Caged Kitten (All the Queen's Men #2) - Rhea Watson Page 0,161

hand through his hair, roguish and alluring in the way he growled, “I swear, dragon, you’ll touch the fucking stars.”

Nibbling my lower lip for a moment, I eased away from Elijah, needing to stand on my own two feet as I said it—as I surrendered to us.

“As long as I’m with you three, I don’t care where we go,” I told them. “As long as we’re together… I’ll be there.”

Always.

Epilogue: Katja

No drink would ever taste finer than the fae wine of the Midnight Court, nor could any liquor on Earth make me so deliciously tipsy in a single sip.

Unfortunately, I had learned my lesson the hard way two weeks ago: guzzling three glasses of the glittering amber liquid had left me hungover for the first four days of my trip to Fintan’s court in the Otherworld. The only plus there was that I hadn’t struggled alone: Elijah had been just as bad as me, downing several bottles of the stuff the first night and paying for it the following morning, then Fintan came in at a close second to him. Meanwhile, Rafe got off scot-free—the human blood provided by palace servants turned him into an animal, but that was hot.

Not embarrassing.

Nothing like vomiting all over a palatial bathroom to really endear yourself to your man’s royal parents.

But tonight was different.

Lesson learned.

Only a sip of the sumptuous elixir at the start of the night, lots of bread and water throughout the festivities, and then a half sip toward the end as things wrapped up beneath a firework display that outdid any I had ever seen. Hell, the organizers had even managed to shape one explosion into a dragon in Elijah’s honor, who—while pleasantly tipsy—had stripped down for a cheering crowd, then joined his firework doppelganger to make this a night to remember.

After all, the night was for us. In the eyes of the Midnight Court, a fae kingdom where the sun never rose but the stars shone bright, we three had rescued their captive prince from Xargi’s evil clutches. Fintan came out a hero after he embellished the inmate rebellion he had started on a whim—and for once, we let him say whatever he wanted—while Rollo shared tales of Elijah’s dragonfire and my skills with a dagger and Rafe’s tenacity at the hands of a madman who had stolen his fangs.

In the Midnight Court, my beloved vampire had found them again, the pair he lost replaced by a set of golden canines that he could swap out with smaller ivory ones when—and if—we ever went home.

As I skipped down a marble corridor illuminated with floating white orbs, dressed in a slinky silk gown that was practically see-through, home had barely crossed my mind. Two weeks of fae hospitality was enough to make you forget the human world completely—forget the politics of our supernatural society, forget the horrors of Xargi. Exquisite food and gorgeous grounds, this world so lush and green and speckled with blossoms that flowered even without the sun…

Seattle was a distant memory for the time being.

Even Tully had been spoiled rotten, hailed for his courage and ingenuity after tales were spun by Fintan—exaggerated, again, which we let slide… again—about my familiar’s prison break-in.

Here, we wanted for nothing.

Elijah had license to fly anywhere, to crest the tallest peaks of the court’s sprawling mountain range—to touch the stars with me on his back, exhilarated and enamored.

Rafe never needed to hide in the shadows, bathed in perpetual night. Vampire prejudice didn’t extend to the fae courts; they admired his speed, his strength, and his bloodlust. He also had a raging hard-on for the royal library, where he spent most of his time if he wasn’t with us.

My pampered familiar even had his own personal attendant, one fae assigned just to him, always brushing him, allowing him to scratch up her skirts, feeding him whole fish as he lounged on a massive pillow like he was a god.

And I…

I had all that and more.

I had my boys.

My freedom.

My life.

Sure, we were in the hazy honeymoon period. This still wasn’t real, so much of our time spent drinking and lovemaking and laughing and exploring Fintan’s homeland…

But after Xargi Penitentiary, I could do without the pains of reality—just for a little while.

“Katja…”

Rafe’s dark whisper tickled the nape of my neck, but when I whirled around, up on my toes and barefoot, I found a relatively empty corridor behind me. The enclosed stone bridge stretched from the main palace to Fintan’s wing, which stood tall and