loud.
“Because so many girls hate the hellhound and never drag him to their beds,” he coolly replies. “Does it matter anyway? She is mortal, and you are—”
“I’m well aware of the rules,” I reply. “It isn’t like that. She is…watched by the gods. That’s all I can say.”
“Am I watched?” he asks me, looking back.
“The gods love their secrets, Sebastian, and I will not whisper another to you,” I finally reply.
He grins. “That means yes. Fuck yes.”
Reminding myself that this asshole is my best friend and like a brother to me, I storm ahead of him to the place we bury the Unseelie. “Don’t say it.”
Of course he doesn’t. “I’ve waited years to see a girl catch your attention and lure you to the dark side. I’m so fucking happy it’s happened.”
I stop and turn back to him. “The last time a god fell for a mortal, I was born and hundreds died for it, as you well know. Do not wish for something so forbidden, Sebastian, I am happy as I am.”
“With your mission?” He raises an eyebrow. “I overheard my mother speak of it. I believe it’s a fucked up decision, and you should say no.”
“Then my mother dies and I will be killed…or worse,” I tell him. His dark purple eyes find mine.
“Shit luck, mate,” he replies, walking past me. “I think you should be warning yourself to stay away from Daesyn. Not me.”
Muttering under my breath, I look up at the stars. “I tell myself that every day since I met her, and so far, it’s not worked. I will have to try harder.”
Gods help me…staying away from Daesyn Heartlocke is not going to be easy.
Chapter 12
Laying my whip across my bed, I decide to leave it here for the first day and let it be a surprise on the second. I clip my dagger onto my hip just as Poppy comes out of the bathroom, looking paler than she was before she went in there. The never-changing night sky makes the stars so much brighter, and it’s still weird that it is morning without the sun to greet us.
“I won’t let you die, so stop overthinking,” I suggest to her. Mossy nods along with me, stuffing his face with waffles and strawberries just like I am. “Come and eat.”
“I will just throw it up,” she admits, rubbing her arms. I sigh, hoping she isn’t going to pass out on our first day, before finishing my food. I eye Mossy as I pull my cloak over my shoulders.
“You’ll have to stay here,” I warn him. “You’re fae, and they don’t like you here.”
Mossy sticks his tongue out at me before jumping up the tree and sliding out of the gap at the top. The leaves must protect this place from rain and snow getting in.
“I’ve never known a fae creature to look so big and normal. I almost thought he was from Earth,” Poppy comments, staring at the space Mossy was just sitting in.
“If it’s an odd colour and talks with attitude, it’s fae,” I tell her, pressing the lift button. “And Mossy is as fae as it gets.”
She smiles at me as the lift opens, and we both step inside. I press the button for the ground floor before she asks, “Are there a lot of fae on Earth?”
My smile disappears as the lift moves down. “No, they never made it past this realm. Past the war the queen of the reapers started with the fae and the deal the Seelie king made with her.”
“Dad said before the fae war, there used to be peace. The reaper city was full of fae, and the Otherworld was a holiday place for reapers to go,” she whispers to me, knowing as well as I do that talking of how it was over a thousand years ago will just get us in trouble if someone hears. “I wonder if we will ever stop hunting them for a crime committed by their ancestors?”
“‘The two most powerful warriors are patience and time,’” I say, quoting one of my favourite authors, Leo Tolstoy. “A human wrote that, and they might not be powerful in the sense that supernaturals are, but they have a certain incredible power with words.”
Poppy nods with a small smile as the lift swings open, and we step out. On the floor in front of us is a circle shadow, and I want to groan. What happened to simply walking where we need to be?
“You go first,” I