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“You shouldn’t have to make that choice. Pains me to say it, but you’re good at your job.”
“Mm, we’ll see if the school governors feel the same way when I present the case against a dean to them. Job hunting might become a moot point. At any rate, that should be resolved by the time you get back from reading period. You won’t be able to use your phone from Faery and it’s foolish for you to leave the realm’s protections just to call me, but if you run into problems this week, I am just a phone call away. I’m familiar with the River Nith. I don’t need a fixed point to get to Thistlemist.”
“No lie, that makes me feel better.”
A smile ghosts across his bearded face. “What will make me feel better is January fifth.”
When Yule’s over, and we’ll all be back here, presumably.
“I’ll try not to create a new mystery for you to solve by then,” I say.
Lords groans. “Don’t you dare.”
I hold my hands up to show my innocence and good intentions.
Lords snorts.
Chapter54
The Splendor Falls
Idon’t know what to expect from Faery.
Callan’s silk robes and flowing hair. Darwin’s sharp suits. The contemporary elegance of the cottage in Maine. The luxe man cave Darwin’s created in our flat.
Faery’s nothing like any of them.
My first impression of Faery is of high, gray, stone walls dotted with moss and dewed with mist. Typical Sweaty architecture. Darwin’s brought me to Thistlemist via the Fae Ways. We step out in the middle of a courtyard with worn cobbles underfoot and lots of Tudor-style buildings enclosed by the high wall. It’s like York only without the tourist tat. I shiver and rub the chill of the First Dark off my arms.
Darwin steps closer and chases my hands with his palms, warming me straight through. I smile up at him.
“Thank you.”
“I remembered this time.” He smooths my fringe back from my eyes. “I’m trying to take better care of you and Gabe. Charlie’s showing me how. He’s a good Dom.”
“He’s a good friend. You and Gabe know a lot more than me and Chaz about this whole dominance-submission thing, but it seems t’me like Charlie’s naturally good at it because he was my bezzie-mate first and my dominant second.”
“Little late for that,” Darwin says. “But I’ll try to focus more on being your friend than being your dominant.”
“Don’t stop going crazy when you get your sexy on, mate. I wouldn’t want to give that up.”
Darwin breaks into a grin. “Definitely not. Are you grounded?”
I nod. While we’ve been talking, my magic’s been acclimating, doing whatever it does to create an internal GPS pin for the location so I can find my way back through the Earth.
Darwin kisses me and slides my bag off my shoulder with a crackle from the glaze of ice that’s formed on the strap. “I’ll go find my father. Meet you back here. Be safe, teddy bear.”
I loop my arm around his neck and draw him back to me. “I will. And I’ll be right back. And we’ll be together to face everything here. You’re not alone.”
He kisses my forehead and rubs his nose against mine. “We should plan our vows while we’re here.”
“You’re on, mate. No obeying except in the bedroom.”
Darwin chuckles. “And the bathroom and the woods and the library and anywhere else I can convince you to get naked with me.” He smacks my arse hard enough to widen my eyes but not hard enough to make me yelp. “Come right back to me.”
I lick his nose to get him to release me, which he does with a grin. I wave at him before I step into the Earth.
Earth-Walking might be dusty, but it’s sooo much warmer than the Fae Ways. Fuck, those are super-chilly.
