Page 78 of Promise of Darkness
“I’m sure she consulted her oracle,” Finn says dryly. “Perhaps you should send her a letter requesting an extension of time. Five weeks please, Angharad, before you make your move. I just need to seduce a certain princess.”
“Perhaps we should send Angharad a knife and someone to plant it in her throat.” Eris’s voice suggests she’s thinking of doing the task herself.
“Tempting,” Thiago mutters, “but her sister queens might take exception to that and decide to focus their full attentions on us. We’re prepared for war, but not against the entire Unseelie horde.”
Invisible hands brush against my shins, an impatient little face forming near my feet. I almost forgot the demi-fey.
This way,it seems to tell me.The milk is this way.
I shake my head.
Thiago’s too close to the door. Any movement might alert him that I’m here.
“Fuck the princess,” Eris says. “It might solve all your problems.”
“Woo her,” Finn adds. “Fucking’s all well and good, but in my experience, the way to a woman’s heart is through soft kisses and gentle words.”
“Considering how empty your bed is,” Eris replies, “I’d hardly consider you the expert.”
“Ah, my dear,” he practically purrs, “you’re one to talk.”
“That’s why I have these,” she replies sweetly. I don’t need to see her to know she’s waggling her fingers. “I don’t need a man.”
“And I would love to prove you wrong,” Finn replies, “but I fear it might grow awkward if you were to fall in love with me.”
Eris snorts. “You overestimate your abilities.”
“Is it possible for you to focus?” someone else growls, and I suspect it’s Baylor. “Or are we going to have to separate the pair of you again?”
The demi-fey returns, pulling impatiently on my robe.
I promised it milk, and they’re remarkably persistent when you don’t fulfill your half of the bargain.
“Not now,” I breathe, pressing a finger to my lips.
Eyes narrowing, it bites me.
I hiss out a breath, lunging backwards. The demi-fey vanishes, but the damage is done.
“What was that?” Thalia demands.
Footsteps whisper over marble. I see a shadow pass over the floor, and take one step back just as Thiago jerks the door open.
Our eyes lock.
His flare wide in surprise before he freezes. "Your Highness."
I catch a glimpse of the others looking at me over his shoulder, but then my gaze returns to him, as it always seems to these days. It’s clear I’ve interrupted a war council of sorts, and my first instinct is to back away.
But that’s the princess who’s spent too many years watching doors shut in her face at her mother’s court.
And I’m so fucking tired of being kept in the dark.
"What's going on?" I demand.
“I thought you were in bed,” he replies, cool as mist.
“Clearly.”
