Page 27 of The Unseelie Wish
Izael paused before continuing, lifting a crystal goblet from the table and studying it. It was a human creation, part of Valroy’s collection of stolen earthly goods. He placed it back atop the wood surface with a tink. “I have a way to ensure she is the destruction of the treaty, and the Seelie, without having to rely on whatever her fickle heart decides. But, in exchange for telling you, I want two things in return. One, that you will listen to my next proposal that will follow this secret. Two, that you will leave Alex to me. That you will not seek to harm her, or take her, or influence her. I shall be her…keeper.” It took every ounce of self-control for him not to lick his lips at the notion.
Valroy watched him. For a moment, Izael worried that the King would say pass and find another way. Izael held his breath but did not dare let his grin falter. He would not show his hand. Not yet.
“I would dismiss this bargain of yours, save for that my wife has insisted on intervening on behalf of your mortal.” Valroy grimaced. “This may allow me to…circumvent her efforts. Very well. Tell me this secret, and I shall not touch that witch of yours.”
Izael let out the breath he was holding. “Fantastic! Well.” He sauntered around the table, trailing his hand across the tops of the chairs as he passed them. “Allow me to whisper it to you. It is a secret after all. And the forest has ears.”
The look of revulsion that crossed the King’s face was nearly comical. Izael leaned down to do just that, telling Valroy of his witch’s unique magic. When the deed was done, he straightened.
Valroy looked furious for a moment. But then he laughed. “Of course. Of course, you would be so foolish.”
“Foolish or genius. Or perhaps both. For now, we have a weapon at our disposal, do we not?” Izael shrugged. “Your wife wishes to rob her, and us, of her advantage. She bade me to convince Alex to surrender her gifts of her own accord.” He headed back to the other end of the table before pulling the chair out and flopping down in it, sitting sideways, dangling his legs over the arm. “I think that is an insult and robs us of our opportunity to shatter that damnable treaty.”
“I thought you did not care what happened to it?”
“I wish to traverse Earth at my will. I do not want it to burn. But, perhaps, when it comes time to invade the mortal plane, we will find another game to play.” Izael stretched lazily, turning his attention to the sky. The sun was nearly set, and it cast the sky of Tir n’Aill in hues of gold and crimson, masked as it was by the haze that always seemed to dampen the sun within the Maze that Valroy commanded. The Maze that he was. “I will not concern myself with such things when the short term is in such upheaval.”
“Hm. Very well.” Valroy pressed his fingers to his temple. “Now…what of this bargain of yours? You realize I cannot leave this ‘secret’ untouched.”
“Of course.” Izael could feel Valroy’s gaze boring into him. He ignored it. This was too important a moment, and besides, if Izael let other people’s irritation bother him, he would have long since torn out his own eyes. “Alex must be mine to control if we are to wield her gifts. I will have her soul within the end of three days’ time. But that will not be enough. You know how mortals can be.”
“Indeed.”
“She will not simply obey me because I own her. I must make her want to obey me.” His grin turned devilish. His favorite kind. “I will have her heart.”
Valroy arched an eyebrow. “You will make her love you in three days.” He scoffed.
“No. I will not make her love me. She will make herself love me.” Izael kicked his feet as he laughed. “I will make her use her wish to give her heart to me. Think of it! How beautiful it will be!”
For a moment, the King did nothing. Izael expected him to mock his plan. To tell him why it would not work. But instead, Valroy smiled. A sick, cruel expression. “And how will you convince her to use her wish in such a way?”
“Leave that to me, my liege.” Izael stood with a dramatic flourish. He let the next words leave him in a purr. “You know how…convincing I can be.”
The King lifted a finger to command Izael to wait. “But we must ensure the scales are balanced. You say you will make her love you by the end of the three days. What if she does not?”
Izael’s grin faltered. “I will not fail.”
“But if she is not bound to you, if she wishes for some other paltry thing, she will slip from our grasp, and you will be allowed to end this game with nothing lost. That is hardly fair.” Valroy’s sadistic expression seemed to only come more to life as he smiled wider, his eyes flashing with vicious glee. “No. If you fail to make her love you, Izael—she must take something of yours.”
“She already has my heart.” It was a weak argument, but it was an argument.
“Yes. Which is why she shall have your soul, instead.”
“What?” Izael’s eyes flew wide. “But my King?—”
“Possessing the soul of an Unseelie will ensure she is bound to us. She will be within my right to command. Should you lose, you will become the fae plaything to the mortal girl. And as such, the deal we just struck—your secret for her safety—will be void. She will dance on my strings, and you on hers.” Valroy stood, unfurling his wings to stretch them before folding them at his back like a cape, the claws that sat atop the peaks clasping in the front. “Do you object?”
No. No, no, no, no!
Oh, he very much objected. He objected with every fiber of his being. A mortal owning his soul? Bad enough the girl had his heart, and he did not have hers in return. But that? That was unthinkable.
Enslavement to a human.
How disgustingly backward.
“Well?” Valroy sneered. “It is this, or we are back to where we began.”
Izael could not hide his anger. He had come in hopes of securing a situation where he himself could not lose. Now that was very much not the case. With a growl, he bowed stiffly. “I do not object, King Valroy. I accept the terms of your game.”