Page 131 of A Song of Air
“Where’s Weylyn?” she asked as the brownie guided her towards the tub.
“The Hunt is today,” the brownie offered.
Bryson’s eyebrows lifted as she stepped one foot into the tub and then the other. She sank low in the water. It was biting against her skin, and she let out a hiss as steam rose through her nostrils. “What’s The Hunt?” she asked.
“Tradition. The princes hunt game for the feast. He left early morn.”
Bryson felt a pinch in her chest. He hadn’t woken her; he hadn’t told her where he was going or said goodbye. He’d left her alone, and now the queen was requesting an audience with her. While he was away.
Fear was gripping, and she tried to ignore it by grabbing a bar of soap and scrubbing it across her skin until she was sensitive and aching.
“Why does the queen wish to see me?” Bryson asked as she took soap through her hair.
Instead of answering, the brownie hopped up on a stool and took the bar from Bryson to scrub it unkindly through her curls. Bryson winced as her hair was tugged and then blinked as water was poured over her and suds caught in her eyes.
“You are her youngest son’s mate,” the brownie tittered. “She must meet you properly.”
Bryson bit her tongue and didn’t bother mentioning that she had planned on rejecting the mate bond with Weylyn. Because it wasn’t their business, but also because that plan was so far away that she didn’t even know if she wanted that anymore. Things had changed the moment she’d gotten shoved into that Unseelie portal.
Of course, she wouldn’t use Weylyn just because she was afraid of what was to come. She could rely on him, want him, desire him. She could give in to everything she repressed here. Because tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed. It was a strange thing how life ruined carefully constructed plans, and Bryson just wasn’t sure if it was for the better or not quite yet.
All she knew was that she needed Weylyn at this very moment. And maybe here, he was her only ally. Here she could learn to trust him.
“Just a taste.”Her words from last night echoed embarrassingly through her head. She’d devoured him. She’d let him give her pleasure.
Bryson’s head submerged beneath the water inch by inch. And when she rose again, she left her mouth underwater. As if that could hide her mortification.
“Shyness is unnecessary, little mate.”Weylyn’s voice appeared in her mind just then, causing her to jolt and slosh at the water.“I would fuck you, even if you did not beg.”
Her face heated and she looked from side to side, almost afraid that others had heard his musings. But no one did. His words were for her alone.
“The Hunt, Weylyn?”she asked in her mind.
“A tedious tradition. And dangerous. I am sure my brothers will make a few attempts on my life on this outing.”
Bryson jolted again and felt her panic rise.“You’re serious.”
“Very. But I will not die today.”
Before Bryson could ask him how he was so sure of that, he responded.
“I still have yet to taste between your thighs. I will not die, because I have much to live for.”
She didn’t bother telling him that it wasn’t going to happen. After last night,anythingcould happen, and she wasn’t going to say no. Especially not when her thighs shook at the promise in his words and a gush of wetness slid from between her legs.
Bryson changed the subject.“The queen wishes to meet me.”
Weylyn was quiet a long while. Then,“Be careful, little mate. She is not to be trusted. I will not be able to tune in to your thoughts the entire time.”
Steely resolve sank into her bones. Bryson straightened her spine.
Predator or prey.
“I’ll be fine,”she told him, and she meant it. She wasn’t some simpering Fae child hiding behind their mother’s skirts. She was an Elemental Fae. She wielded air. She had survived loss and war and near-blindness and iron camps. She could survive the Unseelie queen on her own.
She was strong.
Predator or prey.
