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The hard wood of the door dug ungiving into my back. A warmth spread through me. I gasped, a heat roiling in my blood. It slid down my arms, up my legs, gathering in my core, rocking my body. I arched, fingers twisting into my skirts. A moan tore from me as my blood simmered. The intensity of it felt… it felt... Oh god.
“You like that?” he murmured, heated and ferocious. “Without a touch, I can make you experience the most irresistible ecstasy. Or the most excruciating pain. Remember that. Remember what I can do to you, if I want… and if you want.”
Cold slid through me, cooling my blood. I slumped backward, gasping. “How dare you.”
A wicked smile emerged. “Now, about my recompense.”
“Didn’t you just take it?” I asked through clenched teeth.
“What? That? Givingyoupleasure?” He laughed. He still stood a hand’s breadth away, his expression taking on a feral desire. “No, that was… an offer.”
I leaned against the throne room door. Dagda still hadn’t returned. Ornan watched me with a ravenous expression. Something deep roared inside me, and the whispers pulled through my mind.Enough of this.Badb’s rage rose.Stop letting him toy with you.
No, Macha said.Let him boil our blood again. That was…She started to purr.
Fear stole through me. I could hear them speak now? Dagda was right. My sisters were already getting stronger.
I glared at Ornan. “What. Do. You. Want.”
“Simple.” He splayed his hands on either side of me, that sly grin ever present. “The answer to the question you so kindly supplied. How do you know what will happen in the future?”
The whispers stilled as his question caught me off guard, clearing my mind. My sister’s voices dulled into silence. I didn’t realize my ability to have visions of the future wasn’t common knowledge. But if it wasn’t, what might he ask next? Would he want to know what future I wanted to avoid? I couldn’t let him find that out.
Nobody could find that out.
“Who said I actually know—” I choked on the words.
“Do not play your faerie word games with me.” His hands moved along the door, drawing closer, like a trap about to spring. He sounded almost bored. “I was up front in my answers with you. I demand the same courtesy.”
Something tightened in my throat and the words poured from my mouth without my conscious thought. “I possess the ability to see visions of the future.”
“Fascinating.” he said, raising an eyebrow and studying me. “That is an uncommon power, unlikely to be hidden. Does Dagda know you can do this?”
“I… think so?”
His arms drifted closer. “And how proficient are you in this ability?”
“Not very. I have been training with Illya through the mystical, but it’s difficult.”
My shoulders tightened as I realized the next question was coming. The forbidden question. I had no way of safeguarding against it. The compulsory magic in our bargain would force it from my lips.
Then I’d be at his mercy.
“Which begs the question, what is it in the future that you saw…” His head snapped up, whipping to the side and he glared down the hall. “Your husband is finally returning. The tempers you stirred must have been difficult to assuage.” His arms fell, and he said grudgingly, “I guess our bargain is complete.”
The compulsory magic pressing on my throat relaxed, releasing me. I took in a breath of relief. Thank god.
He picked up the discarded crown from off the floor, running a finger over the jewels at its front before settling it back on my head. “Wishes transfer to those holding them. Unless you want your dear Dagda to take them away, followed by a grand lecture on the dangers of demons, I’d suggest hiding those somewhere.” He nodded to the two tokens in my hand. “Your dress seems to lack pockets. I suppose you’ll have to hide it…” His gaze drifted to the plunging collar of my gown, then lower. “Somewhere less conspicuous.”
He slid into the shaded part of the hallway. “When you decide to use those other wishes, find the shadows, call my name.” His glittering midnight eyes turned suggestive. “Or, should you wish me to come faster, you may add a please to that and I shall appear for… other purposes.”
“I’d rather lie on a bed of nails.”
He gave a sensuous smile. “You did not say no.”
With that, he was gone. Disappeared into the shadows from which he came.
Chapter 11
