks flush on her skin. It did not take much for me to spot her amongst the drunk and lively throng of Fae at all.
