Page 10 of The Unseelie Wish
“That’s fair.” She sighed. “I have three days until this deal with Izael runs out and I have to make a wish if I have one. And I—I don’t know what to do. Valroy will?—”
“I will what?”
Speak of the devil.
Half-devil.
Valroy stepped out of the shadows like a nightmare.
Alex shot up from the table fast enough that she knocked over her chair. She didn’t know what to do. Instinct took over. She hid behind Abigail, putting the Seelie Queen between her and the Unseelie King.
Who were married.
This is fucked up.
Abigail stood, serving to further block Valroy from getting near her. “You have no claim over her, Valroy. Once more, I know what you are after.”
Valroy huffed, took a few steps forward, and leaned down to kiss Abigail, who greeted him in kind.
This is seriously fucked up.
Puck smirked at her. “It’s complicated.” He shoved the last part of the third donut into his mouth.
“No shit,” she muttered back.
Valroy ran the backs of his fingers over Abigail’s cheek. “She has a contract with an Unseelie. That gives me all right to enforce that the deal be met in good faith. And keeping her here violates the terms of the contract.”
“Hm. A contract that we both know you were going to supersede.” Abigail shook her head. “I have no reason to believe you would uphold the contract if I were to release her from my care.”
“I don’t want to get tortured by this fucker. I’m not going with him.” Alex clenched her fists. She didn’t want to see what would happen if she messed around with Valroy’s music—all pipe organs and deep strings, unsurprisingly. She wondered what would happen if she changed it from a minor chord to a major chord and then made him entirely piccolo. Maybe he’d turn into a very angry hamster.
The idea almost made her laugh.
Almost.
But so far, Valroy didn’t know anything about her weird magic—and it would probably be a very good idea to keep it that way. It was best to play it cool.
“Your objection to being tortured has been noted.” Valroy sneered. “For what it matters.”
Abigail ran a hand down her face. “I shall not release her to you, my love. If you admit your plan to dishonor the contract, then I have no reason to abide by it.”
“Hm.” Valroy pondered the situation for a moment. “Then I suppose I shall have to abide by the contract. I believe three days and three nights are what remains of it, yes?” Faintly glowing blue eyes flicked to Alex.
Alex took a step back. “Yeah.”
“Then I shall return you to Izael. He shall convince you to break the treaty. I shall stay out of it.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Izael wants to torture me to give you what you want, so he gets to keep my soul. It doesn’t matter if you agree not to torture me. He will.”
“And? Izael’s business is his to decide.” Valroy reached down and picked up a donut, turned it over with a look of sheer disgust, and then dropped it back into the box. He wiped the powdered sugar on his pants. “I have no say over how he wishes to spend the rest of his time with you.”
“No. No, I’m not doing it. I don’t want anything to do with Izael right now. I want to stay here.” Alex took another step back. “Home isn’t safe. Izael isn’t safe. Here’s my best shot.” She laughed in disbelief. “Which is ridiculous.”
“I fear you have no say in the matter. Our laws are clear—a contract with a human is unbreakable, not even by Abigail or me.” Valroy wiped his hand on Puck’s shoulder, leaving a smear of powdered sugar on the fabric.
Puck rolled his eyes. “You were just about to break it, you—” A withering look from Valroy stopped Puck in his tracks.
“You must return to Earth during the day, and Tir n’Aill at night for three days. If he wishes to torture you, and you do not find that amenable, well…” Valroy chuckled darkly. “I suggest you learn to protect yourself.”