Page 23 of Riot of Autumn

I do think that the Fae are ridiculously good looking, though. Unnaturally so. The rest of us have freckles and small boobs, but the Fae all look flawless, like someone airbrushed them in real life.

I stop a few feet away from Anthony and the Duke, close enough to hear them over the chatter of the room and the hum of music playing. The others are keeping a wide berth around these two, so there’s no worry about bumping into anyone else.

Instead of standing at my side, Ezra moves behind me, his hands landing on my shoulders like he needs to hold me in place. I’m tempted to shake him off just because, but the feel of him behind me, even though I can’t see or smell him, is comforting. And a little hot, if I’m being honest with myself. There’s a tiny bit of freedom in not being able to see Ezra yet be able to feel his touch. Even if it is as innocent as his hands on my shoulders. One move and he could slide those fingers down my collarbone, over my chest. He’s already touched my boobs a few times tonight, so what’s a couple more grabs?

No, there could not be a worse time to drift off in fantasy land.

“Do you really think these…gatherings,” Anthony stops and peers around the room, disdain practically dripping from his pores. “Are wise?”

A glass half full of amber colored liquid dangles from the Duke’s fingers. He swirls it around like he’s practicing for villain tryouts at the local playhouse.

“The Queen is not pleased with how long you’ve been here fucking things up.”

Anthony’s shoulders stiffen, and he adjusts the cuffs on his suit.

“You had an entire world full of Fae and couldn’t get the veil to open. I had a poorly formed Axis that could barely find their own asses to wipe.”

The Duke takes a sip of his drink and flicks a finger at someone across the room. “And yet, there is an Axis that has the power now, but is still not fully formed. Not to mention, you’ve lost your control over the bonds that have already formed.” The Duke turns his inhuman stare toward Anthony, making me shiver with how cold it is.

“The last member of the Axis wasn’t even in this realm until recently.”

“And whose fault was that?”

“How was I supposed to know that in twenty-six years that mewling, whining baby would turn out to be one of the Axis members? Her mother was causing trouble and needed to be controlled.”

Ice sluices through my veins. They’re talking about my mother. And Zara. They’re so fucking flippant about stealing a newborn baby from her mother and tossing her into Fairy, like she was only a chess piece he was knocking off the board. Ezra’s fingers squeeze my shoulders and tug me closer to his chest, letting me know he’s there even if there’s nothing either of us can do right now.

“Besides, that has nothing to do with this,” Anthony hisses, inclining his head toward the debauchery going on around us. “Try to be a bit more discreet at least, before you have the entire island descending on this house.”

The Duke laughs and throws back the rest of his drink.

Anthony scowls, his narrowed gaze slicing through the room. “And you need to keep your little protégé leashed. We need all of these fools alive to form the Axis.”

Anthony glares across the room at Colton, who is still, ahem, using a human hole, as he so eloquently put it the other night.

“He knows his place. Do you?” The Duke doesn’t even look at Anthony as he throws out that smack down. He crooks his finger at a couple across the room again, back to ignoring Anthony.

A man and woman saunter over and stop in front of the Duke, giggling as they do a sad version of a bow. They’re obviously weekenders, here for a break from the city. They look all fancy and completely out of place at a party like this. I guess I’m making a lot of assumptions. They could have group sex on the daily and swing like they’re regular hosts of key parties. Do people still have those? Or was that a seventies thing?

They look a little uptight for that, though. The Duke eyes them like they’re bugs while they grin up at him, oblivious to the man’s distaste.

“We heard you can make people see crazy things,” the woman says, her eyes glazed, a glass of wine clutched in her fingers.

“Did you?”

“Are you really a Fae prince?” The man asks. He’s wearing a business suit, even though it’s the weekend and he’s not at a work event. Back up. Did he just say Fae prince? If this guy is the Duke that Zara talked about, that doesn’t make him a prince. Is this the same asshole, or did we let in some other Fae royalty without knowing about it?

“Stories have a way of being embellished. I’m merely a duke.”

Ha! He is the Duke. And totally fishing for compliments. I guess being Fae royalty doesn’t mean you have good self-esteem. The woman nearly falls over her own feet, aiming her cleavage at him. She’s wearing a cocktail dress that looks vaguely nineties-ish. I actually wouldn’t mind stealing it.

“A duke. Wow. I’ve never met anyone with a title before. That’s so exciting. What brings you here?”

Anthony sighs and pulls his phone out of his pocket. Me too, dude. Can these two idiots disappear so Anthony and the Duke can resume their private conversation?

“I’m here to take over this realm.”

The couple chuckles, confusion flashing on their faces. Meanwhile, all the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up.

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