Page 72 of The Fae Menagerie
I turned to Parker, pulling him to my chest and kissing his cheek. "It's time for you to go."
"But we escaped! We can finally be together!" His eyes filled with unshed tears as I placed the coin in the palm of his hand and covered it with his fingers.
I shook my head. "She'll never allow that. You're my fated mate. She'll kill you."
"But—"
"I love you." I kissed him on the lips this time, unable to resist a last taste of the beautiful human who had captured my heart. I clasped his fist with both hands. "Take care of Parker Killian Patrick Moynahan. Return him safely to the circle from which we were summoned."
Another pulse of power rippled over me, and Parker was yanked from my arms, pulled backward and up the same way a summoning spell would pull a fae called by his name.
"No! Doyle! I l?—"
He disappeared as the first stinging tears squeezed from beneath my eyelids.
The sound of screaming brought my attention back to the menagerie.
Grandmother had returned with her rabble, but they hovered along the far banked wall, not wanting to come too close to the line of enclosures. They looked beyond me and over my head in horror. I turned to see Horace climbing the wall of his enclosure, and several other creatures beyond him. One caught my attention, with the body of a snake and the torso and head of a beautiful woman.
I tensed when my mother put her hand on my arm, but she was also busy watching the gorgon. "Isn't that … "
"Phiste."
I nodded.
Aidan approached us, and I grinned. "You freed her."
"Temporary spell malfunction," Aidan said. "I told Lilium this would happen, but she insisted."
I barked a laugh at Aidan's smirk. "You had a hand in this?"
He shook his head. "This was all you. You found your fated mate, brought him here, and kept him alive. I tried to explain it to your grandmother, but she wouldn't listen. The menagerie isn't equipped to handle a flood. You deserved a little magical mishap."
A resounding slap drew our attention.
"After this long, that's how you greet me?" Phiste's voice was low and gravelly. I'm sure mine had been as rough from disuse before Parker arrived. "We are fated!"
Grandmother raised her hand to her cheek, her face awash with shock. "I don't care. I'll never?—"
Phiste fell on her, kissing her senseless.
Mother clasped her hands together with a sigh. "Oh, look at them."
When Phiste pulled back, Grandmother's expression hadn't changed. "What have you done?"
"You're the one who kept us apart all these years," Phiste said.
A deep blush spread across my grandmother's high cheekbones. "If I'd known you could kiss like that, those silly kings wouldn't have stood a chance."
If a wasp had flown by right then, it could have tagged my tongue with its stinger, my mouth was open so wide.
"I tried to tell you," Phiste purred. "Nothing beats fate's first kiss."
"I still don't believe in fate." Grandmother slipped her arm around Phiste's waist and led her to the portal that opened along the eastern bank. "But we can have tea and get to know each other better."
"I plan to stay as long as you've caged me in this silly menagerie," Phiste said.
Grandmother hesitated and glared at Phiste with a pinched frown. "I suppose that's fair."
