Yew Queen Trilogy Read online

  Chapter 14

  I locked up the house, then trailed Lucus to a stand of oaks that provided a modicum of privacy between me and my closest neighbor. A few steps in front of me, Lucus reached up to touch one of the dark, lobed leaves. His glamour shimmered like a bubble around him, and the faint outline of his wings and horns reflected the gold of the morning sun. I stopped, taken again with his incredible and exotic beauty. In the trees, free like this, he looked like the one who belonged here instead of me—or any other human for that matter. A creaking and shuffling noise broke the morning quiet as the oak reached its limbs toward Lucus like an invitation to climb. I gawked, mesmerized. He spread his hands, and sapphire blue flowers burst to life at his feet, rising to waist-level and swaying in the sharp, autumn breeze. Vines crawled from the ground and brushed over Lucus’s legs like Hekla’s cat did to me when I visited.

  Hekla. Oh, my dear friend. Why were you so wonderful and kind? If she had stayed away, she would’ve been safe. At least for the time being. But now?

  One fear chewed my brain so insistently that I had no attention to spare for anything else. Could the fae now lure and feed off Hekla? Lucus hadn’t brought it up, and I sure as hell wouldn’t, but I was dying to put this worry to bed. He would’ve done it right then and there if it had been possible, right? Or maybe he was hoping I hadn’t thought of that and when we returned to the castle, he’d be all Hey bros, I have a nice brunch set up for us later.

  I swallowed bile, my fear for Hekla as bitter as the taste on the back of my tongue.

  Through the thick cover of the trees, I spotted my neighbor’s patio door sliding open and their adorable but still obnoxiously loud dog padding outside on his squat legs. I barely knew my neighbor, Raven, so I had no idea if she would be joining the dog. For now, she had remained inside.

  I reached Lucus’s side, doing my best to ignore the subtle, luring waves of come-hither pouring off him. I tried to breathe in the fall air, but all I could smell was Lucus’s pine resin, spring leaves, and that spicy herbal scent I was beginning to think was specific to him.

  Lucus’s gaze was on the dog. The pup walked to the border of the small forest and stopped, its large, floppy ears going flat against its head and a growl building in its throat.

  “Can everyone and everything see you now?” I asked.

  “Unlike humans, animals are open to more than what their eyes see.”

  “So no.”

  His gaze narrowed, and he flexed his fingers at his sides. “I don’t think so. Let us test it.”

  Before I could argue or grab his arm, he sped through the trees with a grace I envied and walked onto the neighbor’s patio. The dog began barking, his paws coming off the ground with every punch of noise.

  Raven must’ve seen us, because she was at the sliding door pretty quickly. She slid it open and met my gaze. “Morning. Everything okay?” She glared at her dog. “Hush, Finn!” she shouted before turning back to me. “It’s Coren, right? You run the bakery.”

  My heart was going bananas. “Yeah. I just wanted to say hi. It’s been like three years, so.”

  She laughed good-naturedly, not even glancing at Lucus. “Neighbors. At least we’re there for each other in an emergency.” She yanked Finn’s gray collar, pulling him away as he snarled, showing teeth. “What is wrong with you, Finnegan? I’m really sorry he’s being a piece of work right now, Coren. I don’t know what his deal is.”

  “It’s okay. Maybe I smell like chocolate and he knows it’s no good for the doggies.” I could feel Lucus’s gaze on me like a brand. He was curious. How had Hekla seen him if Raven couldn’t? I mean, I would’ve been hella curious too if I’d been trying to unlock a curse since 1520 or whatever. “If you ever pop into Sweet Touch,” I said to Raven, “let Ami know you get the neighbor discount.”

  “That’s cool. Thanks. Good to see you.” Raven dragged Finn back inside.

  Breathing deep with relief, I led Lucus back to my house.

  “I don’t know whether I’m glad or frustrated that your neighbor couldn’t see me,” Lucus said as he trailed me to the garage door.

  I opened it up and started to get onto my bike. “Me either, honestly. Now, get on back. I don’t think it’d be smart for me to appear to magically fly over town. We’ll need to travel the human way.”

  The Adam’s apple in Lucus’s throat bobbed as he looked my bike up and down.

  “What is the problem?”

  “A great deal of iron. Between my legs.”

  WTF. “Why is that a bad thing? Feels pretty powerful and rad once you get used to it.”

  “Not for a fae.”

  And then I recalled Aunt Viv’s stories about iron and fae and how it bothered them and could even be used to keep them away. “But you were fine inside my house. Pretty sure there are steel structural beams and plumbing all over this place.”

  “It won’t injure me. I’m too powerful for that.”

  “And with such a refreshing humility to boot.” It was nice to move away from feeling bad for him, for what he’d been through.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “I don’t enjoy feeling iron directly against my skin.”

  “You ate with my silverware.”

  “That is not iron. It is a weak amalgam of other materials.”

