Khalistah looked me up and down, amused. “I thought McKale might find your moment together more enjoyable if you appeared this way.”
I bit back the obvious retort that he’d been enjoying himself just fine. I planted my feet a foot apart and squared my shoulders, refusing to cower, even though I couldn’t help but be petrified on the inside.
I must have come off as aggressive because the stupid pixie came flying at me and grabbed a handful of my hair. He made little yipping sounds like a barking squirrel while I screamed and tried to slap him away. My head felt like it was on fire. Khalistah clapped her hands and he flew back to her shoulder. He flung his hands to try and rid his fingers of my loose hairs. I rubbed the tender spot from where the strands had been pulled.
Khalistah clucked her tongue and sighed. “Pixies are such beastly little things, aren’t they? No manners whatsoever.”
Another smaller burst of magic made me flinch, but it was just McKale. He stood now, normal-sized, but he gave himself distance from us both, creating a triangle. His tan pants were slung low from the weight of water, revealing a happy trail of red hair between the V-line of his hips, heading downward. I wasn’t the only one to notice.
“Mmm.” The FFG looked McKale up and down with fingertips fluttering above her throat.
Nobody was going to Mmm my guy but me. She needed to get those glacier eyeballs back in her head.
“Will you please unglamour me?” I asked through gritted teeth.
She slowly turned her eyes to me. “I have seen the way you look at me. In awe. Admiring the sort of beauty humans can only obtain in dreams. But if your pride is so great that you prefer the less attractive appearance, then so be it.” She waved a finger and the glamour disappeared. I felt lighter.
“Khalistah,” McKale said. I tried to ignore the way his voice softened and his eyes still held a small amount of awe as he looked at her. “I’m glad ye’ve come. I wish to speak with ye.”
“How long were you going to wait to speak with me? Moments before your mockery of a binding, or afterward?”
“I… I’m…”
She glided toward him and pressed a finger to his lips. He flinched then shivered.
It took all my willpower not to snatch that finger and snap it.
“I’m not angry with you, precious one. You are not to blame. I know she has pursued you with persistent forwardness.”
Give me a break.
He blinked and looked at me. I crossed my arms over my chest and he pulled his face back from her touch. I think he recognized he was turning to a pile of mush like he always did in her presence.
“I wish to speak with ye alone, Khalistah. Please allow Robyn to return to the village.”
“I think not. I know what you wish to say. You are but a man and you have been led astray from the one thing you have always wanted. Does she know how you feel for me?”
McKale’s forehead creased and his eyes flicked to me. The FFG never glanced my way as she moved forward and began petting his face like she’d done in the trees that night. This time she even placed her hands on his bare chest, where my own hands had been minutes before. His breathing went ragged, but I had to give him credit because he stayed very still and appeared otherwise unaffected, allowing her to touch him for that brief moment before closing his eyes and stepping back from her again.
I, on the other hand, was having a difficult time retaining my fury. McKale pushed his hands hard through his hair as a shudder tore through his body. He began to pace with his hands behind his head, putting more space between Khalistah and himself. The FFG stood firm and calm, fueled by confidence as she spoke to him.
“Does she know about the years when you yearned for my presence and followed at my heels with childlike devotion? I had never met a living thing like you. Brave enough to seek me, yet too shy to touch me. Such a refreshing change from the arrogance of Fae males. I am here now to tell you that your years of dedication have paid off, McKale of the Leprechaun.”
“Khalistah.” He closed his eyes to muster courage before facing her again. “I was but a boy. I was reckless to seek ye as I did. I’ll always be grateful for yer years of kindness, but my future is here, in the village with my clan, bound to Robyn.”
Her eyes flashed hard with anger before smoothing again.
“Will you discard me so easily? Your first love?”
I nearly gagged at her crooning voice.
“What we had was no’ love.” McKale said it with extreme gentleness but I froze as I awaited her response to those strong words. The FFG blinked twice, the only sign that her composure was not solid.
