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He waggled his brows. “Alina, are you jealous? That doesn’t usually attract me, but for you, I’ll make an exception.”
I shook my head. “Don’t. Find me appalling.”
“One day, you’ll beg me to make you scream Mother Terrea’s name once more.” He rubbed the blood from beneath his nostrils. “You used to say you didn’t have to go to the temple to worship when I was inside you.”
Was he being serious? I smacked him upside the head. “First off, gross. And second, are you hitting on me when blood is pouring out of your nose?”
“Blood is an aphrodisiac for us fae.”
“No, bruh.” I shook my head, finding his persistence kind of funny. I had to give him that.
His nose wrinkled, and he winced. “You didn’t just call me your brother.”
To see his disgust made using Earth slang worth it. “Well, you are. You’re married to my sister.”
“Frozen sakes, Alina. We’re not blood.”
“Technicalities.” For some weird reason, his flirting didn’t bother me as much anymore. Over the past few days, he’d seemed genuinely concerned about me. Maybe he wasn’t a horrible guy—though still definitely one I would never be interested in that way. “You better go and clean that up.”
He rolled his eyes. “Fine, but this conversation isn’t over.”
It never was with him.
Turning around, he marched off to who the hell knew where, and I continued to the garden.
As soon as I stepped outside, my gaze landed on Maeve. She was leaning against the stone arch, staring at the two moons, both slightly less than full.
“I figured you’d come out here,” Maeve said. “Especially with tomorrow being the big day.”
I sighed, my loose pale-pink dress whispering over my legs as I leaned against the arch across from her. “Yeah, I couldn’t sleep and thought fresh air might do me good.”
She nodded. “I’m the same way.”
We gazed around the garden, the silence between us comforting.
I pushed off the wall and headed toward the flowers. My hand touched each bud, and the small pink lights swirled around me. It was odd that it was happening again, but something about them felt right.
“Got a lot on your mind?” she asked. “We can discuss strategy.”
I had a ton of questions, but one had been lingering on the tip of my tongue since that first training lesson. “What did Dallas mean the other day when he asked about how fae magic revealed itself? He said, out of everyone, you’d know best.” Everyone here was playing games and speaking in riddles. It’d be nice if someone spoke the truth.
She exhaled. “I’m only half fae. My mother was human.”
My mouth dropped open, and I jerked my head in her direction. “How is that possible?”
A smirk slid across her face. “Fae women have the same body parts as Earth women, so my dad?—”
I stuck out my tongue. “I don’t need a sex lesson. I meant I thought there were no humans here. The whole veil thing.”
“Your mannerisms are really odd.” She snorted and walked over to me. “Like I told you, all fae are intrigued by the human world, and sometimes one will travel to Earth when the veil allows. My dad did that and became infatuated with a gorgeous woman, and he brought her back here.”
“Wait. You all do that?” I wondered how many poor humans had been kidnapped and dragged here.
“It was love at first sight, or so Dad says.” Maeve shrugged. “He swears they were fated mates, which hadn’t happened in centuries.”
I picked at my nails, trying not to make her uncomfortable. “What does your mom say?”
“Never got the chance to ask.” She adjusted her bow. “She died giving birth to me.”
