Page 7 of The Unseelie Wish
“Or Valroy. Pick your poison.” Abigail sat back down, thoughtfully spinning her own mug between her fingers. “Although those men have been known to share.”
Whelp. That was more than she needed to know.
Fae.
Alex shut her eyes and nodded, choosing to skip over the insinuation and focus on what mattered. The odds that one of the Unseelie bastards in question would find some way to control her—either through torture or magic—was high. Especially if Valroy learned about her weird new musical magic. Right now, to him, she was just a mortal girl with a wish. “What do I do?”
“I do not honestly know. I have been considering that since I learned of your misfortunate situation.” Abigail sipped her coffee. “One possible solution is to use your wish before Valroy or Izael can manipulate you into choosing to destroy the treaty. Or abuse your new gifts to do something terrible.”
“If I make a wish, even a benign one, then Izael will own my soul.” She shook her head. “Which, considering my magic, probably isn’t the best idea.”
“Have you thought of wishing your magic away?” Abigail tilted her head to the side. “It does not solve the issue of the ownership of your soul, but it would solve the other two issues at play. Which, if the other option you were considering was death, certainly must be a better way out.”
“Yeah.” She sat back in her chair. “But—if I lie about the wish, it doesn’t count.”
“And you do not wish to lose your magic.” Abigail frowned. “I cannot say I blame you.” She thought in silence for a moment. “What is true in your heart, then? What would you wish for, if pressed?”
“There’s the thing. I don’t know.” Alex leaned back in her chair, frowning down at her coffee. “I really don’t know. That was the whole stupid game Izael set up. Seven days to convince me that I had a wish to make. If I lost, he would grant my wish and take my soul. If I won, he’d set me up with money for life and leave me alone.”
“And you have nothing that you wish for?”
Alex shook her head.
“How sad.” The fae Queen let out a hum. “Well, I suppose your mission is clear, then.”
“Oh?” Alex furrowed her brow.
Abigail smiled halfheartedly. “You must win this game of yours at all costs. Or two worlds, and your soul, could be lost in the process.”
Yeah.
That was what she was afraid of. “I have three days left in this game before it’s up, and I have to make a wish. Does…all that still count if I’m here, with you?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Abigail sighed. “Our contracts supersede all other rights and laws. You may stay with the Seelie and seek shelter with us for those three days. In fact, I would insist upon it. To keep you out of the Unseelie’s undue influence.”
“And torture.”
“And that.” Abigail smirked. “I shall keep you safe for the remaining time. And we can only pray that your wishless heart remains as impassive as before.”
“Great. My jaded personality finally comes in handy. How wonderful. My mom would be so proud,” Alex muttered into her coffee as she took a sip of it.
The Queen laughed. She really did seem easy to talk to. And genuine. She knew she shouldn’t trust the fae—nobody, not even Abigail—but there was something still…she didn’t know, still human about the other woman. Maybe it was because she hadn’t been born a fae. Or maybe because a few hundred years in Tir n’Aill wasn’t enough to make someone forget things like empathy and compassion.
That was all Alex could hope for, anyway.
Because otherwise?
She was fucked.
And not in the fun way, either.
CHAPTER THREE
Izael was scheming.
It was what he did well.
He had sent Puck to fetch his songbird, but the unpredictable and untrustworthy half breed had yet to return. That meant he was not likely to return at all. Either Puck was playing his own game, had ignored Izael’s demand, or had become entirely distracted by a squirrel and had lost sight of the importance of what he had been tasked with.