chapter thirteen
PHILLIP
The following evening, I woke with claws around my throat. I opened my eyes, expecting to see Luna, but instead found a very angry male staring into my eyes. His golden cheeks puffed from exertion.
“What,” I tried to croak.
“Not a word, human. Or I’ll spill your guts on the floor.”
Luna’s bedroom door creaked as she opened it and took in the scene. “Malex?”
This was Malex?
“Let the Prince go,” she ordered.
“Prince?” he questioned. Malex squeezed my throat tighter, cutting off the air to my lungs. The only sound I could make was a high-pitched wheeze. I clawed at his hand.
Luna rolled her eyes. “Malex. I said stop. This is my cottage, not your palace. Here, I’m the queen.”
He turned his head toward her, gave a dashing smile, and let go of my neck. My knees barely kept me upright as I gasped for air.
“He’s weak, and I have other news about your little prince,” he said with a snarl in my direction.
Luna smirked. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were looking out for me.”
“I am.”
“Why would you?”
He scoffed, straightening his pale suit. “Because we’re friends.” His dark hair and golden skin somehow glittered. He wasn’t overly large, but there was no doubting his strength. Power radiated from him.
I immediately decided I hated the fae male.
He was as powerful as Luna, which meant he was whom she should want, even though I couldn’t stop my heart from wanting her, too. With him, Luna could be happy. She could be herself. And he could protect her. He could give her everything I couldn’t.
She had no life with me in Grithim. The prejudices the people held against the fae were too deep-seated to overcome. Even if they could see how amazing she was, they would still fear her.
She wouldn’t be welcomed by my family or fit into my life as Prince and one day King.
“Remember the other day, when I couldn’t quite place the other taste, the other flavor on your lips?”
I jumped to my feet, fists clenched. He wasn’t kissing her again.
“Do you have a point?” Luna snapped at him, warning me to stay out of this with a flick of her eyes. She nudged Malex. “Let’s go outside. We need privacy.”
She obviously didn’t trust me. In the dream, Aura told Luna she sent me to her as a gift, but she was a lying witch. I’d never been to Virosa, and had never seen Aura before in my life.
The two of them went outside, Ember scurrying out the door before they shut it behind them. I walked across the room, twisted the knob, and tugged on the door. She’d locked it. Hitting the wood with the heel of my palm, I cursed.
I had to show her I hadn’t been lying to her. She knew what her sister was capable of, and she had to know I had nothing but good intentions. I didn’t pretend to have feelings for her just to get close, like William did. I had no doubt that what Aura showed her was true. I knew my brother, the manipulative bastard. What she saw was what he wanted her to see. But Aura saw through his lies, probably because she was an expert liar herself.
And now she was going to tear me and Luna apart by lying about my involvement with a plot against her sister.
LUNA
I explained to Malex who Phillip was.
“He smells like roses—the kind of blooms only found in Virosa, and so did you from being around him,” Malex blurted when we were far enough away from the cottage that Phillip couldn’t hear.
“I know.”
“You knew the whole time and still let him in?” Malex tilted his head, watching me.
“I just found out during a sleep walk.”
“She’s using him to spy. You need to send him away or send him back to her. He could hurt you.”
“He can’t hurt me, Malex. Not while Aura and I are tethered. And I can’t send him away. If I do, she’ll kill him. I can’t do that.”
“Because of William?” he asked, crossing his arms.
“No, because of Phillip.”
“Oh, come on. You can’t have fallen for him so quickly. Who knows if it’s even him you’ve been talking to, or if it’s just been Aura playing a game!”
My heart ached. Malex was right. I wasn’t sure if the Phillip I’d come to like was actually the real Phillip at all. I thought back to the times he acted strange, when he grabbed me, when the cold sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead... That must have been him fighting against Aura and losing. I knew that much now. I just hoped the rest was really him.
“How was she able to control him at night?” I asked aloud.
“Obviously her powers over the mind have increased. She can wield them even when she sleeps. Yours are equally as dangerous.” He pinched his lips together. “You’re almost eighteen.”
“How did you figure it out?” I asked. “How did you place the scent?”
“It came to me while I was walking in the gardens at my own palace. My roses’ final blooms are fading, but each has a powerful scent. Aura’s are even more potent. It was so faint, I thought I might be imagining it, but then I remembered how insane your sister is.”
