Page 49 of The Unseelie Wish

“Sleep, my songbird…sleep.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Izael wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself.

He had about twenty-four hours to live.

What an odd concept. He had lived several hundred years at this point—and suddenly it all felt like a blink of an eye. So much he hadn’t done—so much he still wanted to do. But that path was gone from him now.

He was going to die.

For the woman he loved.

How noble. How utterly heroic.

By the Morrigan, he hated it.

It was charming, in an odd way, to think that he was going to die “heroically.” And rather ridiculous, when one thought about it. He was Unseelie! He was the Duke of Bones! He had no right, dying like that. Especially when nobody was going to know about it.

Maybe he could convince Puck or Abigail to build a statue of him. How lovely would that be? It wasn’t like anyone else would know of how good his death would be. The humans would never know of the charming and mighty snake who had saved their world.

Saved their world under duress, sure—but he was still going to save it. That was what counted, right? It had to be.

Tucking his dark teal tie into his black Jacquard vest, he smoothed the fabric and smiled at his own reflection. He did look good, didn’t he?

It would be his last night on Earth. His last night out on the town. And he intended to make it count. He had purchased—fine, stolen—a dress for Alex to wear. It was a stunning sheath dress, matching his vintage style, and black with dark purple stitching. When she walked out of the bathroom wearing it, he knew he had chosen correctly.

She smiled sheepishly at him. “I feel like an idiot in this outfit.”

“You look phenomenal.” It took everything in him to keep his mouth from watering. Her cheeks went just the barest bit pink as he walked up to her. He flicked his forked tongue out between his lips, scenting the air. She was sad. Nervous. But there was a hint of something else, something close to desire that he couldn’t name. It wasn’t excitement. Not exactly. It honestly perplexed him.

But whatever it was, it tasted delicious. He kissed her, careful not to smear her dark cherry lipstick, loving how starkly the nearly-black, crimson shade contrasted with her pale skin. Flawless. He could not have dreamt up a better woman in his wildest dreams.

All right, fine. Her as an Unseelie had topped this, with her curled horns and pale purple skin. But her true human self was certainly second best. Taking her hand, he pulled her into a dance, miming the steps to a slow swing song that wasn’t playing.

“Can we at least take the collar off for tonight? I’d like to hear the music.” She went along with him as he twirled her before pulling her back.

“Your ears work.”

“I mean really hear the music.”

“Hm.” Pondering it for a moment, he shrugged. “Well, I suppose what’s the harm. You turn a whole jazz club into birds or hypnotize them into being your devoted slaves. I suppose we can’t be any more dead than we already will be, come the morning.” Very well. With a snap of his fingers, it unclasped from her neck.

The look on her face was one of such relief and happiness, it brought his dance to a stop. Shaking her head, she looked away. “Sorry.” Her eyes were painted a dark, misty purple, shaded at the edges with blue. A perfect example of how women preferred to wear their makeup some eighty years earlier, if certainly never in that color combination.

“What is it?” He frowned, turning her back to look at him.

“It’s—I guess I didn’t realize how much I missed it. The music.” She chuckled and looked away, still trying to hide from his scrutiny. He didn’t allow it. With a crooked finger under her chin, he brought her face back toward him.

“Songbird.”

“Sorry. There’s no point in getting sappy. There’s a reason I couldn’t wish away my magic—I want it. I don’t want to lose it. I love hearing the world like this—the sound of everything. Of life.” She rested her palms on his chest, idly toying with the edge of his lapel. “I’ve really missed it.”

“We will need to put the collar back on when we return to Tir n’Aill. We must look like everything is going as planned.” That put a frown on his face. “I am sorry.”

“It’s fine. Considering that it’ll be shortly before we get splattered all over the countryside by Valroy, it’ll be the least of my concerns.” She smirked.

“That’s the spirit.” Wrapping his arms around her, he clasped his hands by the small of her back and held her close. “Can I tell you how utterly cross I am with you, though?”