Page 126 of What did you do?

“Take it. We don’t even know where we’re going. It’s too dangerous for a mortal in the fae realms,” Eli said patiently.

“I’ve been a human in this realm the whole time,” I tried. Honestly, I was just happy he was speaking to me. I knew he was extremely upset with what I had done—all of it.

“Take mine like good girl, Cal,” Mendax rasped with smoldering eyes as he tried to push his Unseelie breastplate into my arms.

The warm glow of the pyre in the distance cast a spooky vibe over the shadowed forest.

“I don’t need or want your heavy armor,” I said, backing away.

Mendax took up the space behind me, placing his hands on my hips just before his firm chest pressed against my back.

Eli glared at Mendax, then stepped in closer at my front, blocking me in. “You need to take this damn armor so we can go somewhere and figure out how to break your bond.”

“How to sever your tie,” Mendax enunciated as he pressed more of his muscled body against my back.

“Well, then you need your armor too, since if you die, I die,” I said, moving from Mendax toward Eli. “What am I supposed to do, wear them both?” I scoffed. They were being ridiculous.

“You know their armor is weak and flimsy, just like their men,” Mendax purred at my ear. “Take mine. It’s always hard for you.”

Eli rolled his eyes but decided to use this to his advantage.

“No matter what happens, I will be here for you. Anything you need from me.” Eli leaned against me, his thighs pressing against mine. “I will protect you, armored or not.”

Every nerve in my body was overwhelmed with the sensation of both fae sandwiching my body between theirs. The smell of smoke and fresh citrus lingered as Eli’s hand brushed over my hair. At the same moment, Mendax moved his free hand up and over the side of my neck, leaning down to whisper in my ear.

“Go on, Cal. Take it.” His deep voice poured through my brain like hot soup.

“Do it for me.” Eli’s thumb grazed my bottom lip. “Let me know that you still love me.”

My body shivered and thrummed, filled with a new energy.

A body now covered in black and gold armor.

Eli smiled down at me, beaming as he gave my arm a squeeze.

Most of my vital organs and weak points had been covered by a mix of both men’s armor. “Really?” I barked as I rolled my eyes nearly into the back of my head.

Both men grinned at each other like little boys who had hidden a spider in my hair.

A thunderous crack let out above us, and the skies darkened around the edges, revealing that the clouds above were moving closer.

One wispy-looking cloud glided down smoothly before splitting open.

We all stared in curious wonder as a black peregrine falcon flew from it, silently gliding down until it hovered just above me, opening its talons and dropping something.

My hands opened, more as a reaction than anything. I caught what I thought was a wand of glass as I watched the bird in awe.

“Should we grab it?” Mendax asked, but it was a useless question.

The falcon had already flown off, entering the crack in the cloud with a sharp cry.

I looked down at what it had given me and realized it was a rolled-up glass scroll.

Glancing wearily at Eli, I pulled at the smooth glass, not expecting it to move and being shocked when it opened into a note with black cursive scrawled over it. The letters were too hard to read against the dirt and moss of the ground, so I lifted it to the sky, where I could read it easily, and was left with no doubt that was how it was meant to be read.

Calypso Petranova,

Good day. You have been summoned before the Fates in requisition of Ties and Bonds with breach to laws 14.2 and 370.003.

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