Page 2 of Ruin

Blue swung back to me, the floating sea green material of her dress shimmering with hundreds of tiny crystals. She swallowed hard and inhaled deeply. The skin between her brows creased and her eyes lost some of their shine. “B’nar is a twatwaffle of the highest degree. He can look all he wants but I will never give him my name so I can become his human plaything.”

I burst out laughing, though I understood her concern. According to the laws of Faerie, if a fae discovered your name they could keep you as their property. Hence the prince that watched Blue now was known simply asPrince Heiror B’nar. Only his father knew his name, his mother having gone to the Beyond when he was a boy. But with his kind of magic, B’nar could command my friend’s body to do as he wished. She was his prisoner, she was also fully human, which made her susceptible to faerie magic. I didn’t bring up that sore subject though. B’nar had never hurt Blue like many believed he should, for being one of the people who had helped kill his youngest brother, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t. The fae were vicious and uncompromising when they needed to be. “A twatwaffle?” I said instead, laughing out loud. “What the hell is a twatwaffle?”

My best friend humphed and crossed her arms over her chest. “An idiot, an arse, an arrogant, miserable fuck who won’t ever treat me with anything other than disdain and coldness…”

“Whoa!” I put my hands up and shook my head.

B’nar had been given Blue as his property after he vowed to his father he could change Blue’s outlook on life, and pointed out that she would be useful to the unit of specialists Walker had put together to investigate the corruption of the SBI back on Earth. According to Blue, she was to atone for working with Som, the disavowed fae I had considered a friend, and me for dealing the drugs that killed B’nar’s brother. That meant Blue had been sentenced to a lifetime of belonging to B’nar—her only alternative being death. I wondered if my own incarceration here was much different. I was under Walker’s thumb, my existence dependent on his favour, and my ability to get back to my own world resting, literally, on his hand.

“I get it.” I stepped up and prised her arms from across her chest. Taking her hands in mine, I kissed her cheek. “Just don’t let him ruin your night, my lovely friend. Ignore him, but don’t get yourself into hot water with any of those other beautiful males down there just to get your own back, either. They will flock to you like flies to honey, but they are likely far more dangerous than even the ‘twatwaffle’. Lesser fae can become addicted to human pheromones and you know as well as I do that if they get a chance to take you, they will cage you to keep you as theirs alone. And you don’t deserve to be caged, not by him or anyone else, you are a beautiful butterfly who needs the freedom to fly.” I dramatically opened my arms, keeping the grin on my face.

Blue giggled. “So very poetic of you.”

“I have my moments.” I looked down at the crowd again. “But, just be careful...please? B’nar gives you a lot of freedom when he doesn’t have to. Don’t throw that in his face too much or he just might revoke it, and then where would you be?”

Blue’s eyes hardened. “I know. Don’t worry, I’ll do my job for these royal pains. If only so I can stay with you.”

“I know you will. Besides, we need Walker to be exhausted and able to sleep soundly by the end of the night. That’s your main job.”

Blue kissed my cheek and winked. “He will be.”

We both looked at the King. Walker was in deep conversation with a petite fae who had hair like the sun and delicate wings fluttering at her back. Summer fae, I guessed.

“Are you coming, Yell?” Blue had her foot on the top step and was looking back at me, wisps of rich auburn curls framing her face. I could see why B’nar wouldn’t want her flirting with other males. Prisoner my arse. My friend was stunning, and something told me B’nar thought so too, or she’d be dead by now.

“No, not yet. You go and have a good time. Find a nice summer fae lord to dance you around the room and make B’nar just a little bit jealous.”

Blue rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen. At least, not for the right reasons. I’m just his little human pet.” Lifting her chin, she elegantly descended the curved steps into the ballroom. B’nar didn’t take his eyes off her, but Blue ignored him and was soon surrounded by fae admirers. Humans in the world of fae were a novelty. I just hoped none were stupid enough to steal a possession of the royal family. Faedidcovet human flesh, and some would do anything for it. Hopefully these High Fae were not so foolish and just wanted the pleasure of Blue’s company and unique looks.

I glanced up. Far above my head, hanging from the vaulted ceiling, chandeliers of ice glinted, reflecting the light from the magical faerie candles that illuminated the royal ballroom. Frost lined the walls and prettily adorned the edges of the huge mirrors, the tables and the curtains. It was all done with Walker’s power and was beautiful enough to steal my breath, but no matter the beauty of my surroundings, all the sparkle in the world couldn’t erase the heartache and loneliness from me. The emptiness in my chest threatened to consume me every day that I lingered here in Faerie.

“You look beautiful.”

I turned to the voice.

Alex looked ridiculously handsome in his formal attire, the fae silks shimmering in a way no earthly material ever could.

“Thanks.” I peered at his eyes and raised a brow. “Really?” Today, one was coloured a deep burnt orange and one a deep forest green. Yesterday they’d been grey.

He shrugged and smirked. “What? I couldn’t decide which colour complimented my outfit best, so I went with one of each.”

I shook my head and chuckled. Alex’s ability to change his appearance was really disconcerting to say the least. “You are so weird.”

He grinned and winked. “You have no idea, but I’m having great fun playing while you find out.”

Alex Blaze was a doppelganger, part of an ancient race of immortal shapeshifters who could take on another's form, right down to their mannerisms and voice. He didn’t carry a spirit inside himself like me or other animal shifters, but he could assume the appearance of other humanoid forms. In between shape shifts, Alex liked to play with things like his hair and eye colour. I was sure he did it just to screw with my head.

He held out his arm and I took it. “Wanna come and dance with me? You know Walker wants you to be able to dance with the grace of a swan. Most of the time though, you just look like an elephant, but I’m sure I can change that.” He winked down at me.

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, well, Walker is nuts. Maybe when I’m fighting I can be graceful, but dancing? Not a chance in Hell. I’m more likely to break your toes. Even though I’m not anywhere near as heavy as an elephant, you cheeky arse.”

Alex chuckled. “True. But yeah, your calling is definitely not grace and poise on the dance floor.”

“Well, don’t you two look cozy? What are you going to do when you see Connor again? Strike up a threesome?”

Me and Alex looked at Lance who had just arrived with Ava on his arm. Ava looked amazing as always; slim, tall and blonde. It wasn’t difficult to understand what Connor had seen in Ava. I gritted my teeth at the stab of jealousy and pushed that useless thought away. She was with Lance now.

Lance’s ice blue shirt set off the deep brown of his hair and eyes. Tall and muscular, he looked amazing too—the bastard. He grinned when he saw me looking.

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