Page 67 of Beyond the Faerie Gate

I’m proven right a second later when he draws back, grinning and hands me the same ruby encrusted dagger from our first date. I take it just as Mab and Maeve reappear by my other side, both wearing determined expressions.

“So what’s really going on?” I demand.

Maeve and Lore both answer at once.

“Whores are holding your púca hostage,” the redcap says. “And not in a sexy way.”

At the same time, Maeve replies, “He’s owned by the madam.”

“So like a slave?”

Mab nods. “The worst kind.”

The feeling of violation from last night begins to make a sickening kind of sense. Rage, already lingering in my body from the way I woke, simmers to a boil in my blood. Releasing Lore, I shove to my feet.

Jaro and Drystan are going to negotiate?

Fuck that.

I’m too angry to be surprised at my own vehemence. They’ve left my clothes on, and my boots are at the end of the bed. I waste no time shoving my feet into them and yanking the laces tight before stalking towards the door.

Drawing up short, because I have nowhere to store the dagger. I pull at the waistband of my trousers, wondering if I can tuck it in there.

“No. Nope. Don’t do it,” Lore calls from the bed. “Getting stabbed in the ass by your own knife is not an experience I recommend.”

He blinks away, returning by my side with a black sheath attached to a matching belt. With quick, easy motions, he buckles it around my waist, plucks the blade from my hand, and tucks it safely inside.

“Are we going to blow the Toxic Orchid to smithereens?” he asks, bouncing behind me as I descend the stairs and exit the inn.

I have no idea what I’m going to do, but negotiating is not on the list.

I don’t negotiate with slavers. In fact, if there aren’t laws outlawing slavery already, I’m going to implement them as my first act as Nicnevin.

My púca’s pain is still throbbing in my chest, and I hone in on it. The connection between us guides me through the stone-paved streets and between buildings like a leash dragging me towards him. Lore trails behind like my silent shadow, blissfully unaware that Maeve and Mab are by my side.

When Titania appears beside Mab, she looks around in confusion before looking at me.

“One of her Guard?” she asks.

The other two nod sagely.

“I’ve never seen her this angry,” Maeve comments.

“Danu,” Mab says, and all three of them exchange a look, as if that one word explains everything.

“Titania, go ahead and find him. He’s in a brothel called the Toxic Orchid,” I growl under my breath. She disappears immediately, leaving me with the other two. “And if either of you have any grand ideas, now would be the time to share them.”

Mab shrugs, and predictably, it’s Maeve who replies. “What you’re feeling is partially Danu’s anger. Lean on your connection to her.”

“Why on earth would Danu be angry?” It’s not her Guard who’s locked up.

Mab answers this time. “You’re Danu incarnate, remember? Her anger is your anger and vice versa.”

“Find your link to her and let her help you,” Maeve suggests.

My pace slows as we turn a corner and I see it for the first time. The brothel is a tall, imposing building that’s painted the same white as the rest of the city. There are balconies and terraces on each of its many floors, all hung with those bright flowers.

Siabethan nightshade.

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