Page 26 of Hopeless Magic
The lights flicker off and I feel the mattress dip as one of them climbs into bed. I face the window, watching the white light of the full moon filter into the dark room. Daxdyn’s leg brushes mine as he settles in at my side. Another jostling of the bed tells me Ryder has also joined us.
A smile touches my lips. Never in my life did I think I’d be sharing a bed with two beautiful fae. I guess if I did imagine it, it’d be a little more … dirty? Yes, definitely dirtier.
The bed is the softest thing I’ve slept on in years. It welcomes me, pulls me into it and demands that I sleep soundly.
Moments pass, my eyes closing heavily. The sound of light, content snores fill the room. I’m going to sleep well tonight, I can feel it.
“Trade me places.”
My jaw clenches at the sound of the harsh whisper. My eyes peel slowly open.
Daxdyn is one of those men who are referred to as ‘man-child’, I’m sure of it.
“Go to sleep, Daxdyn.” The whisper is clipped. Closed argument.
He squirms against me, his hard body skimming against my soft curves.
“Ryder’s breath keeps brushing my neck. How am I supposed to sleep like this?”
A smile tilts my lips and finally I roll until we’re face to face.
A subtle hint of a point tips the tops of his ears and I wonder if they all hold that small, telling trait.
It’s unfair how attractive Daxdyn is. The white light kisses his already pale chest, making him appear porcelain and perfect. His smooth features might never age for all I know.
I physically want to give him everything his shallow heart desires. But I shove that feeling down.
“Just imagine what will be brushing against you tomorrow morning.” I say the words slowly and carefully to him.
Silence passes between us before his eyes widen with horror. I wonder if he’s imagining Ryder’s erection with as much detail as I am.
“Trade me places, please, Kara.” Secretly I love the way he says my name. The hard ‘k’ sound is followed by a breathy tone that makes my thighs clench together.
I bat my lashes as I pretend to consider his plea. Several seconds pass during myconsideration.
“No.”
He bites his lower lip slowly and my attention falls to his mouth.
Daxdyn is good at playing with his looks to get his way. But what he says next isn’t a game at all.
“I’m not one for blackmail, but I just want you to know,” his gray eyes bore into me, “I didn’t tell the others.” The seriousness that fills his face sinks into me. Weighing me down with dread.
“Tell them what?”
“That I felt the mark of the Hopeless on the inside of your wrist today.” His steady words take aim, and they obliterate the terrified pounding of my heart into sinking pieces that now lay heavily in the bottom of my stomach.
“I wasn’t sure until I tried to press my way into your mind to win our little game. I couldn’t do it. If you really were a simple human, I could have forced my way in to see all your hopes and desires.” I’m breathing hard and I can’t think of a thing to say to get out of this. “Why are you hiding it? You could have told us of all people.”
My knee’s pull up to my chest and my arms wrap around them instinctively. The memories of my father’s death drill through my mind.
“He died.” My voice cracks and I swallow the weak sound down before I speak again. “My father died in the city of Juvar. My markings didn’t come until I was sixteen. The markings came during the king’s funeral.” My voice lowers even more as I speak about the king that I know is Ryder’s father. “Everyone in the kingdom came. For miles and miles, people grieved their one true king. The markings slashed into my body so hard I fell to my knees with pain. I fell right in front of the queen. She was the first to see them and she demanded I be detained.”
The feelings tumble through my chest, building there until I can barely breath. Fae are rare in this world, nonexistent really, and the Hopeless are all but a myth now. His step mother wasn’t about to lose a possible fae.
“My father fought the soldiers off the best he could and I ran. I should have helped him.” The tiny sound of my voice makes me sick.
“Nothing good would have come of you fighting them. They would have locked you away just like they did us.”
