isn’t over yet.” I spoke to my reflection, feeling stupid but needing the lifeline.
My comms charm buzzed to life with magic, and Aeri’s voice came through. “Mari? You all right?”
“Could you sense I was freaking out?”
“I don’t know, maybe. What’s wrong?”
“The man who knows what I am—he’s the Fae king. He lied about his name and he’s actually the Fae king.”
“Shit. Get out of there.”
“I can’t.”
“Of course you can.”
“No. This job is important. You heard what Agatha said.”
She didn't say anything, but I could almost see her scowling. “Let me do it. I can replace you in an hour.”
“We don’t have an hour. The games are about to start, and there’d be no way to get you here in time. You’d need a medallion to enter the Fae realm.” And if it really was as dangerous as the little hobgoblin had said, I didn’t want my sister competing.
Sure, she was immensely powerful, but she was still my sister. I couldn't live with it if she died in some crappy competition because of me.
And I had to do this. I had bigger reasons for coming here. And it’d been fine when I’d thought he was just some Fae.
As the king…
The one I was spying on….
I couldn’t let him recognize me. It would complicate everything. I needed my answers first, then I’d deal with the rest.
But could I hide?
My reflection gazed back at me. Big hair, black eye makeup, and my tits half out because my zipper was partially pulled down.
So easily recognizable.
My disguise—which wasn’t so much a disguise as one side of my personality—was so loud and in your face that a person wouldn’t miss me coming. I hid in plain sight by being so visible they couldn't look away.
I reached up and rubbed at the eye makeup.
“Mari? What are you doing?” Aeri asked. “The silence is freaking me out.”
“I’ve got a plan.”
“What is it?”
“I’m going to hide what I am. But I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything.”
It was a long shot, but I had to ask. “Go to the bookshelf. See if there is a potion or spell for hiding a fated mate.”
“A fated what?”
Quickly, I explained about the man. Who happened to be the king.
“Oh fates, Mari. You’ve gotten yourself into it this time.”
“Seriously. Now just go look.” I didn’t know if he’d recognize something about me—my aura or something—or if touching me might trigger it, but I didn’t need him recognizing me as his fated mate. That’d blow my cover as quick as anything.
“I’m on it. Hang on.”
I cut the connection with the comms charm and dipped my hands under the running water.
Two minutes later, I was makeup free, my hair was slicked back into a sleek ponytail, and my top was zippered up almost to my neck.
No makeup, no hair, no tits.
Perfect. The king wouldn’t even see me.
I looked totally different.
And I felt totally naked.
I drew in a shuddery breath. I hadn’t gone out into the world without my disguise in years. Ever. It definitely made me look different.
I had to risk it. Because this was my opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. I’d figure out what the king was up to with the demon energy that filled this place, then I’d make him forget what I was—or I’d kill him.
“Mari?” Aeri’s voice came through the line. “There’s a potion. It’ll create a mark on you but it should work. However, if he figures out who you are through other means, it will fail.”
So I wouldn’t let him find out. “Complicated ingredients?” I hadn’t packed much in my bag that I’d stashed in the ether.
“No, normal stuff. The key is how you use them.”
“Perfect. What is it?”
She explained the spell, then I hung up and got to work, taking the ingredients out of the ether. Thank fates I had them all.
As quickly as I could, I found the switch to turn the sink water off and plugged it up. My heart thundered as I mixed the ingredients in the basin, then dipped one of my knives into it. Once the blade was coated, I raised it to my chest. Slowly, I drew the blade down from the base of my throat to the start of my cleavage, leaving a shallow slice. Pain flared, and I embraced it.
A line of blood welled, and the potion seeped into my skin. I spoke the spell that Aeri had told me. “Hide me from his sight, his will and might. Forever free, my will it be.”
Magic swirled