Dark Promise by Annika West

30

Ididn’t get much of a rest, though. Before my head could hit the pillow, the Spring Court was under attack once more.

The Courts didn’t fight with one another. That just wasn’t how things worked.

So, they sent other fae to fight in their place.

Usually, according to Oz, the attackers were the Free Folk. These fae were usually nature spirits and earth fae that didn’t affiliate with any Court, and just lived their merry little lives in the world.

Until they agreed to mercenary themselves out.

We’d all been herded into the gaudy ballroom with the rest of the Spring Court members and visitors. The sea of colorful, strange faces winced as the walls shook.

Big, thumping crashes came in slow intervals. Almost as if…

“Giant.” Oz said it like a curse. “Like we wouldn’t notice? Honestly, you can sniff the bastards out from a mile away.”

Hux was looking at his brother like he was seeing a ghost.

To anyone else, he’d look cool and indifferent. Blank as a canvas.

But like, a million times scarier than a canvas.

A murderous canvas, then.

A scary, sexy, mass-murdering canvas.

One with a painted picture of thousands of burning bodies.

That was more like it.

Damn. I lost my train of thought.

Had to be the heat of all the sardined people in here.

Oh, and the fucking giant traipsing through the gardens.

“How big are they?” I asked. “And why would they send a giant if we’d hear it?”

“Because they have another attack planned. This is a diversion,” Hux answered for Oz.

“You would know about that, wouldn’t you, brother? Always thinking ahead.”

Hux’s amber eyes slid to Oz, pausing for a tense moment. And then he shifted back to me. “I hope your father can see past this obvious distraction.”

“I hope you can avoid Indenturing anyone while we’re here. It’s against your nature, so do try and control yourself, Overlord.”

His jaw ticked.

Oz tried and failed to cover a satisfied smile.

“What?” I challenged. “You thought that was for your sake?”

“Nope. Just leave it to my brother to mate with a halfling Cut with an attitude. It’s quite entertaining.”

Hux’s eyes went cold. That chilly, glacial amber that he had when he melted a woman’s unfortunate neck.

Oh, shit.

I smacked his abs, shocking all three of us. “I didn’t invite you here.”

“I’m well aware.”

“You need to leave. I can’t believe I haven’t said this yet! You need to fucking leave.”

“You are not my keeper.”

“Keeper? Who talks like that? Sheesh. Adair —”

“Your father has already made it clear that I am welcome. I doubt he’d turn away a fighter like me, especially one who’s determined to protect his most valuable asset.”

I crossed my arms. “Don’t call me names. What are we, five?”

He didn’t look down. He was treating me like he did in the beginning, when he was all, Miss King, I’ll throw you into prison, and, Miss King, you are a disposable asset that I will, again, throw into prison if you don’t listen to me.

“Willow,” Hux said suddenly in his CEO voice.

The vampire pushed through the crowd to stand before Hux, straightened like the trained, bloodthirsty soldier she was.

“Survey the perimeter. Don’t stray from the manor grounds. Tell me what you see.”

“Got it.” She disappeared, moving with that creepy vampiric swiftness.

I scooted closer to Oz. In a stage whisper, I said, “Do you think he knows we’re still here?”

“What?” Oz asked.

“Just checking. His head is so far up his ass that he might have forgotten we exist.”

Oz snickered.

Hux looked down on me.

I flinched.

With all of the disdain he could muster, Hux said, “And here I thought you were a person of some honor, Miss King.”

Miss King? Oh, really?

“Maybe I’m not,” I dismissed. Where was this coming from?

He calculated my every syllable. For some reason, it felt like a gavel falling.

Don’t care about what he thinks. Why should you care at all?

He said, “When we first met, you crucified me for my past actions, despite not knowing me at all. And yet, you don’t hesitate to throw my own brother in my face. You flaunt how close the two of you clearly are, enjoying my own discomfort. Mind you, it’s the discomfort from the fact that Ozais likely murdered our parents and released the artifacts across Earth. In many ways, he is responsible for many others’ heinous actions as well. The tens of thousands I was forced to execute in Italy. Those harmed and killed in our hunt for the dagger and ruby. The undead and slaughtered witches and warlocks we only just laid to rest...”

Darkness fell like a death sentence. The light faded from the windows.

A twist of emotions ripped through me.

Anger. Shame. Sadness. Longing.

Hux was still acting like he was above it all. Perfect, polished CEO. Even when he admits his own mistakes, he struggles to show remorse.

I’d thought we’d moved past a lot of shit on Halloween, but apparently one night of honesty didn’t erase over two hundred years of habit.

But I did feel ashamed of myself too. I was throwing Oz in his face.

I wanted to hurt Hux.

And playing fair wasn’t ever my style.

Amoebas can’t defeat any devil. We had to use every weapon we had and strike where it hurts.

But this is my mate. And deep down, I don’t want him in pain.

I think I just wanted him to stop hurting me.

I wanted him. I wanted happiness with him. The fantasy was a distant, washed-out picture in my brain like some 1950s commercial.

How in the fuck were we supposed to fight through all of this blood when we kept cutting one another?

Hux and I were locked in an infinite stare-down. My rune glowed through my shirt, even if Hux’s was covered by clothing.

That was usually the case, though, wasn’t it?

I was always vulnerable and easy to read, when he covered himself up with layers of stubbornness and rules.

Lost in the amber and honey pools of his eyes, the haze of our bond fading out reality, I didn’t really register the manor walls trembling.

But then someone screamed.

The haze fell away.

I snapped back into attention.

It was a young Cut boy with rounded ears whose eyes were entirely flooded with indigo. He was staring up at the ceiling, horrified.

The room quieted just enough to hear the word he uttered next.

“Wraith.”