Flame and Starlight by Dana Isaly
Chapter Fifteen
Asher grabbed me around my waist, and suddenly we were in the air. A scream caught in my throat before we landed on the wobbly bridge that was probably sixty feet off the ground. He let me go, and his inky wings disappeared again. I gripped onto the railing so hard my knuckles turned white with the effort.
“A warning next time,” I said and elbowed him in the stomach.
“This is ours.”
He pointed to the tree house in front of us, and it was all I could do to not push past him and run into it. It sat perfectly in between limbs and branches, staying upright, I assumed, by magick. He walked forward and opened the door, letting me walk in and wander around while the other Faery pushed our trunks into the main living space.
All of the walls were made out of a warm wood, with large windows on every wall. In the main room, there were a couple of deep couches and cozy-looking chairs. Ours had a bookshelf with a ledge in the window next to it for reading. There wasn’t a kitchen, but there was a bar fully stocked with plenty of alcohol. Back the small hallway was a bathing room, and the last door was the bedroom. The only bedroom. The bed had to be a king-size it was so large. It was nestled against the wall to my right which let guests stare out the wall of windows that opened up to nothing but a forest covered in snow.
I felt Asher come up behind me as I stared out of the windows. I turned around to see him leaning against the doorframe.
“One bed?” I asked with an eyebrow raised.
“Don’t worry, little duck. I’ll take the couch.” I rolled my eyes. “We’ll need to leave in a bit for the welcome dinner. You’ll need to change.”
“I need to bathe as well.”
“Your clothes are in the bathing room. Choose one of the evening gowns Mav packed.”
Getting ready, I had no desire to stand out, so I picked a black gown that was long-sleeved, velvet on the tight bodice, but then tulle took over at my waist and fell to the floor. The cut of the neckline was nowhere near as modest as the one I wore earlier as it dipped all the way down to where to tulle began, but it was either a scandalous neckline or more eye-catching colors and fabrics. I left my hair down, and it fell to my chest in dark waves.
I dug through the bag of makeup that Mavka had packed for me and quickly did my eyeliner and mascara and pulled everything together with black lipstick. I would definitely fit the part of being on Asher’s arm cloaked from head to toe in his favorite color.
But I was wrong about blending in. The moment I saw Asher, I knew there was no way not every single eye would be on us this evening. His hair was still combed back, showing off every inch of his annoyingly perfect face. The black suit he wore fit every muscle in his body so well that I could see each outline. There was a thin crown of starlight resting atop his head, and I realized I’d never seen him dressed as High Lord before now. His shadows were tucked tightly against him, fully under control and barely moving. I had never seen them so reserved.
“Beautiful,” I thought I heard him murmur as he eyed me from head to toe. “Each of your dresses,” he said louder, “have slits in the back in case you need your wings. But if we can keep them hidden, I think that’s best. They’re too unique; they’d set off too many questions.”
I felt heat dance across my shoulder and up my neck under his gaze. If I could see his dust, I knew it would be dancing and swirling under my skin.
“I haven’t really had time to train them either, so let’s hope for both of our sakes I don’t need them.”
“I have something else for you,” he said, gesturing me over to him. I stopped in front of him, and when he opened his hands, a necklace dangled between his fingers made of the same silver starlight as his crown.
“It’s beautiful,” I said, reaching out for it. Before I could touch it, he gestured for me to turn around. When I did, I lifted my hair up off my shoulders and let him put the necklace on me himself. It was cool against my skin and sat right in the hollow of my throat. “Thank you,” I breathed and turned back around to face him.
“That starlight will just be one more thing that lets them know you’re mine,” he said, souring my mood.
“So it’s like a dog collar,” I deadpanned. He smirked and then suddenly reached and ran his hand up my right thigh until he felt the steel of the dagger resting against my skin. My breath caught in my throat, and I was frozen until he took his hand away.
He’s a murderer, Alys. Get a grip on yourself.
“Just making sure.” He winked. “Hungry?”
“Famished.” For what, though, I couldn’t quite say.
* * *
The dinner was held in a large dining hall in the village. There were tables that could hold about ten people placed across the room in even lines. Each table was decorated with green swags that fell to the ground, pine cones, large pomegranates and cranberries, and holly. There were candelabras lit on every table, creating a soft evening glow in the room.
Asher sat me down to his right before reclining in his own chair. There were wine decanters scattered about the table, and I picked up the one nearest us and filled his glass first, ever the dutiful soul. I looked around the table and saw every set of eyes glance our way at least once. A month ago, I’d thought Faeries were just a story, and now I was one, and I was sitting in a room surrounded by them. I filled my own glass and took a sip to calm my nerves.
I would never get used to how amazing everything tasted now that I had changed. I could taste every underlying note of flavor in the wine, and it warmed my blood. I ate my food in silence while Asher made small talk with the table. After everyone was settled, no one really looked at me anymore. All eyes were on him, hanging on every word and every laugh. I could see every female’s eyes glued to his mouth,= like he was the most eligible bachelor here. Maybe he was.
