Page 140 of Curse the Fae

I seek out Cove’s face, which staunches the urge to pulverize something. “A break,” I recap with a smirk. “Tell that to your sister.”

Cove sighs. “Juniper is an overachiever who hates loose ends, but I know how to calm her down, and Puck knows how to distract her.”

“I bet the little shit does,” I remark.

“Little isn’t a word I’d associate with that bulky satyr,” she jokes.

It has taken a while to grow accustomed to Cove’s facial expressions, to interpret their meanings without shutting my eyes and tracing them. From what I can deduce, an inquisitive thought slants her expression. “This is overdue, but I’ve been meaning to ask. What did you hear when you shook hands with Juniper?”

I must seem flummoxed, because she explains. “In The Kelpie Rapids, just before the flood. You agreed to join the campaign and sealed Juniper’s terms with a handshake, but right after that, you gave her this puzzled look, or maybe it was a startled look. Then on reflex, you nearly blinded her. It was as if you’d heard something inside Juniper, in her blood or temperature. I know that look, and whenever we see her, you do the same thing.” Cove looks worried. “Is something wrong? Is she ill?”

Shit. Realization dawns.

Cove is right. I had heard a noise—something floating through her sister’s womb, as tiny as a seed. The sound had unfurled, though it had taken me a bit longer to speculate on what it was. For it is a rare occurrence in Faerie and a phenomenon in Juniper’s case, with her being human.

That I see what others cannot is true. Call it instinct. But from the shape, size, and sound of what I’d detected, it can be only one possibility.

However, this secret belongs to Juniper. It belongs to her and Puck.

They might already know. Or they might not, as such conditions take longer to develop and become recognizable in a world of immortals.

Either way, I cannot speak unless they do first. Or unless it becomes crucial. But fuck, I must tell Cove something.

I maneuver my words into position, reshaping the truth without betraying her. “Juniper is well,” I assure Cove. “I heard something potent within her, a sort of newfound strength burgeoning from her union with Puck. You have no cause to be alarmed.”

At least, I hope not.

Cove scans my face, her eyes slitting. “You promise?”

I brush her lips with my own. “I promise you should not worry.”

At least, not yet.

At present, I sense no harm. Whether it stays that way is another matter.

The pond douses this cave in blue. The floating lilies pulse with white.

I nestle Cove closer, her enticing breasts rubbing against my flesh. “During this respite, whatever shall we do with each other?”

A grin wreathes across her face. “Show me again what darkness is like.”

Oh, with relish. I swat my fingers through the ripples, and the pond answers my request. Thereupon, I sense when the watery sheen and glowing lilies snuff out like candles.

As it should be, Cove becomes the only thing brightening this cave.

While cloaked in the murk, my rasp tracks across her mouth. “Darkness comes in many shapes and colors, like a moving spectrum of blacks.” I nibble on her lower lip. “Swatches of ebony. Puddles of oil black.” I sweep beneath her jaw and nip the skin. “Spider-black streaks. Raven shades. Sooty shadows.”

My blood hums as I ascend to her earlobe and snatch the flesh between my teeth. Cove’s moan skitters through the air. She clutches me tighter, the abrasion of her cunt against my cock sending a bolt of need through me.

Not yet, I warn myself. For the vial is still bobbing somewhere across the surface. With a dash of my fingers, I draw the container in our direction.

Meanwhile, I hiss against her skin, “And sometimes, the darkness comes in the shape of a bottle.” The vial slides into my waiting grip, and I pull back to watch her face in the shadows, the sight quickening my pulse. “And in that bottle is an even deeper hue.”

Cove blinks as I set the glass container in her palm. “What’s this?” she asks.

“Happy birthday,” I murmur.

Her face transforms, teal eyes shimmering with surprise and amusement. “But you already gave me—”

---