Page 18 of The Midnight King
I flee the palace, hoping that somehow I’ll be able to find my carriage among all the others on the lawn—but to my shock, it’s already waiting for me at the bottom of the steps. I race toward it, fling myself inside, and shut the door. With a shake of their snowy manes, the horses set off at a quick pace.
The glamour wears off my pocket watch on the way back, and I nervously track the time until we arrive at Eisling House with two minutes to spare. The carriage vanishes the moment I exit, transforming into a cloud of sugared snow and glittering blue dust. My slippers vanish as I run up the front steps, and I barely have time to descend into the cellar before my dress disappears. No doubt my panties vanished from the floor of the royal library as well.
Coughing from the exertion and the cold air, I pull on a threadbare nightgown and hurry back upstairs. No one else has returned yet, and I need to raid my stepmother’s stash of herbal pellets. Her sex life is infrequent, and as a woman in her early forties she is nearly past childbearing age, but she keeps the contraceptives on hand as a preventative measure, and I’m glad of it.
The last thing I need is to become pregnant with the bastard child of the King.
I take one of the herb pellets from the little case on her dressing table and return downstairs. As I enter the kitchen, alight voice drawls, “Well, well, well. Looks like someone had a little too much funtonight.”
7
My Faerie godfather is lounging against the wall, dressed in a sparkling suit.
“Do you ever wear anything but purple?” I ask, still chewing the herbs.
“It’s my favorite color. What are you eating?”
“None of your damn business.”
“You were very nearly late tonight. I assume the ball was everything you dreamed it would be?”
I hesitate, feeling suddenly exposed in the thin nightdress. I’m wearing nothing beneath it, and I can still feel a faint stickiness on my inner thighs and a delicious kind of soreness between my legs.
“It was exactly what I needed,” I reply.
His nostrils flare slightly, and his lips curve in a smirk. “You fucked someone.”
“For Fate’s sake, shut up!” I glance nervously at the door, as if my stepmother might appear at any minute. “You don’t know that.”
“I can smell it.”
“You cansmellit?” I repeat, aghast.
“I can’t imagine His Royal Highness slept with you, so who had the privilege of nestling between those lovely thighs of yours? Oh wait—I forgot. No compliments.” He presses two ringed fingers to his mouth as if to shush himself.
“My sexual activities have nothing to do with you,” I say sharply.
His eyes narrow and his smile vanishes. “Your wellbeing is my only goal here.”
“Then you’ll grant me another request. I’m fairly sure my stepmother will allow me to attend the second ball tomorrow evening. I’ll need a dress and transportation. Can you make the gown last longer this time?”
He sulks a little. “If I were a full-blooded Fae, yes. But I have human blood from my mother’s side, and even though she was god-touched, it lessens the duration of the things I conjure.”
“That’s a pity.” I tug contemplatively at my lower lip, and his gaze drops to my mouth with undisguised interest. “Stop looking at me like that.”
He flushes and glances away. “If I were allowed to compliment you, I’d say you have a pretty mouth. It’s rather distracting.”
“Every time you break the rules and give me a compliment, you owe me another favor,” I say.
“A businesswoman at heart, aren’t you? Fine, I’ll agree to that bargain. Let’s seal it with a kiss.”
“Must we?” I grimace.
He draws back, pressing his hand dramatically to his heart. “What did I do to inspire such revulsion? Was my kiss really so terrible?”
I’m not about to admit I enjoyed it, so I shrug. “I’ve had better.”
“We both know you have not.” He paces toward me slowly, his eyes pools of lavender light, glittering with purpose. I find myself retreating, my heartbeat high and quick.