Two glasses of wine down and I scoffed at the thought. Asher turned his head towards me and asked me a question with his eyes.
“Something amusing?” they seemed to ask. I rolled my eyes and went back to eating.
“So, Asher,” the female to his left drawled. “Who’s this precious little thing to your right?”
I looked up, realizing she was talking about me, and met her ice-blue eyes. She was so pale she was practically translucent, and the red lipstick she had chosen made her white teeth glisten like pearls.
“Lyssa,” he said, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye, “is just a soul I took pity on. She accompanies me everywhere to make sure my needs are met.” I inwardly groaned at the innuendo. I filled his wineglass to further his point.
“Well, she is just darling,” she purred, leaning forward and exposing more of her cleavage to him. Her hand found his forearm, and I stared at her fingers curling into the muscle there. She looked up at him from underneath her pale eyelashes and smiled. The decanter, still in my hand, exploded, sending wine all over the table and glass shards scattering. The deep red of the wine mixed with the blood trickled down my palm.
I blinked and looked at it. Had I done that? I looked at Asher, and he grabbed his napkin off his lap, wrapping it around my palm. The female’s hand lay limply in her lap. Small victories. His skin was rough against mine, and concern flooded into my veins, making my anxiety flare. My breaths came in and out in short bursts.
“Her strength is a bit off ever since I brought her back. Still getting your balance, right?” His eyes locked with mine, and I nodded. I took a deep breath and smiled wide.
“Please, excuse me.” I met a few faces staring at me. “I’ve been breaking things left and right, it seems.” I pulled my wrapped hand from his grip and settled back into my seat. Fae were beginning to filter out of the dining hall to go to the ballroom next door. It seemed my faux pas didn’t garner any attention from anyone other than our table.
“Why don’t we go dance?”
This female didn’t miss a beat. Her hand was back on his forearm, and my nails dug into the still-healing cuts in my palm. The thoughts running through my head didn’t feel like my own. They were dark and twisted and wanted me to get her boney little fingers off his fucking arm. The weight of the dagger was glaringly obvious on my thigh. My magick rippled under my skin, calling me to use it. The candles on our table flickered as if they were being pushed around by a breeze. Asher’s right hand found my thigh and gripped it, hard, his smile at the blonde never faltering. The pain brought me back into the room, and I trained my eyes on my empty plate.
“Please, go ahead. I’ll save you a dance, Leona,” he replied coolly and took a sip from his wine. He waited until she and her friends were out the door before standing and motioning for me to do the same. He walked slowly to the door, and I stayed close to his side, our arms brushing up against each other. Her name replaced murderer in my mental chant I had kept going on a loop lately.
Leona. Leona. Leona.
“You need to control your magick, little duck,” he said out of the corner of his mouth.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered back. “I’m not sure what happened.”
He looked at me then and stopped to the side of the doors. “Either you’re just exhausted from the travel or…” He got a wicked glint in his eyes, and his hand grazed my collarbone, and then his fingers wrapped themselves around my throat. His thumb caressed my jaw. “Or you wanted to rip off Leona’s pretty little head out of jealousy.”
I scoffed. He called her pretty. My stomach clenched.
“I’m exhausted,” I managed.
His hand slipped from my throat and patted the top of my head condescendingly.
“Sure, little duck. Keep telling yourself that.” I swatted his hand away. “But there will be plenty of dancing to be had the rest of the trip. I think we should get you back before you decide to light the ballroom on fire.” I flipped him off where no one else could see. He tilted his head back in laughter and opened the door.
It was snowing, and I lifted my head to the sky to catch flakes of it on my tongue. He watched me for a moment before his wings flared out to his sides.
“It’ll be quicker than walking.” He shrugged. I took one last glance around the village and smiled at the kids running around the market stalls.
“Okay,” I said with a sigh. “Let’s do this.” I walked over to him and reached up to adjust his crown that had fallen to the side over the course of the night. He bent closer to help me reach it. Once I had finished, he scooped me up, and I buried my head into his neck. I told myself it was to hide from the impending view, but at this point, I wasn’t sure that was entirely true. I breathed in his scent, and it made my magick pulse.
I peeked over his shoulder as he stretched his wings wide. The subtle blues and purples caught in the firelight around us before he pushed off and we were in the air. I squeezed my eyes shut and dug my fingers into his neck.
“I’m not going to let you fall, Alys,” he said over the roar of the wind.
Ugh, what a cliché,I thought. I think I already have.
Murderer, Alys. Murderer, I chided myself.
As he flew us back to our little cabin, I thought back to what happened in the dining hall. It was a different side to my magick, and it was speaking to me, calling out for me to use it. It felt dark, and it was buried deep inside myself. The strange thing was, as terrifying as I found it to be, I had wanted to obey it.
