I explained some of the situation to Bri. She narrowed her eyes, her small lips twisting to the side as she listened. If she caught on that I wasn’t telling the whole truth, then she didn’t bring it up. In the end, she nodded.
Was this a bad idea? I wondered if I should have asked her to stay in the car while I went in. If Ryder found out that I’d brought his mate in Beryl’s court, he’d strike me down. I was more worried about his safety than hers, if I was going to be honest. That might have been a cruel thought to have, but Ryder had already risked too much for me.
Perhaps my jealousy had tainted that idea, as well. Finding out that Ryder had a girlfriend wasn’t the best way to start my day. My feelings for him warred inside me as I pushed through the restaurant’s door. My chest was so tight that every breath was shallower than the last.
I had no claim over Ryder. He didn’t love me. I couldn’t…I certainly did not…
A thin man in a butler uniform greeted us, breaking me out of my twisting thoughts. He looked Bri up and down before his gaze settled on me. I watched as his eyes flickered with recognition. The corners of his mouth lifted hungrily.
“Give me my dra—” I cut myself off and kept myself from looking in Bri’s direction. “Take me to Ryder, now.”
If Bri noticed my slip up, she let it fall by the wayside. I wondered what kind of mate she could be if she wasn’t ready to fight me over that little display of possessiveness. Perhaps they had a comfortable relationship filled with confidence.
Was that what happened with mates? Were they so smitten with one another that nothing could threaten their love?
I recalled the way that Ryder had held me the night he almost died. Jackson, a wolf from my pack, had poisoned Ryder. The poison had drained Ryder of his life force, but he’d still clung to me with all he’d had left. That meant something, right?
Filled with conflict, I blindly followed the butler downstairs into a dimly lit cavern. At the other end of this underground court, a window into Lake Onondaga let in pale light. Beryl lounged on a couch facing the magical window.
“The Queen will see you now,” the butler said with a bow.
He vanished, leaving behind wisps of black smoke. My nose curled at the acrid scent. Shaking my head, I pushed forward and scanned the room for signs of Ryder. There were other fae present. They inhaled smoke from ornate burning censers and blew it towards the ceiling. Others picked at plates of food that gleamed with a golden light.
I reached for Bri’s wrist when she began to trail away from me. Were there fae in her neck of the woods? I knew better than to touch the food down here. Maybe the food upstairs was fit for our consumption, but down here everything had come from the fae realm.
Faery food, especially wine, tended to have intoxicating effects on those who weren’t fae. I’d heard that faery food could be addictive, too, if consumed too often. My stomach clenched as my concern for Ryder tried to send me into a panic.
Now was not the time to lose my cool.
As we approached Beryl’s couch, I released Bri’s wrist. I vaulted over the back of Beryl’s couch and landed beside the unseelie queen. The wine in her glass sloshed precariously but didn’t spill. She slid an annoyed glare in my direction.
“You are a bold little pup,” Beryl said with no amount of amusement in her voice.
I gave her a wide, sharp-toothed grin. If I acted confident, then maybe I would feel it. Looking into the fae queen’s eyes terrified me. They were depthless. If I stared too long, I might fall into the void and never find my way out again.
“I need Ryder back,” I said. “Give me the dragon, and I will…”
What? Promise her a favor? I didn’t want anyone else to have power over me. I was tired of the boots on the back of my neck. Giving Beryl a chance to put her foot there, too, wasn’t the best idea.
But Beryl’s attention slid past me. Her expression lit up when she noticed Bri. I mentally kicked myself. I should have asked Bri to stay in the car.
Leaning forward, I asked, “What is your deal with dragon shifters? Do you have a fetish or something?”
Beryl laughed. Her laugh was nothing like Bri’s. Beryl’s laugh whispered like leaves on the wind in the dead of the night. It was dead and empty and wanted to devour everything.
“I enjoy the company of our fae-touched cousins,” Beryl said. She tossed her dark hair over her shoulder and studied Bri. “Like yourself, Vanessa, the dragons are a kind of shifter who have distant ties to my kind. They are not animals, like your pack. They are majestic beasts of legends who are capable of far more than any mortal mind could comprehend.”
I didn’t roll my eyes even though I so badly wanted to. Instead, I dragged out a single word.
“Okay.”
Beryl’s attention shifted back to me. The smug lift of the corner of her mouth left me uncomfortable. She seemed to have the upper hand no matter what I did. Perhaps that was what it meant to be a queen.
“Ryder has to finish his own legend,” I said. “He’s in the middle of a story that he needs to see through to the end. You shouldn’t hold him back from that.”
Beryl ran her finger along the rim of her wine glass. It hummed softly, but the sound soon grew unbearable. Bri and I both cringed. My ears burned, as if they might start bleeding soon.
Then it stopped.