“I know this notion of love that humans search for and abuse. It is easy to speak of lifetime loyalty when your lives are so bitterly short. If you were Fae you would become bored with Robyn and come crawling to me in less than a thousand human years.” Though she appeared unruffled, I had a bad feeling she was about to throw a major hissy fit.
“But I am not Fae,” McKale said. “And I cannot pretend to be. Neither of our people would accept a union betwixt us. What would yer friends say in the courts? And yer father? The Summer King will no’ be havin’ it.”
The Summer King? Excuse me? Holy crap! The FFG was a friggin’ princess? I covered my mouth, afraid I might be sick as the weight of the situation crashed around me, dimming like the evening sky.
The FFG waved a hand, dismissing his words. “Fae take human consorts all the time—”
He stepped back, a small bit at a time. “But not for purposes of love, Khalistah.”
Ugh, each time he pronounced her name so beautifully felt like a punch in my already upset stomach. She strode toward him, ever steady. As he lowered his head I saw his eyes dart from side to side, looking for the best escape route.
“There is no need for any of my fellow Fae to know what is truly between us. They will see you as a consort and nothing more. It will be our secret.”
“That is no way to live!” His voice rose. “And what of my people? The bloodlines of my clan? The union was ordered by your father’s own consort.”
“It can still be. I have a plan that should please all.”
Oh, no. She smiled up at him, running her fingers from his shoulders down the length of his arms until their fingers were together. He let her hold them for a second before pulling away and groaning with his hands behind his head again. A smile remained on her lips, but there was no warmth in it.
“Do not fear, McKale.”
“I will not go to Faerie.” His words were firm.
She lost her smile. “Oh, but you will.”
My stomach twisted and I had to swallow. I’d never before experienced such extreme fear as I did while I waited to hear her grand scheme for our lives.
“In three days you will bind with Robyn as planned, but when evening falls you will accompany me into Faerie. Everyone must know that you do this of your own device. Once we are in Faerie, all thoughts of her will be erased.” She glared at me before turning back to McKale. “You will live the life that other men can only dream; pleasure heaped upon pleasure will be yours, ours. Once a month I will allow you to leave Faerie to attend to your binding partner when she is fertile. She will be glamoured to appear as me, for that is the only way you will have her. In that way, you will bear children on her. And all will be well for your clan.”
His face had turned a shade of pale green akin to the moss under his feet. I fought to remain standing as I clutched an arm around my ribs.
“But he has the ability to see through glamour.” They were the first words I’d spoken in a while, and she turned her head to me. A wicked smile grew on her exquisite face.
“Once McKale gives himself to me, his magical abilities will dissipate. He will no longer need them.”
In other words, he would be turned into a mindless zombie to do her bidding. His brain would not be able to process anything other than its obsession with her.
“Khalistah…” McKale’s apologetic tone prep
ared us for his next words. “I’d never want to hurt ye or upset ye in any way. Please believe that. But I cannot go to Faerie with ye. I want more than simple… pleasure from life. I want to be a father to me children, and work as a man should. I will not go along with this plan.”
The FFG let out a peeling laugh of disbelief and covered her mouth, surprised by her own outburst. The pixie, who’d been licking himself, raised his head to cackle as well.
“You do not mean that, McKale. Your mind is clouded from the physical intimacy you shared with one another. That was her intention. But that feeling is temporary and it will pass. I am simply speeding along the process to help you, so do not deny me again. I have your best interests at heart. I can assure that you will enjoy a life with me far more than a life with her. There will be no further discussion.”
“Yer right. No more discussion, Khalistah. With all due respect, I choose Robyn. It’s time fer ye to return to yer land while this all passes. I’m certain ye will find another male far more interestin’ than me.”
Khalistah turned toward me so quickly that the pixie squealed, flying off her shoulder to a nearby tree branch.
