Page 40 of What did you do?

He pulled away to bite his lower lip while he moved his thumb through the trails of his cum that marked my chest.

Mendax dragged the same covered thumb slowly over my bottom lip before pushing it inside my mouth. Saltiness and a shockingly smoky flavor swirled on my tongue with the taste of him. It tasted just a hint like how a roaring campfire smelled.

He removed his thumb and then gently trailed his hand down the side of my face, leaning down to kiss my shoulder.

“I’ll see you soon, my pet. I hope you’re as ready as I am for the second part of our game.” He smiled a crooked smile that forced one of his dimples to show while he pulled his black shirt over his head and fastened his pants.

What was he talking about? I pinched my eyes shut tightly, willing myself to wake up.

Something wasn’t right.

“Game?” I fumbled over the simple words.

Clothed now, he stepped back into the shadows of the room until the only thing I could make out was the black outline of his profile.

“The part of the game where I slaughter every member of the Seelie family that took you away from me, starting with the prince.”

11

THE PAST

Queen Saracen

Iscrutinized the scroll, double-checking the address that had been neatly written on the mottled papyrus paper. Squeals of high-pitched laughter came from the back of the small, run-down cottage I stood before.

They were young. One looked roughly the same age as Aurelius, the other younger.

So this was what the almighty Zef had hidden.

It was brilliant. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had hidden in the human realm with his offspring until he was called to ascend. No one would ever bother to look for them here. Most of his enemies weren’t even permitted across the veil.

Zef must’ve trusted Felix to check in on them when his full Ascension to Moirai took place, his best friend making sure they were taken care of.

They would definitely be taken care of.

A smile crept onto my lips. Artemi usually didn’t come into their full abilities until their twentieth red chariot made it pastTartarus and through the Elysian Fields. I’ve heard of some getting them early if they were really powerful.

Which made them perfect for our army.

I could hardly believe the goldmine of luck that today had revealed. Felix’s lifeless body would be found while I was leaving Aurelius and bringing Thanes back the Artemi he deserved.

Leaning against the corner of the cottage, I settled back to watch my trophies play.

A rickety screen door slammed at the back of the house and a plain, weary-looking human woman with dirty-blond hair appeared. She looked tired and nervous at the same time, not even bothering to tidy herself, letting the hideous skeleton tattoo emblazoned on her chest hang out of her filthy blouse.

“Calypso! Adrianna! Girls, please don’t go any farther toward the field!” the woman shouted, looking stressed and rumpled but at least adjusting her shirt to hide the odd tattoo—a skeleton holding a ring of skeleton keys. Where had I seen that before?

“Yes, Mother,” the girls singsonged in unison.

The woman adjusted her shirt again, and I was able to get a closer look at her weathered face. Aside from the clothing and hair, her features were surprisingly striking. So much so, that had it not been for her energy being completely and utterly mortal, I would have assumed she was fae.

I could hardly believe it.

Zef had defiled himself with a human! My mouth hung open as I continued to watch the mortal wipe her eyes on the sleeve of her shirt as she closed the door behind her and returned inside.

I could hardly believe it. Zef, the last of the extinct Artemi, had hidden a partially human family in the smallest nook of the smallest human town.

This changed everything. It was highly unlikely that he would have two full-blooded Artemi after procreating with a human. Most fae could impregnate humans, but Artemi’s powers wereso strong-willed, they refused to be shared or diluted by blood. The powers grew in strength with every generation, and being so strong, it was the parent with the most concentrated Artemi powers who chose which of their children would be most well suited to receive the immense gift of powers themselves, which child would have the strength and kind heart to take on such obligations of holding the feared powers of the Artemi.

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