I didn’t think she was bad. She’d tried to protect me. When she’d had the first chance to run, she hadn’t taken it. It had only been after Marcus and Dev showed up that she seemed to get really scared. Though I wasn’t sure about what had happened. I’d been fighting at the time. “I think the painting itself was the trick and the trap.”
My shoulder ached as it started to heal.
“No. It’s too coincidental that we arrive here and a clone of my wife is waiting for me, and now she’s managed to get us involved in something dangerous,” Dev said.
“I agree that this is a dangerous situation.” Marcus had taken off his jacket and was rolling up his sleeve. “Come, Kelsey. I know you’re a married woman, but I also know your husbands wouldn’t want you in pain. We need you at your best if we are going to make our way back home.”
He was right on both counts. When he bit into his wrist and offered it to me, I didn’t hesitate. There was nothing at all sexual about it now. Nope. Not one bit. I wasn’t going to think about how we used to end these sessions with Marcus throwing me down and doing all sorts of dirty stuff to me.
Okay, it was completely awkward and the minute I could feel the hole in my shoulder starting to heal, I let go of his vein.
Dev was staring at both of us. “Don’t feel bad about it, Kelsey. If we’re here long enough I might have to take his vein. Now that will be truly discomforting. We’re on a foreign plane. His blood is one of our major resources.”
Marcus frowned his way as he rebuttoned his dress shirt. “And to think I wanted to be loved for my mind. Devinshea is right, however. We have to find a way back. We need to talk to the young woman who is wearing the queen’s face. She’s the key.”
“Yes, I want to know more about her,” Dev said, his voice going low and on the predatory side.
“She resisted my suggestions,” Marcus admitted. “I was able to get inside her head, but it had no effect on her. I know she heard me, but all I felt was her fear. I did not sense ill will toward any of us.”
Dev nodded as though Marcus had confirmed his worst suspicions. “And what human or Fae can resist your persuasion? She’s some kind of shapeshifter or a witch. I’ve heard there are hags that can take on different faces. She took on the wrong face. I won’t allow anyone to use my goddess against me.”
“I think first we should figure out what we’re dealing with.” The guys seemed super excited to go after the pseudo-Zoey. It was time for me to be the voice of reason. We had a couple of handy prisoners who might be able to give us a hint of where we were and how to survive. “Can we ask the soldiers a couple of questions first? I can find our friend. She’s got a distinct scent.”
“She smells like sunshine and honey.” Marcus was staring off into the forest the way Summer had run. “I’m beginning to believe Devinshea. She might be the trap. But I believe she’s a trap for me. I’m going after her. You two stay and talk to the soldiers. I’ll bring her back and we’ll figure out what’s happening.”
Marcus stalked into the forest. He’d left his jacket behind and he seemed far more primal than the elegant man I’d gotten to know. There was a light in his eyes that wasn’t about joy. It was all about the hunt.
I didn’t like the idea of Marcus going off on his own. I started to open my mouth to stop him, but Dev put a hand on my arm.
“Let him,” Dev said, his voice low. “He needs this.”
I watched Marcus take off into the woods. “Needs what? Needs to run around a faery forest?”
“He needs to feel like he’s in control of something.” Dev walked back to where our prisoners were still wrapped up in their green prisons. “You weren’t the only one who felt the pull of that exchange, but you are the only one who gets to return to two lovers who will take care of you. Marcus is alone.”
My heart hurt when I thought of him being alone. I knew how much he hated it. He was almost two thousand