“What have you done to him?” Her icy blue eyes were terrifying in her anger, swirling like boiling silver. “You’ve poisoned his mind against me!”
Holy evil attention. This chick was crazy as hell.
“Khalistah, no,” McKale said.
She ignored his attempt to gain her attention and came straight for me, a tiny force of nature. I cursed myself for taking a step back instead of standing my ground, but dude, she was scary. Even in her fury, her voice stayed even and sweet.
“In your petty, vile, human jealousy you have turned the one source of goodness in my life against me. You have hurt me, and now you will hurt as well. I shall take the one thing you cherish most.” She paused for dramatic effect. “Cassidy is her name, yes? She will make a fine plaything for the Fae males. We already know she enjoys—”
“No!” I screamed. She’d gone too far. “I’ll never let you take her! Never!” My hands were balled in fists and I was ready to throw down, Fae royalty or not.
She smiled at my explosion. I’d proven she’d chosen correctly the worst way to punish me. McKale stepped close, angling partway between us, facing the FFG.
“Don’t do this, Khalistah. I beg you.”
She wore the stubborn expression of a spoiled woman. “She stole something from me. It is only fair.”
“I am surprised at ye, princess. I’d no idea ye could be so cruel.”
“Cruelty is when a choice is not offered. I will not be cruel to you, McKale. You have a choice. Will you come? Or will you let this Cassidy go in your place?”
McKale and I stared in horror at the determination in her eyes. One way or another she would have her way. She would either get to have McKale, or the satisfaction of hurting me by taking my sister. And I had no doubt she could make either one of those scenarios happen. She could take them both if she wanted, and I’d be powerless to stop her. What we needed right now was time.
McKale looked like he was prepared to argue. He obviously still believed there was some goodness hiding in her if he could get her to see reason. But squabbling was only going to make her madder. We needed her to think she’d won so we could have time to figure something out.
“McKale,” I said. “Please…”
Both sets of eyes were on me. McKale’s mouth was open from the argument he’d been prepared to give. He closed his mouth and blinked away the pain on his face before looking away from me and nodding.
“I will go with you after the binding,” he said to the FFG. “Take me.”
My insides lurched.
She reached up and stroked his jaw line. “Someday you will thank me for this, McKale. You see how quickly she chooses another over you.”
That wasn’t what I’d meant at all, but his posture stiffened. He couldn’t possibly know that I’d never throw either of them to the Fae! Oh, my gosh—what if we couldn’t find a way to fix this? What if he really went? Hot tears stung my eyes and I wrapped both arms around my waist.
From the corner of my eye I saw a slight movement in the distance. FFG was too focused on McKale to notice the mass of brown curls peeking out stealthily from behind the trees.
Rock.
There was no sign of mirth in the Clourichaun as his eyes locked to mine. We shared a moment of joined, silent panic.
“Seal your promise to me with a kiss,” Khalistah told McKale. My attention snapped back to them. No. Don’t kiss her!
McKale hesitated while she waited, patient.
“Please allow Robyn to leave us now,” he requested.
“She stays. I was forced to witness the two of you carrying on. Now she must do the same.”
I was going to be sick.
McKale bent down and gave her a peck on the lips. She barely had time to close her eyes before he’d jerked his head away with the tiniest of moans.
“Kiss me like you kissed her,” she demanded.
I closed my eyes. There’s no way I could stay and watch this. Willing to take a chance on a magical beat down, I sprinted away from them toward the path. Fast pixie wings flapped behind me, screeching laughter, but the creature didn’t follow for long. When I got to the edge of the forest my empty stomach convulsed and I bent over, retching with dry heaves. Salty tears rolled down to my lips.
Bonfires flickered in the clearing, and music rang out. The Chaun were continuing their celebrations of a binding that had been cursed—doomed to misery. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and ran for the clearing, straight to the only people who might be able to help: the people I knew I could always turn to. My family.
