King of Pain - Tasha Black Page 0,7
tall for a faerie and beautiful. Her white hair was held back in a chignon that served to accentuate her exquisite silver eyes, which perfectly matched her gossamer cobweb gown.
“Cullen,” she said in a disgusted tone.
“So you’re the one who stole Jessica away,” he said coldly.
“Your brother took up with monsters,” she said crisply. “You have broken my midnight loop. And now you dare come here to steal my prize?”
She indicated Jessica, who was headed to a small table in the corner, eyes glazed and far away, as if she were not fully in control of her actions.
On the table, faerie fruit glistened on a large platter.
“Don’t eat that,” he called to Jessica just in time.
She drew her hand away from the tray, shaking her head to clear the spell and looking at him in confusion.
“The girl made a deal,” the Queen of Silence said. “You cannot break it.”
“But I can make a new bargain,” he said. “One to replace the deal you made with Jessica.”
“Not interested,” she replied.
“Never mind then,” he told her. “Come, Jessica. We’re going back to the woods.”
“You’ll never get out of my trap,” the queen laughed.
“We can live quite happily in the forest for now,” he said. “And I’m thinking this is really more of a bargain for the King of Chaos.”
He counted the seconds in his head, grateful that Jessica came to him immediately.
When he reached seven the Queen of Silence broke.
“What’s your bargain?” she asked, in a voice that said she was bored.
He knew better.
“I’m prepared to offer all three of my brothers, fae kings in their own right, in exchange for this one young woman,” he said.
Jessica’s eyes went wide, but true to her word, she didn’t speak.
“I’m listening,” the queen said.
“We’ll go back to my world and capture them,” he told her. “I’ll bring them back and close the loop behind them for good.”
“Why would you betray your brothers?” the queen asked.
“They betrayed me first,” he said, trying to keep the emotion from his voice. “They worked together to send me back here, trying to trap me in the very loop Dorian earned with his recklessness.”
“Interesting, but you will have to put something else on the line,” the queen said, examining a snow globe on the mantel. “What do I get if you fail?”
“If I fail, you get the girl,” he said, though it pained him to even voice the possibility.
“I already have the girl.” The queen turned to him, smiling a terrible smile.
“Fine, then if I fail… I will become your new King of Midnight,” he said. “I’ll take over the loop. For three times my brother’s sentence.”
“You don’t even know what his sentence was,” the queen scoffed.
“Nor do I care,” he said. “Do we have a deal?”
“The King of Pain will serve as the King of Midnight for triple his brother’s sentence if he fails to bring back the kings of Darkness, Light and the Wilds by the time this sand runs out.”
The queen held up a small hourglass on a chain, the sand inside frozen in place.
“How much time is that?” Cullen asked.
“It depends which side of the veil you’re on,” the queen said. “Over here it would be months, years, even.”
“Over there?” he asked.
“Days at least,” she said with a shrug. “You know how tricky time is between realms.”
He glowered at her.
But they both knew he had no choice. He had shown his hand, quite literally, the moment he and Jessica showed up with the vines around their fingers.
Besides, it was probably already known in faerie how the King of Order had tasted madness the first time he’d lost this mortal woman. They were already calling him the King of Pain. No one knew what would happen if he lost her again.
“Fine,” he said.
The Queen of Silence extended her slender hand and he took it, feeling the bond of the bargain secure itself around his arms.
“I want my memories back,” Jessica said suddenly, her voice bright in the heavy quiet.
“Yes, she wants her memories back,” Cullen echoed, cursing himself for forgetting to add that as a condition of the deal.
“We have already made our bargain,” the queen said, feigning surprise. “It cannot be amended now.”
“Please,” Jessica whimpered.
Cullen tried to block out the frisson of pleasure he felt at the sound of her distress.
“Did you think that I took them for myself? I have no need of such things,” the queen asked, turning to Jessica. “You asked me to take them when you first arrived. In fact, you