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“I can stand.”
He tilted forward and placed me on the floor, one arm still holding most of my weight. He appeared entirely disinterested in the way my body was pressed to his side, but I couldn’t ignore it, even though my head throbbed and I had no idea why I wanted to laugh at everything.
Everence opened the door and sucked in a quiet breath. “What did you do to her?”
Rafael grunted again. “He spelled her. They were already at his carriage.”
Everence stepped aside, and Rafael guided me into the darkened sitting room. The only light came from a fire crackling in the hearth—odd for summertime. As we stumbled into the room, chilly air swept over me. I shivered, but that only made me giggle. “It’s freezing in here!”
Rafael frowned, his mouth so close to my ear that I felt his warm breath tickling my skin. “She’s part winter,” he said, nodding at Everence.
I glanced up at the blonde woman, who shrugged and pointed toward a low sofa.
Rafael’s hand cupped the back of my neck, and before I knew what was happening, he had tilted my entire body backward, onto the couch. For the briefest moment, I stared into his dark eyes, looking for that flash of amber I’d seen in Puerta.
He coughed and stood but kept his eyes on me. “After dinner, she must have found some fruit.”
“Yes, I ate an orange! It was delicious. And a little tree-woman said I wasn’t going to change and that someone else was going to get this house.”
Rafael and Everence exchanged a glance, then she knelt beside me and took my hand, her expression pinched with concern.
“I stabbed him with iron,” he added. At a small disapproving hmph from his cousin, he turned away and added in a whisper, “And I stole his whistle.”
“And how long do you think Fabian will sit idly by? He knows now, beyond the shadow of a doubt. Or he will, once his crows bring him news of what you did tonight.”
Rafael crossed his arms and turned toward the fire.
A tingling sensation on my fingertips quickly turned to the cold burn of ice on my palm. Then my head cleared, and my smile vanished. I sat up quickly, head spinning.
“There now, don’t get up yet.” Everence held a hand to my knee before rocking back on her ankles and rising. I nearly missed the look she tossed at Rafael, but I glanced up to see her turning quickly away. “Thank you,” I said breathlessly. My shoulders shook from the cold.
Rafael also grumbled his thanks, but she waved away his gratitude and crossed her arms, throwing her eyes my way twice before Rafael sighed and sat down in one of the two large leather armchairs facing me. He sat back slowly, his knees wide and his arms draped lazily to each side. His drumming fingertips were the only indication he felt any unease.
“Fruit erases all protective charms.” Everence sounded apologetic as she took a seat beside me on the couch. “It’s best for humans to avoid it, at least around people you can’t trust.”
“What did he do to me?”
She looked at Rafael, but he continued staring into the fire. “He put a spell on you to make you follow him.”
“Oh…okay.” I could have been made to do anything. That was utterly terrifying. My shoulders hunched over, and I wrung my hands.
“You and I must travel to my brother’s court.” Rafael spoke abruptly, drawing my gaze back to his.
“Why?”
He stared at me for several long seconds, and I was certain he’d dodge my question. “Because my brother wishes to take you away from me.”
I leaned forward, my elbows on my knees. “Why?” I pressed.
“Because he desires that I remain forever unloved.”
Those words knocked the air from my lungs like I’d just fallen off a bucking horse. I breathed out once more, “Why?”
Rafael’s jaw tightened. He lifted one ankle and rested it on his knee. “Enough questions. Throughout the next week, you must do as I say, no matter how strange it may sound to you, or my brother will make you his slave.” He angled his face toward the flickering flames. “And you do not want to know what he does to his mortal slaves.”
Encouraged by the answers he’d given, I tried one more question. “Am I your slave?”
He jerked forward so quickly I flinched, but he only leaned his elbows on his knees and held me with an iron stare. “You are my wife.”