“DADDY!” HE WAS IMPOSSIBLE to miss, holding hands with my mother in the line formation and towering over the other dancing folk. He turned his head toward the sound of my voice, smiling. I was still a ways off, running toward them, and when he took in the sight of me, he broke from the group with Mom right behind him. Cassidy jumped up from a nearby table. I was probably giving them heart attacks—me, the most modest person in our family, running in front of all these people in my bathing suit, looking a fright. The three of them met me at the entrance of the clearing. I collapsed into Dad’s arms, trembling.
“What happened?” he asked. “Where’s McKale?”
I sucked in some air and forced myself to articulate. “She’s going to take him!”
Without question, Dad jumped into action, signaling Brogan to us. The song had stopped and everyone was watching. Over a hundred worried faces stared. Leilah stood with both hands on her mouth.
“We need to speak privately,” my father told Brogan, who nodded.
Brogan waved to the musicians and forced a smile at his people. They whispered in speculation, but did as they were told, continuing the music.
I looked out into the darkened field of grass, searching for any sign of McKale or the FFG.
Brogan began to lead us away, but I held out a hand. “Wait! What if she tries to take him tonight?” The very idea had me afraid I might hyperventilate.
“Who? McKale?” Brogan studied my face, aghast, as I nodded. “Is he with the Shoe Mistress now?”
“Yes. We were by the falls…”
Part of the crowd had shifted closer to our group, and Brogan held up a hand to quiet me so they wouldn’t hear.
“Keefe!” he called over his shoulder. Keefe jogged over and Brogan spoke to him in hushed tones. “Watch this clearing for McKale. We’ll be speaking in the guest quarters, and I want ye to alert me immediately if ye see him or the Shoe Mistress. Watch the portal closely.”
“Aye. Of course, Brogan, sir.”
Brogan turned and led us to the bungalows.
“Yer rooms are closer, so I hope ye don’t mind speaking there.”
“Not at all,” Dad said.
When we got to my parents’ room I inhaled a huge breath before telling them everything about the encounter with th
e FFG. Cassidy held my hand the whole time. It was therapeutic to let it all out, but it also made the nightmare more real. By the time I was done, every face in the room appeared ready to retch just as I had. For once, even Cassidy was speechless. Mom gathered her close, wrapping protective arms around her, but Cass kept her fingers linked with mine and wouldn’t let go.
“What’s our plan?” Mom asked.
“Please,” I begged. “Can someone find McKale and get him away from her?”
“Aye. I’ll send a handful of lads to flush him out. I’ll return shortly.”
“Wait!” I said. “Rock was there! He was watching from behind a tree. He’ll know what happened after I left.”
Cassidy gave a little squeak of worry and Brogan nodded.
He rushed from the room and my family stepped into a close huddle, shoulder-to-shoulder.
“What can we do?” Cassidy asked. Her voice was one notch away from frantic. “I don’t want to go to Faerie, but I don’t want McKale to go either!”
“We won’t let that happen,” Dad said. “We’ll need a power play on our part, something that will take her by surprise. What are her weaknesses? Is there anything she fears?”Cassidy laughed dryly. “If I were her I’d be afraid of her daddy!”
She said it as a joke, but the other three of us exchanged thoughtful stares.
“She has been sneaking out of the portal against her father’s wishes,” Mom stated.
I shrugged. “But we don’t know for sure if he cares what she does. He doesn’t want Fae coming out whenever they please, but maybe he makes an exception for his little princess.”
I ran the earlier conversation through my mind again, specifically the things FFG had said about her people.
“She wants it to look like McKale is choosing to come on his own.” I was thinking out loud. Dad had his arms crossed, rocking back on his heels as I rambled. “Because she’s afraid of what the other Fae will think if they know she’s developed feelings for a human. She said it has to look like he’s just a consort.”
“So we blow her cover, then?” Mom asked.
We all nodded. But how would we prove to her people that she wanted McKale?