Page 42 of The Unseelie Wish

Every time. Every fucking time she was about to trust him—about to feel bad for how she was treating him—he reminded her how stupid she had been to get into this mess in the first place.

Slumping down on the edge of the bed, she put her head in her hands.

What am I going to do?

She had lost.

The game was over.

Now, she simply had to decide how she wanted to surrender.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Izael idly scratched the cat’s head while he kept shoving chicken wings into his mouth, crunching through the bones easily and swallowing them whole. The cat didn’t judge him. The cat understood.

He hadn’t meant to upset Alex. But she was just so stubborn. He’d hoped she would have understood the situation she was in and simply accept it. That would make the most sense, wouldn’t it? She was trapped. Why keep struggling?

Humans.

They could be such bullheaded creatures. Wonderful things, capable of such amazing inventions—the “Chinese” food he was eating was a fantastic example of that—but goodness, they were capable of such self-destructive tendencies.

Why couldn’t she understand that she’d lost? Why couldn’t she understand that he would take such good care of her? She wouldn’t be his slave. She would be his pet, sure—but he saw how humans took care of their pets. They were treated like gods. Spoiled beyond measure. Given everything they could possibly desire.

Sighing, he plopped his elbow on his knee and his chin in his hand.

“Oh, sweet—crab rangoon!”

The half-breed. Great. Izael shut his eyes. “I am in no mood.”

“When are you?” Puck half-threw half-flopped himself down into a chair by the coffee table and began piling up a plate with the greasy fried food. Izael would hiss at him for taking what was his, but he had little interest in the non-meat items. And it seemed Alex had lost her appetite.

“I see you’ve pissed off Alex again.” Puck smiled. “Not like I’m shocked. You’re good at pissing people off.”

Izael bit his tongue. There wasn’t a point in arguing with the thing that sat across from him. Usually, he’d relish the dance regardless, but he had enough of arguing for one night. Or two, for that matter. “She does not understand. She will. She must.”

Puck sniffed dismissively. “That’s not how it works.”

“It has to be.”

“And this is why she’s pissed off. By the Morrigan, you Unseelie can be so thick.” Puck leaned back with his plate of food and started stuffing his face with fried vegetable rolls. “Alex is about to lose her whole life.”

“She complained of not having one when I arrived. You think she’d be grateful to have anything interesting happening to her at all.” Now he was simply being bitter. But he couldn’t help how he felt. Which was, coincidentally, how he wound up in this situation.

“Thick. Like I said.”

“Oh? And how would you fix the situation?” Now he was bitter and angry. The last thing he needed was some self-righteous half-breed who was likely even more insane than he was, and twice as manic.

The half-breed answered, talking through the food in his mouth. “I dunno, maybe I’d actually think about her for a change.”

“All I have done, everything I have tried to do, has all been for her. She wears that collar to keep her safe. She is here because she asked for it. She agreed to all of this!” Izael snarled. Being lectured by Puck was beyond insulting.

“And you’ve done all of that from your point of view. Think about what she’s going through for a change. You’re asking her to take on a lot, and all at once. It’s one thing to lose your soul. It’s another to lose your soul and damn two worlds. To top that off, your dumb ass is now trying to convince her that forcing her to love you is a good thing. And you’re actually confused as to why she’s upset?” Puck snickered. “Thick and stupid.”

“If you have simply come here to run your mouth?—”

“I came here to fill my mouth, actually. Abigail has tasked me with keeping an eye on you two lovebirds while you’re on Earth. And who could say no to this greasy feast?” He gestured widely with his hands at the coffee table which was overflowing with the stuff. “It’s vile. It’s amazing.”

In that, at least, they were agreed. And it was good to know that the iron collar was still very much necessary. Though if Puck were spying on them, it was only a matter of time until he learned of Izael’s second bargain with Valroy—and that the secret of Alex’s magic was very much out of the bag.