Queen of the Fae (Dragon's Gift The Dark Fae #3) - Linsey Hall Page 0,8

that my mother was the Unseelie queen.

So yeah, we were fated mates, but things weren’t exactly going smoothly.

It didn’t keep me from wanting him, even though I knew he was only here to hunt my mother. He wanted vengeance for his brother’s death, and he’d stop at nothing to get it.

His gaze swept over me, and from the heat that entered his eyes, he seemed to like what he saw. “You look like you’re ready to fight.”

I gestured down to my tight black pants. “Not my preferred attire, but it will do for what’s ahead.” I gave him a searching look. “I wasn’t expecting you quite yet.”

Concern flashed in his gaze as it traveled over me. “I could feel that something was wrong.”

Yeah, that was putting it mildly.

The fated mate bond must have alerted him.

My instinct was to brush it all off and say everything was fine. Superficial relationships were my speed. Even my close friendships with Cass, Connor, and Claire were based more on common life experience than me baring my soul to them.

“It’s nothing,” I said.

Suspicion flickered in his eyes.

Shit, that had been stupid. I was keeping enough things from him. I didn’t need to add something stupid to it. Old habits died hard, and all that.

“I was hit by a potion bomb sent by my mother.” I relayed what Connor had said about it. “And I had a vision about her plans for the future.”

His dark brows rose. “Really?”

“Flames. Lots and lots of flames.” I described what I’d seen, leaving out the part about killing him to stop her. My stomach rolled as I thought of it.

That bit barely made any sense, and I was going to stop it from happening, so it didn’t matter.

Baby steps, right?

Still, guilt tugged at me.

“Give me a moment,” he said. “I need to inform the Court Guard of this risk. I want them to begin preparations to protect the realm.”

I wasn’t sure what they could do about fire, but I waited while he stepped back into the street and made a quick call on a discrete comms charm strapped to his wrist.

He returned to the doorway a few moments later. “Where are you headed now?”

“I need to find out how to stop my mother. I’ve been trying my premonition power, but it doesn’t always come when I call. So I’m headed to Aethelred’s. He’s a local seer I hope can help.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Great. Not what I’d been hoping for. “Sure.”

Together, we left the house, and I took a right. “He’s just a few doors down.”

The sun had set, and the street was bustling with the denizens of Darklane. They were creatures of the night, these people. Like me.

“It smells of dark magic here,” Tarron said.

I shrugged. “Not too much.”

In truth, I’d grown used to it. After all, Darklane wasn’t totally evil. Just a little bit. A very little bit. And not because of me.

We approached Aethelred’s building and climbed the steps. I knocked, using the signature beat three fast and two slow.

“Mordaca?” His voice filtered through the door, and I could imagine him hurrying through the cluttered hall.

“It’s me!”

The door swung open to reveal an ancient man with a long white beard and piercing blue eyes. He wore a matching blue velour tracksuit and looked like Gandalf on his way to aerobics. It was his usual uniform.

“Hey, Aethelred.” I smiled. “We need some help.”

He sized up Tarron. “Who’s the big fellow?”

Tarron held out his hand. “Alexander. Elemental mage.”

Liar. It was the same alias he’d used with me when I’d first met him, and I’d let him keep it. I needed to stay on his good side, after all.

Aethelred shook and frowned. “You’re not called Alexander.”

“You’re a good seer.”

He shrugged. “What I see is true, Tarron, King of the Seelie Fae.”

Tarron inclined his head.

“Can we come in?” I asked. “We’re in a hurry.”

“What’s the rush?”

“We’re trying to stop the destruction of the entire Seelie kingdom,” I said.

Aethelred harrumphed. “At least it’s not Magic’s Bend. This town has seen too many emergencies, lately. I’m too old for it.”

I grimaced. The last one had been my fault.

He shook his head, then gestured for us to follow him. “Come in, come in. We’ll make this quick.”

I followed him through the narrow hall, into his darkened living room. The blinds were partially drawn so light filtered through, and the space was cluttered with all sorts of random stuff, from books to trinkets and even a crystal that glowed as bright as the moon. The furniture