Page 51 of Wrath of the Fae Queen
My heart stops as my gaze falls on the party amassed in its center.Every instinct within me screams to run.
Florian stands in their midst, running their little meeting.
I drag in a sharp breath as he glances over his shoulder, red eyes gleaming as they fall on me. Of courseheis Titania’s spy master. I was a fool to think I could trust anyone here. Around him cluster Rainier and the woman, Juniper, that he always seems to be with; Jasper and Sasha. Everyone who has shown me kindness clearly used it as a weapon to get me into this compromising position.
I try to take a step backward, but Basil is still pulling me forward, his grip tight on my arm. I glance around frantically, expecting Torin to burst through one of the other doors with a small army at his back, accusations pouring from his lips.
Florian takes a few confident steps toward me, spreading his arms wide and smiling broadly. “Keira, I thought you’d be pleased to see me.”
I almost trip over my feet.
That tone, kind and amenable, is not his. Thatvoiceis not his.
“Not with that face on,” Rainier calls to Florian’s back.
My heart stutters to a stop as the air shimmers over Florian. His long brown hair, half pulled back by a leather strap, shortens until it is shaved close to the scalp. His beard disappears completely. Blood-red eyes turn green, his features shift, and his skin turns so bronze it is almost red. Then the silvery lines of his tattoo shimmer into place over that familiar face that I love and trust.
I almost cannot believe what my eyes are showing me, but there is no denying it.
I run at him, tears pouring from my eyes, and he wraps me up in a tight embrace. “Drake!” I half laugh, half sob. “What in the Darkest Realm are you doing here?”
“Infiltrating the enemy to protect you as best I can. Spy master, remember?” he says into my hair, not letting go, rocking us from side to side. He pulls back just enough to peer down at me. “What were you thinking, giving yourself up to Titania as her prisoner?”
“It saved Aldrin’s life, didn’t it?” I whisper.“And my family is safe.”
“And Aldrin…is he…?” Drake’s words die. Everyone else peers over his shoulder, desperate for my reply.
“Aldrin has passed the Trials of Belladonna and is currently negotiating reinforcements from their ranks to win his throne back.”
Cheers sound from the others. Drake smiles widely. Then I slap him hard on the chest.
“How dare you give me such a fright! I thought I was doomed, finding a trap laid here by Florian.”
Drake runs a hand over his head sheepishly. “Sorry. I’ve been wearing that bastard’s face for long enough that I sometimes forget the complex weaves of glamour are in place.”
I frown at him. “How long have you been posing as Florian? Because he has treated me horribly.” Memories rise to mind of howFlorianmanhandled and hurt me as I was pulled out of the portal, and all the cruel things he did and said on the road. “Drake. How long?” I bite out.
“Do you remember when the nymphs attacked your party in protest of Titania?” he says. “Well, that was us, trying to get to a member of Titania’s inner circle so I could take their place.”
It suddenly makes so much sense, especially why Rainier raced after Florian and was so protective of him in his injuredstate when he brought him back. It was his father he was looking after.
My mind whirls as it reframes every interaction I had with the man after. Florian bringing me to my chambers instead of the dungeon. His de-escalation of our procession into the city and the open riot it almost turned into. Then I remember him coming to my cage right after the battle with the nymphs and throwing a half-eaten peach at me. How he humiliated me for being filthy and tossed his dirty towel at me.
“The peaches? The towel? That was you being an asshole!” I pound his chest.
Drake throws up his arms in mock surrender. “I had a role to play, a particularly nasty one. Besides, I had just discovered the state they were keeping you in, and I couldn’t think of another way to get you fed and cleaned up. I can’t help you if I don’t keep my cover.”
The fight falls from me, and I am left with immense gratitude that someone strong and safe is here for me to lean on. “Why didn’t you reveal yourself sooner?”
Drake lets out a long breath. “Don’t think I didn’t want to. That it didn’t kill me each time I had to keep up my facade and treat you badly.”
Rainier approaches. “We had to wait until it was safe. There is no way we could have revealed our true allegiance on the road, and we have only been in the palace a handful of days.”
Gods, it feels like I have been here for weeks, months, not only days.
Rainier’s stormy eyes glance over my shoulder, then back at me. “Basil wouldn’tbring you down here and expose our secret operations until he fully trusted you, and the others needed the same chance.”
The butler waiting patiently behind me only tips his head in my direction. My eyes run over Sasha, suddenly realizingour meeting wasn’t by chance at all, then to Jasper, who was probably trying to indicate that he was on my side the entire time.
