Page 98 of The Nightbound Soldier

“Yes.”

“Does toying with Fleur make you laugh, Fate?”

The Unseelie queen shakes her head. “Fleur is my friend.”

I walk toward her to confront her, then think better of it and lay Fleur inside my bed first. I cover her with a blanket, then uncover her. The gray blanket doesn’t fit her. She ought to sleep in fluffy furs and feathers and comfort.

“You give me a child and then you take my siren away.” I grip the edges of the casket so I don’t grip the fate’s little neck and snap it. When anger threatens to make me lose control over my faculties, I hum.

From the outside, Aamako joins me and whistles along with my humming.

“I’m so sorry, Nottuza,” Augusta says, “but know that this hardship shall pass.”

I hear her leave, and once she’s gone, I unleash my power with a roar, striking every living and unliving thing within my mental reach. In my head, people start screaming as I dig inside their memories, collecting everything I can get, feeding my power endlessly, wishing the void would put me under so I could connect with Fleur.

Another power lashes out. It strikes my mind like a bright whip.

My head snaps back, and something warm trickles out of my nose.

Using my thumb, I wipe away the blood and turn slowly, my fangs bared. “You,” I say to the Summer king. I lash back at him, punching the walls of hisvocamind.

His head snaps back, and blood trickles out of his nose as well.

A blond fae walks up and hands the Summer king a handkerchief. The newcomer is the male version of my siren. He’s an uncommonly handsome male, even for a fairy.

“I hear your dick is perfectly straight,” he says. “Not a single curve. Like a pole. I love poles. Wanna show me yours, and I’ll show you mine?”

Tension leaves my body and my fangs retreat. Wait a moment. I sense foreign magic intruding on me. While I can shield from avocasuch as the Summer king, this magic isn’t anything I’ve encountered before. The prince’s magic feels…intimate, inviting me to tell him all my secrets.

“Stop this or die.”

He snorts. “If you touch me, I’ll tell my sister.”

Good point. “What do you want?”

“We wanted to meet you. Duh.”

“What have you done to her?” the king asks, his magic strong and pounding at me even from a distance.

“I seeded her.”

There’s a moment of silence and confusion on their end, but saying it somehow removes the disbelief from my mind. So I say it again. “I seeded her. Fleur is having a baby boy, and right now, she’s…having a nap.”

The king opens and closes his mouth several times before saying, “I need to speak with my queen.” He spins on his boot and leaves.

The blond sits on the floor with his back against the doorjamb. “I have no queen, so I’m free to linger here for as long as it takes.” Using his two fingers, he points at his eyes, then at me. “You’re on my watch, lover boy.”

* * *

My internal sense of time is bound by night, which means that even underground, I know that sunlight is arriving, and I’ll be dead to the world soon. Trouble is, Fleur is asleep in my bed, and judging by her breathing, she’s as deep asleep as anyone who is not undead.

Moreover, since she requires air, I can’t get in the coffin with her, close it, and bury it back in my slot underground either. And since her brother El’jah set up pillows, trays, and half the bar right outside the open doors, I must also accept the fact he’ll stay nearby while I’m sleeping.

During the span, I’m almost unconscious and would be unable to defend myself if he tried to murder me. And he might.

I tap my claw on the wood. Leroy or Ledger should already be here. Where are they?

“Sleepy, sleepy, notturno,” Prince El’jah says, his voice a caress over my private parts. I shiver, and he winks, continuing, “Go on, lover. I’ll still be here when you wake up.” He blows me a kiss.

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