Page 21 of The Unseelie Wish
“Cool your dicks, snake.” Puck snickered. He was now sitting atop Izael’s wardrobe, legs crossed, grinning like this was the most amusing thing he’d seen in years. “Unless you want to get eaten by her vines.”
The Gle’Golun. The dreaded red flowers that would devour anything that wandered too close. Abigail had sacrificed herself to them as a mortal in hopes that her death would put a halt to Valroy’s plans to ascend to the throne of the Unseelie. It had, in truth, deeply complicated things. The Gle’Golun had become one with the mortal human and turned her into the Seelie creature before him, those vicious flowers still peppering her hair like playful adornments, doing nothing to belie their bloodthirsty nature.
Izael wanted nothing to do with them.
And he wanted even less to do with Abigail. “Go away. Both of you.” If Valroy discovered what was happening, Izael would be dead in an instant.
“We three are the only ones who know of Alex’s…grander predicament. Her powers must not fall into the hands of the king.” Abigail sighed, shaking her head. “The simplest solution would be to end her life. But I loathe the idea.”
“Why?” Izael arched an eyebrow in disbelief. Neither the Seelie, nor their Queen, were particularly known for their mercy. Especially when it came to the enemy. They were just as murderous as their darker counterparts, but far more…insidious about it. The Seelie were liars. At least the Unseelie had the dignity not to hide their true nature. “If it solves all your problems, why return her to Earth unscathed?” And without me. He couldn’t hide the bitterness in his voice.
Abigail picked up a bauble from his shelf and studied it. It was a figure of a snake, cast out of brass. Likely of human origins, as were most of his belongings. He honestly couldn’t remember where he got it or why. Maybe he’d eaten its original owner. It didn’t matter. “Do you truly love her? Or is she merely another item for your collection?”
Izael hesitated to answer. To be truthful would be to give her power over the situation—threaten to kill Alex for his fealty. To lie might be pointless. He suspected she very much already knew the answer. “Is that what this is, then? Blackmail?” He grimaced. Seelie scum. “Use my weakness against me?”
“Love is not a weakness.” She replaced the statue on his shelf. “But that is not to say that is not a weapon. Which way it is pointed, inward or outward, remains up to you.”
“If you’ve come here to lecture me, I’d rather go back to bed.” Izael rolled his eyes but turned his back to Abigail before he did. It was never a good idea to insult a Queen directly to her face. Especially one who was just as capable of eating things as he was.
“And no. This is not blackmail.” Abigail sighed. “Merely an attempt to give you a chance to win her heart in return. Before Valroy chains her to his machines of war.”
He did not relish the idea of what Valroy would do to Alex, that much was true. As for Alex’s heart? He would rather win that on his own without Abigail’s help. Although he seemed not to have done a very good job of it thus far.
“Can we jump to the end? I’m getting a migraine.” Izael rubbed his temples. “Just tell me what you are proposing.”
“If I had a solution, Duke, I would have pursued it already without your assistance.” Abigail walked over to one of his sofas and sat. Izael despised watching the woman make herself at home in his home, but there was nothing he could do about it except fume. “The only permanent solution I can see is her death. As neither of us particularly desires that outcome, I am here to say that we may wish to seek a temporary one, instead.”
“But with no solution in mind, we would simply be delaying the inevitable.” Izael poured himself a drink from his bar cart. He did not offer his “guests” anything. While having Alex by his side for as long as possible, he honestly didn’t see the point in living in limbo with her. “And there’s a second solution.”
“Yes, there is.” Abigail hummed. “But I did not bother to recommend it. I know better than to attempt to pry from your fingers that which you think is rightfully yours.” She smirked.
He wanted to hurl his glass of alcohol straight at her head. He did not think Alex belonged to him; he knew it. “I will not cancel my contract with her. Her soul will be mine. Nor will I support any attempt on her life—though I know I couldn’t prevent it if you set your mind to it.” He grimaced at the idea.
“Then, while we search for a third permanent solution, I think a temporary…containment of her gifts may be in order.” The Queen shook her head. “As imperfect as that is.”
“Valroy will want her gifts under his control. Using a mortal to end the treaty is his only way to break it, after all. Her magic will not fall under the same restrictions as ours.” Izael downed his drink and poured himself a second. “And ripping her gift from her might kill her.”
“Unless she surrenders it willingly, which she will not do if she feels in danger,” the Queen retorted.
“Which she is.” From both myself and Valroy.
“Which is my point.” Those nearly-glowing green eyes met his. Her tone, friendly until that moment, turned cold. “She must learn to trust you again, Duke. You have the best chance at convincing her to surrender her gifts willingly.”
Puck snorted.
Izael really wanted to drink his alcohol, otherwise the glass would already be airborne. That said, Puck was right, though Izael loathed to admit it. He had better odds of eating the moon than he had of earning Alex’s trust in the short time they had until their contract ran out. “And how do you propose I contain her magic in the—” Then it hit him. He laughed. And he laughed hard. “Oh, you are a wicked thing, Seelie Queen.” A grin split his features. Oh, this was quite wonderful indeed.
There was one surefire way to contain the magic of the fae. And while Alex was mortal, her magic was of Tir n’Aill.
He would have his songbird in a cage of iron. Of sorts. The raw metal could contain any magic, and hers would be no different.
“It is only temporary.” Abigail shut her eyes. “And I do not relish the idea of surrendering her to you and yours, Izael. Mark me, I do this for her sake, not yours.”
The Queen of the Seelie was telling him to put his wonderful, beautiful, deadly songbird on an iron leash. And to what end? To gain her trust and strip her of her power? Unlikely. There would have to be another permanent solution, other than that. There had to be. He simply hadn’t thought of it yet.
His thoughts snapped back to the present. If Abigail would let Alex live if she believed that Izael was working to remove Alex’s magic, he would be happy to lie and play the part.
What a glorious joke. What a cosmic farce. It was absolutely beyond perfect. Suddenly, he was quite pleased that they had come to visit. “When this week’s respite has ended, I will make her my pet on a chain until I can convince her to surrender her power.” Oh, that was a delicious thought indeed. Bowing low at the waist, he purred out, “As you command.”