Truth.
Raking my hair back from my face, I let out a growl. “What am I supposed to do now?”
Malex shook his head. “You have to finish the spell and finish your sister.”
“What’s in it for you?”
He smiled. “I’m a Prince. You’re a Princess. With your sister gone, you’ll be Queen.”
“Make no mistake – I’m as dangerous as Aura. I can’t be Queen of a human kingdom.”
“Then be Queen of a fae kingdom,” he said quietly.
“We’re friends, Malex. It’s never been more.”
“I know,” he said. “Although I might have a chance if these damn Grithim princes would just stay out of my way.”
I let out a rueful laugh. “I didn’t ask for either of them.”
“And yet they found you anyway. I was worried about you,” he said, stepping toward me. “I still am. She could hurt you.”
“She already is, in the only way she can.”
“She could use him to stop you,” he said.
She could try.
“Could you hurt him if he attacked?”
I didn’t know the answer to that. I wanted to say I would defend myself, but it might’ve been a lie.
“You and I are creatures. We didn’t ask to be this way, but it’s the way we are. Think about it,” he said nonchalantly. “You don’t have to be alone, Luna.”
“Yes, I do.” He didn’t understand. He could control his emotions so well, but being half-human made me an emotional wreck. High emotions plus fae power equaled a very volatile woman.
He inhaled deeply, his exasperation apparent in the pinch of his lips. “Will you seek more ingredients tonight?”
“I have to. I’m running out of time.”
“You have time. Six nights, if you need them.”
“We’d barely have time to make the spell. What if something goes wrong and we need more time?”
“It’s a risk,” he admitted. “You may need to sleep at the cave during the day if it takes longer than I expect.” I nodded and thanked him again for helping me. This was going to be the shortest and longest week of my life. “I could keep the young prince company tonight. Make sure he doesn’t get into trouble...” he offered with a sly smile.
“Great. Now, not only do I have to guard him from my sister, but I’ll have to protect him from you as well.”
He shrugged. “Unless I could figure out how to break her thrall over him.”
My breath hitched. “Could you?”
“Might take some time.”
“What’s your price?”
He shifted his weight. “Let me mark you again.”
“Why?”
“Through the mark, I can feel your emotions. If you’re in distress, I’ll know and be able to locate you.”
I pursed my lips. Truthfully, an ally might be necessary.
“Not anywhere it’ll be visible.”
“Prince Charming didn’t like my mark on your lips?” he questioned mockingly, brushing my hair back and raking his fingers through it. “Then we’ll keep it hidden.” He placed a soft, warm kiss on my neck behind my ear. “Wear your hair down.”
I stepped away from him. The mark tingled.
“You’re sure you can trust him?” he asked, a vulnerability glittering in his silvery gold eyes.
I shook my head, looking up at the waning moon. Time was running out. “I’m not sure I can trust anyone.” Even myself.
Malex grunted and walked into the woods, leaving me alone for a much-needed moment. I needed to get a hold of myself before I looked at Phillip again. Before I retrieved any more ingredients. I’d told myself Aura would never hurt me again, but that was before Phillip came into my life. Even though she sent him to spy on me, and even if this was all an act that she was orchestrating, I didn’t want it to end.
I could sense him behind the door and when I unsealed it, he stumbled onto the porch, his eyes darting around. “Malex is gone,” I said, “and I need to get more ingredients. Time is running out, but I need to wash up real quick before we go.”
“Are you taking me with you?” he asked.
“If you’re asking whether or not I trust you, the answer is no. I know you have memories of coming here on your own and that you don’t remember Aura, but Malex sensed her toxin. You’d touched me, and when I went to see him, he could smell something but wasn’t able to place it until now. He may have tasted it again when you erased his mark. The scent is so subtle, even for a faery to detect... Anyway, she did glamour your memory. If you search them, you’ll see the haze. The false ones will have a reddish, rose-colored tint. That’s Aura’s tell.”
I walked past him and into my bedroom to gather a fresh change of clothes, a rag, and a bar of soap. Then I passed him again. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Stay inside, please.”
With his hands stuffed in his pockets, he stepped into the cottage and watched me walk toward the stream.