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“What?” I finally snap.
He casts me a curious glance. “You seem upset.”
“No joke, because your friend with a hard dick wants me in his bed.”
Prince Zane freezes and the thunder in his face makes me stop too. Hell, it makes my heart stop. “Which of my friends propositioned you? I’ll have his head!”
“Wh-what?” I say, my brain seems to have decided to stop working.
He draws so close to me that our breaths mingle, and the look in his eyes makes a shiver roll down my spine. “Which of my friends would make such an offer? I may be a calm man, but there is nothing inside of me that will stop from beating him to a pulp.”
Is it weird that I find his threat hot?“No, I, uh, just meant Prince Cobar.”
“Prince Cobar?” The fury fades from his face, and he takes a shaky breath. “Well, that’s different, I have no choice but to share you with him.”
Now, I’m truly curious. “You were about to kill some random guy a minute ago, why is it different with him?”
He seems to consider me for a moment. “With there being fewer female fae than male fae, sharing women is quite common. And the fact that you are the mate to all four of us means that I either accept it or lose my mind. I might feel an uncomfortable amount of… possessiveness when it comes to you, but I’m not an animal. I have to understand that this is the way things are.”
Wow. Progressive.
“I can’t imagine sharing a man with someone else,” I tell him honestly.
There’s amusement in his gaze. “Lucky for you, you won’t have to, we’ll be content with you and only you.”
“Because I’m your mate.”Not because you know me. Or like me. But because some magical thing said that I’m the one.
He nods. “Because you’re our mate.”
My chest aches at his words, and I turn and walk away.
“Why does that bother you?” he asks, again at my side. “We’ll be married soon. Bonded for our lifetimes. You’ll spend your days being worshipped by us, and your nights having your body worshipped by us. Is that really a bad thing?”
My body. Our nights. Being in their beds.These fae seriously have one track minds. They want to pledge themselves to a human servant who none of them really know, all because of a lie. It’s almost so painful it’s funny.
“Excuse me,” I say. “I need to find my room.”
I can tell he wants to say more. That he wants to follow me, but he does me the small kindness of letting me leave. I don’t know where I’m going, but I know I need to get away from all the princes before I say or do something I might regret.
SEVENTEEN
Cassia
My room on the royal floor is bigger than the house I moved out of this morning, and as different as night and day. I sit on the obscenely large bed and survey the room, letting my hands run over the expensive fabric. The sun sits high, and light shines brightly into the room. Crystals in the chandelier glitter and reflect sparkles all over the room. The marble floor glistens. It’s all like something out of a fairy tale.
Basically, it’s weird.Reallyweird.
Two days ago, I was cleaning this room, picking up some snotty, entitled fae’s dirty underwear, and making the bed with the softest material I’ve ever felt. Now I’m sitting on the bed—something I’d always wanted to do, but would have cost me my job if I’d have been caught—the linens alone are worth more than I got paid for six months of work. And even though I’m going to enjoy sleeping on them tonight, I’m feeling strangely uncomfortable about the whole idea.
I stand and walk over to the dressing table where four jewelry boxes are lined up neatly with the official seals from the four courts. Sitting down in front of them, I hesitate, then open the first box. It’s filled with diamond jewelry. I know it’s from Prince Zane, since it’s the official gem of the Winter Court, and I know what the others will look like, too. Amber from Prince Sulien. Emeralds from Prince Forrest. And Sapphires from Prince Cobar.
I push the boxes away, feeling numb.I don’t belong here. Life in the royal castle just isn’t for me.
Before I got to my room, I’d sought out my father and grandmother in the garden cottage. With the help of the fae who’d moved our belongings, Grandmother had already unpacked, and Father was rolling around in his wheelchair, overjoyed at his newfound mobility.They have exactly what I wanted them to have, happiness and security in a way I never could’ve provided them before. No more worries will plague them ever again.
As long as they’re here.
Standing with them is when it hits me on a soul-deep level. I’m stuck with these four princes because ripping the joy I see in my family is out of the question. Maybe I can still find a way out of marrying all four of them, but if I can’t, I have to accept this.
