Through the Ether (Force of Nature Book 5) - Amber Lynn Natusch Page 0,38
that we can return to Faerie and end this.”
She canted her head at my father, her sharp eyes narrowed.
“Listen,” I said, intervening before things got too far off-track, “I’m not in the mood to watch this pissing contest, so if you could just skip all the bullshit and do what we need you to do, that’d be great. The life of someone I care about depends on it—as do the lives of the witches you lost to the golems.”
Sherry’s eyes went wide at that information, as did the coven queen’s, and we quickly got them up to speed on everything that had happened in the Ether—except for what Etherian had demanded of us. Why we were actually there.
“So, does that change things for you, or do you still want to play this little game of yours?” I asked Sherry.
“They’re alive?” the coven queen asked, both hope and disbelief thick in her tone.
“Yes. All of them, I believe. Including Bea.”
The look of relief on her face tugged at my heart. But Sherry didn’t appear to share her leader’s feelings; she looked irritated, at best. Maybe she and Bea weren’t exactly friends.
“The being in Faerie,” Merc said, “has been suspended in a state of disembodiment, or at least that’s how it seems. He would like to regain his physical form, which is unlikely to happen, so we are planning an alternative option for which we need your help.” He looked to the queen. “I was told that you would be more than willing to aid in this endeavor, but it appears that might have been an overstatement, which is unfortunate, especially given the lengths we recently went to for you and your witches—and to save your queen from the fey.”
“That is unfortunate,” Sherry replied.
“We need a way to fuse this guy into the fey king’s body,” I explained, my patience gone, “or at least a talisman to make him think we can. And we also need something to prevent the fey king from using any of the wolves against us.”
She looked at me like I’d lost my damn mind—and in fairness, maybe I had.
Knox pushed past Reinhardt to stare Sherry down. “So, can you do it or not? And will you?”
“Give the fey a body or make you a talisman?” she replied coyly. Her back arched so that her breasts angled up toward him. My blood began to boil.
“Both. Either. I don’t really give a shit. We don’t have time for your games.”
“I can make something that will work for the wolves, but you won’t need one for the fey king’s body,” she said. “The warlock lord and I can do what the fey has asked—provided Reinhardt is not afraid to get a little dirty.” Her gaze locked on Reinhardt, and for a second, I got totally skeeved out, thinking she wanted to bone my dad for payment. I mean, he was a silver fox, but—no. Just no.
“I will do what is necessary,” he replied, the anger in his tone palpable.
“Might want to rephrase that around this one,” I muttered under my breath.
All the amusement left her face, and her warm eyes went cold and black. “I would watch your tongue,” she warned.
“And I would be careful who you threaten,” I said, calling forth my fire as anger roared through my veins. “You’re going to tell Reinhardt how to use dark magic to give this fey asshole a body, and you’re going to do it now. Then you’re going to make the talisman as a bonus gift, and you’ll do both without payment, because I’m not going to serve up anyone else I love to you. You’ll do it out of the goodness of your shitty little heart, and you’ll do it with a fucking smile on your face, or I’ll burn it off. Got it?”
To her credit, she didn’t falter under my threats, but I could see that she had no plans to push the issue further. She’d lost, but she wouldn’t admit it. Instead, she quirked a brow at me and folded her arms.
“I got it…but you don’t need to be such a bitch about it.”
I took a step closer. “Keep pushing me and I’ll let the bitch out.”
She stared at me for a moment, then finally broke her gaze to look at my father.
“You said you want to use the fey king’s body? Is it possible to use another?” she asked, as though that were a perfectly reasonable conversation to be having.