Page 84 of What did you do?

Mendax squeezed my face as his mouth hovered barely an inch from mine. His hand trembled slightly, and I got the feeling it was because he was trying not to snap my neck.

He pressed his mouth to mine in a devouring kiss, still holding my face.

There was probably a puddle beneath me, I was so wet.

He pulled back and turned my face to the side, toward the guards, as he pressed his mouth to my ear. “No onetouches my possessions without consequence.”

He licked the side of my face with one long swipe before he turned my face back to him. Unbridled rage twinkled and danced in his pale eyes, causing me to question just how far he had been pushed this time. I’d never seen him as ready to strike out as he was now. He looked absolutely feral.

Malum Mendax had snapped.

“Where is Eli?” I asked again, suddenly a lot more worried.

I was alive, so I guessed he was too, but that didn’t bring me any comfort considering the look on Mendax’s face right now.

He grabbed me around the waist, tucking me under his arm, into his side, as if I were a sack of potatoes, and carried me down the hallway until we entered the smoking room. He kicked the door with his large black boots, sending it ricocheting off the wall before loudly slamming it closed once he had stepped through.

The angry fae carried me past a large set of mahogany shelves lining the back wall before he dumped me on the ground.

I didn’t trust him at my back right now, not like this. Refusing to take my eyes off him, I watched nervously as he picked up a decanter from the dark wood bar and poured a glass to the brim with deep-purple liquid.

“You couldn’t have at least let me grab pants?” I grumbled as I clamored back onto my feet.

“You won’t need those,” he stated, casually moving to hand me the purple drink and return to pour himself another. “You will, however, need this,” he said with a sinister smile.

“You should find a new drinking buddy. I’m not interested. All hell is breaking loose out there,” I bit out, angrily pointing to the hallway.

“You’ve got it all wrong, pet. Hell is in here, where the devil is.” He winked. “Last chance to drink your mead,” his gravelly voice purred as he walked past me.

In my brief encounter with the libation, faerie mead had been wild. In my brief encounter with the libation, faerie mead had made me do some wild things—including dry humping my best friend.

Pounding and mumbles caught my ears.

The Seelie guards must have been getting closer to breaking through the barrier. It would only be minutes before they entered and I was killed, taking Eli with me. It had all been for nothing.

My nails clicked against the glass before I tipped back the pretty liquid, draining the glass.

I would need it.

I turned to Mendax.

He had positioned himself on a small leather love seat with legs spread wide and an arm draped casually over the back like he owned the castle and everything in it.

And then I saw them.

Eli and Walter sat on the ground, bound and gagged with familiar black smoke. Their backs leaned up against the small sofa positioned at a ninety-degree angle from its twin. The one in which Mendax leisurely sat in.

Eli struggled and fought to undo his bindings; his wide eyes stared at me in pure horror. Walter looked more relaxed, not moving except to lock eyes on Mendax with irritation. Whatever was happening didn’t seem like it was a surprise to Walter, who knew his cousin far better than any of us. I noticed that both he and Eli didn’t shift into their animal forms to get away. Whether they were unable to or they simply knew better than to try was beyond my knowledge.

I clamped my mouth shut, turned around, and walked back to the counter to pick the glass decanter up. Popping the top out, I lifted it to my lips and proceeded to gulp down several huge swigs of the liquid.

“Kiss me,” Mendax ordered, his low, rumbly command rippling across the stale room.

“Get fucked,” I fired back, setting the decanter back down. Already, I could feel the faerie mead’s effects lighting every nerve in my body. What did it matter now?

“You first,” Mendax purred while taking a drink.

I moved past the umbra of darkness to kneel beside Eli, giving Walter’s thigh a gentle squeeze. The shifter had become something different to me over the past few weeks. It felt like he was the only one who heard me sometimes. Foolishly and for reasons I couldn’t explain, I had let Walter inside my solitary box of demons. I had shared everything with him. He was the only person I’d ever told my plan. I cried on his chest the whole night. Snuggling with him in his wolf form had been one of the most enjoyable and comforting things I’d ever done.

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