“But I really want to kill her.”
The pouty female voice roused Charlotte. Kill? What? She tried to open her eyes, but they felt like they were glued shut. And her head… it was as if someone had taken a hammer to the back of it.
“You can’t have everything you want, Alvara,” a rough, masculine voice said. “That’s the price of royalty.”
“I thought that was the point of royalty.”
Charlotte blindly found her face with her hand and rubbed at her eyes until they opened.
“Oh, look. It’s waking up.” The sneer was enough for Charlotte to want to lash out with some witty retort… but her brain was still throbbing with pain. Instead, she just squinted up at the source of the voice. Alvara, the other one had called her. She was towering and absurdly beautiful—high, sculpted cheekbones; a dress of pure white that captured the glow of the walls; long, straight black hair that nearly reached the floor as she bent over to peer at Charlotte; and blood-red lips that weren’t lipstick. She wasn’t wearing makeup, but her eyes were a blue so pale they were almost clear… which just made her look inhuman.
That, and the pointed ears.
What the hell—
“Can’t I torture her a little?” Alvara asked.
“No.” The male voice came from a throne in this too-bright-white room. It had a chill that sunk into Charlotte’s bare hands and through her thin t-shirt.
“You let Zephan torture them.” Alvara curled a lip at Charlotte and stood up straight. “I know he’s your son, Remasay, but surely you can allow me some of the favors you gave him.”
Remasay sighed and gave her an irritated look. “Zephan only tortured the dragons. And the angels. He knew better with the humans. They break too easily. And besides, he had a strange fascination with fucking them.” He waved a hand in Charlotte’s direction. “Try that if you wish but leave her unharmed at the end.”
Alvara snorted her disgust and turned away, swaying as she strode back to Remasay. “I know you love Zephan, but really. That’s disgusting.”
“His perversions were part of his charm.” The man—no this wasn’t a man, but some kind of immortal creature—looked actually sad for a moment. He was unnaturally beautiful, just like the woman, with a black hair, clear eyes, and those pointed ears. Then Charlotte remembered what Tajael told her about Zephan—that he was a fae, the enemy of the angels, and prince of the Winter Court. So that would make Remasay the King. And given Zephan had tried to wipe out humanity… and now she’d been captured by his father… she was truly fucked. Apparently, not in a literal sense, though—holy shit—but still. This was very bad.
Charlotte worked her way up to sitting. She was at the bottom of some impossibly tall chamber. It glowed like Markos’s Dominion, but everything was even colder as if made of ice. A frosty mist floated across the floor and curled up at the walls, which weren’t straight but undulated in a wave pattern that confused her eyes.
“Zephan could still awaken and return to you.” Alvara was perched on the edge of Remasay’s throne now. “Or he could tragically perish in time. Either way, carrying on his ambition is truly the best tribute.” She leaned in, a purr her voice… it was exactly the kind of thing Craig would have responded to. And every other creep she’d ever known in her life. The fae seemed just as bad as Tajael described. Sadistic, crazy, and creepy as fuck. And apparently into some weird sex fetishes too. They were nothing like angels or angelings—then again, angelkind had their own issues with sex. Issues she hoped, given enough time, she and Tajael could somehow get past.
But only if she got the hell out of wherever this place was.
She quietly scooted backward, away from the sleazy display on the throne and toward the wall. Maybe if she could find a place to hide—
Some invisible force picked her up and sailed her backward through the air, crashing her into the wall. She cried out, but mostly because she was stunned. Then she slid to the floor, but she got her feet under her, plus the wall helped her stay upright. Thankfully, she hadn’t hit her head, but now her shoulder was throbbing, too. She held it and glared at Alvara—she had to be the source of whatever that was.
“There’s nowhere to go,” Alvara called to her, then she turned back to Remasay. “They’re so stupid.”
Remasay was scowling at her. “I told you to be careful. If you break the treaty, the Summer Court will have a fit.” Then he ground the fingers on one hand together and stared at them like he was working out some kind of frustration. “This plan of yours… I’m still not convinced it will work.”
“Oh, it will work,” she purred. “It’s already working splendidly.”
He peered at her.
She shrugged. “We’ve got their scientist, and the shadow angels destroyed the human’s machine. Plus a few of the light angelings, I hear.”
Charlotte’s heart seized. Tajael. He would have tried to defend her, save her… please, no, don’t let him be one of the ones she’s talking about.
“I want them all dead,” Remasay growled. “Or turned into the shadow they despise. But preferably dead.”
“You will have your vengeance for Zephan,” Alvara said in her syrupy voice. “I want vengeance, too, you know. He was my cousin, after all. I promise it will happen, Remasay.”
“You really think they’ll come here?” He gave Charlotte a skeptical look. “Just for her?”
“Well, I’m certainly not depending on just that,” Alvara replied. “There’s much more at work than simply luring them in. But if they do take this little bait, we’ll make sure plenty of them die.”
Remasay grunted, but he still seemed unconvinced.
Charlotte’s heart was ready to pound out of her chest. She didn’t want anyone to die. But she was in some crazy immortal’s domain, somewhere in the over-dimension, with exactly zero way to escape and get home. Rescue was her only chance. She could try talking to these fae, but she had a feeling that would only make things worse.
“What if they don’t come after her?” Remasay said, finally. “What next?”
“You leave that to me.” Alvara leaned in further. Charlotte couldn’t see if Remasay was actually groping her, but they were close enough for it. And he had his eyes feasting on the chest she was thrusting toward him.
“Maybe I need a little more convincing,” he said, roughly. It was a voice Charlotte recognized, and it made her shudder. But she was utterly unsurprised when Alvara slipped to her knees before the throne and bent her head into Remasay’s lap. The loosely draped clothes were quickly pushed aside.
Charlotte looked away, but she couldn’t avoid hearing the wet sounds and grunty moans. Holy shit, these people. Zephan was her cousin? That made this guy, what… her uncle? Ew. Factually, she knew the taboo of incest was grounded in bad shit happening to your genes and your babies when you fucked your cousin. Did that just go away when you were an immortal fae who lived thousands of years? Did genetics not play a role anymore? Or was it just okay to blow your uncle if you wanted power for whatever your evil plan was?
Because Charlotte was dead certain that Alvara was evil, and she definitely had a plan. One she was leading Remasay along by the balls. Sure, he was the one getting “serviced,” but it was Alvara who was in control. Charlotte had been in a relationship where she had been the one on her knees—if there was anything she could sense right away, it was who had the actual power.
But seriously… these fae were messed up.
She prayed hard for rescue—she didn’t want to find out what would happen to her when she was no longer useful to Alvara’s “plan.”