Page 18 of The Fae Menagerie
"I'm happy for you." I meant it, too. I had never meant to come between the prince and his betrothed.
"I was scared," he admitted. "Once I got to know you, I didn't want to take the time to get to know someone else."
"You didn't know me." I only gave the prince the bare minimum of facts, all of them delightful.
"I suppose I didn't."
He didn't know that I woke with bad breath in the morning, that my temper flared when my wings cramped against the back of a hard couch all night, or that I hated the way my little magical kitchen cooked scrambled eggs until they were rubbery and tasteless.
Parker knew those things about me, and while he certainly hadn't fallen head over heels in love with me, he didn't hate me for them, either. I felt reassured by that. One day, I hoped to find someone who would love me, all of me. Then I could break out of my self-imposed prison.
"For what it's worth, I didn't send you here. Your mother wanted to teach you a lesson."
"I know."
"I wanted you dead." He grinned, and all the sharp white teeth inside his mouth glowed with his inner light.
I suppressed a shiver.
"I'm glad you're not dead, Doyle. I hope you find your key to freedom." He bowed his head to me. "Until then, I will leave you and your delightful human morsel in peace."
"I am not something to eat," Parker muttered in his sleep, drawing my attention to him. When I looked toward where Prince Drummond had been, he was already gone.
The next morning,breakfast was served in a cardboard baker's box in the middle of the kitchen table. Parker and I fished our own plates from the cupboard. Beneath the heap of raspberry scones, two for each of us, was a cellophane-wrapped note from my mother.
"My sweet Doy'al'ini,
Prince Drummond sends his regards. He begged for your freedom, but I believe in you and your delightful human. Remember, love breaks your heart until it opens.
With Love,
Mother Thera"
When the fuck had love ever broken my heart? I was the heartbreaker here. I never got close enough for anyone to break mine. I was too independent for that, not since …
Nope. Not thinking about them.
"Mother Thera?" Parker asked when I read him the note.
"She heard about the human saint and decided to call herself that regarding her only son."
Parker noticed my discomfort with the lie and smirked. "Really?"
"No." I sighed. "It was me. I called her Mother Thera and explained how she was nothing like a human saint, but they had similar names. She didn't understand and thinks she is very much a saint. She uses it in jest whenever we speak. Mothers."
"Mothers," Parker agreed. "Was that your ex in my dreams last night?"
"You weren't supposed to remember that."
"He threatened to eat me. How could I forget?"
"He calls all humans morsels," I said around a bite of delicious scone. "It's nothing personal." I pointed my scone at him. "Eat. They're delicious."
He brought the pastry to his mouth. Without warning, I batted it away. It landed with a splat in the sink behind him.
"What the fuck?"
My skin tingled like bugs crawling on me, but I saw nothing on my arm. The sensation grew stronger, but I recognized it now. The deal I'd made with the coin. Parker needed me to take care of him.
