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“Or someone stole it?”
Fabien becomes lost in thought, and I wonder what it is he’s thinking. Sometimes it seems he has the world on his shoulders. I glance back at the crowd passing through the portal behind us. They’re all counting on him. A whole family of monsters.
It would weigh on me, if it were me. I wish there were a way I could help him let go of that weight. If he were anyone else, I might tell him to get out of here, to leave this life behind before he ends up in prison.
But I know Fabien would never leave his family. Not for anything.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
I’m startled for a moment, and find Fabien watching me intently. The power of the gaze in those glowing eyes nearly knocks me back.
“I was just thinking I’m jealous of you. You’re so close with your family. It’s obvious you’d do anything for them. My family is…” I have to be careful not to reveal anything too personal. My family, as far as Fabien knows, is the Zedona crime syndicate. “Not as close. We fight a lot and my father…I often don’t see eye to eye with him.”
I don’t think I’ve said anything that wouldn’t be true for both me and Mia Zedona, but I run over what I’ve said in my head again just to be sure.
Fabien sighs.
“I’ve never gotten along with my father either. He grew up around the time of the Norman conquest of England. You know, the dark ages? He’s used to wearing armor and swinging maces and crushing skulls. He isn’t exactly the father of the year.”
“Still, everyone else seems to really respect you.”
“Fear me, you mean.”
“No, they look up to you. There’s a difference. I wish I had some of that.”
Fabien looks at me again, differently than before. Like he’s trying to figure me out.
“When you join our clan, it’s forever,” Fabien says, watching me carefully. “Once you’ve met with the mountain god and received the blessing, you’ll be ready for marriage by the ways of our clan. And once we’re married, you’ll be my princess.”
Something hot flares inside me.
“And what’ll my duties be, as your princess?”
“I’ll care for you, treasure you, protect you, and make you mine in every way you can be. And if the mountain god is generous, then I’ll make children with you. Your duties would be the same as mine, to care for and protect this family.”
The heat in me shifts slightly at the idea of having kids with Fabien. Oddly, a part of me doesn’t exactly hate the idea. But that part of me is crazy and needs to shut up.
Just because he’s a hot, tentacled, fish guy doesn’t mean my ovaries need to go into overdrive. Fabien looks away, and for a moment, I catch a fleeting glimpse of something I’ve never seen in his eyes before.
I think he might be embarrassed. Did he say too much? Or is he hoping not to jinx things with the mountain god?
“You’re really not going to tell me what the ceremony with the mountain god is about?”
Fabien shakes his head.
“I can’t. No one can. Our lips are sealed by the power of his magic. But more than that, my family owes the mountain god a debt. I wouldn’t break my silence even if I could. I’ve given my word.”
“But you met with him?”
“When I was thirteen, yes.”
Fabien says nothing more about it, and I don’t pry. Now that I know magic is involved, I’m sure he can’t tell me. Probably none of them can.
Just over my shoulder, I see Octavian slinking along behind me. He’s fully naked, complete with ripped abs and chiseled chest. He smiles at me lasciviously, but I look away.
There’s not much to look at, as far as I’m concerned. The eight foot tall monster beside me, with all his tentacles and wild green skin, makes for a far better view.
The airin Faerie is sweet like we’re walking through an orchard of ripe fruit trees. Wild animals sing from the darkness that I’ve never heard. Snarls and growls come from the shadows too. Things that must be the size of wolves, or tigers.