  “I knew that bitch at the yard sale was lying.” I’d paid a crap ton for that set. Ugh. “Well, suck it up and get on, my lord,” I snarked as I put on my helmet. “If I have to possibly give up my blood, the least you can do is deal with some discomfort for a five-minute trip across town.”

  He jerked his chin, agreeing, then climbed on behind me. Even if he hadn’t been an immortal created to pleasure women as a form of survival, I’d still have been pretty hot under the collar about this sitting situation. His chest pressed against my back and his thighs heated my legs. My skin pebbled under my jeans as I drove us out of the neighborhood, passing jack-o’-lanterns and bright maples, their scarlet color brilliant against the blue sky.

  At the red light on Hillsboro Road, I braked, and Lucus’s body slid against mine. Tingling rushed down my sides, and heat gathered in my stomach before spreading downward. Lucus’s chest moved as his breathing grew uneven. His muscles rubbed against my back, and his intoxicating scent rose around us.

  How did being close to me affect him?

  Was he hot for me just because my aura would be delicious or whatever, or was he actually somewhat attracted to me? I’d never ask that question aloud. Never. But I needed that damn red light to change quickly, or I was going to make out with him right here on the bike. That wouldn’t bring any stares at all, I was sure—just a gal making out with air, with an invisible man. No problem.

  “Tocco d’oro,” he whispered in my ear, his breath dusting over my neck and making me shiver. Pleasure and fear blended into a lust cocktail especially crafted for one Coren Connelly. “I think you are the one luring me.” He didn’t sound pleased about it.

  Finally, the light turned.

  I took off like I’d been shot from a cannon, and Lucus’s hands gripped my stomach, his fingers digging in. Crossing the road, we hit an unavoidable pothole, and one of his hands shifted, landing on my hipbone, fingertips distractingly close to where my less wise self longed for them to wander.

  Pulling into a parking spot along the side of the road at the base of the castle’s hill, I hurried to stop the engine and get the hell away from him. I ripped my helmet off as he joined me on the rocky ground.

  “Just stop with the whole temptation thing. I am sorry for what you’ve been through. If you’re going to kill me or whatever and I can’t find a way out, then that’s that. You win. But don’t pull this lustery thing on me. I don’t want to feel that way about someone who’s basically holding me hostage. It is not okay.”

  Lucus’s hands were loose at his sides, and his gaze was unreadable as his eyes moved, taking me in from my boots to my messy bun. “The lure only works when the woman i
s willing.”

  “I call bullshit.”

  “Fae cannot lie.”

  “What are you talking about? You’ve been lying since day one.”

  “I haven’t. Think about it.”

  Wait. Was he right? Had he not lied? I thought about all of our conversations and his interactions with Kaippa and then with Hekla. He had only claimed to enjoy my breakfast and said it was charming to meet her. He hadn’t lied.

  “It is a condition of my kind,” Lucus said absently as he raised his face to the strengthening sun. The rays brought a blush to his chiseled cheeks, and I had to fight myself to keep from sighing. “Fae are unable to lie.”

  “But you sure as hell are masters at deception.”

  “True.”

  “What good is that little evolutionary development?” I started up the hill. If I had to do this whole blood and magestone thing, I was going to do it under the power of my own two legs. “It doesn’t protect us prey from you if you can deceive with everything but words.”

  “I am no god. I did not create our conditions.”

  “So you’re telling me that a woman could refuse you?”

  “You did. You broke the lure when you first met me. If you had been willing, you would have continued to feel my power thrusting through your body.”

  I swallowed at that wording, feeling way too hot as I hurried toward the castle. Once we passed through the archway, Lucus waved a hand. Vines gripped the portcullis, and the metal barrier clanged down, blocking my way out.

  The trees in the courtyard nearly glowed in the sunlight, emerald as the sparks of Lucus’s magic and impossibly tall, their branches tickling the blue sky.

  Aurelio stumbled out of the shadow of a maple, and Lucus grabbed him. “Brother?” Lucus took Aurelio’s face between his hands and looked him over. Aurelio’s eyes had gone milky white. “No.”

  What did that mean—the whole white eyes thing?

  “Lucus. I’m sorry that I am not stronger. You subsist on so much less than me. I wish I had your fortitude. But this solves one of our problems, yes?”

  Lucus turned and spat on the cobblestones, apparently rejecting his brother’s vague suggestion. “You will not be the one we give up for the curse. I will go.”

  “But if I’m going to die anyway, that makes no sense.” Aurelio broke away and faced the sky, soaking in the sun like Lucus had in my backyard. “I appreciate your dedication to our family, Lucus, but you must see the truth that stands before you.” He spread his arms wide and splayed his fingers. His skin had gone translucent. Green veins in his palms and exposed forearms flickered like light bulbs do when they’re about to go out.

  Lucus hissed and touched his brother’s shoulder. “No. Not yet.” The pleading in his voice made my heart ache. Lucus turned to face me, his eyes shining. “Would you offer your aura for him if I make an oath to remain here and restrain him to the extent I am able?”

  My stomach dropped. Of course he wanted to save his brother. He’d lost so much. But Lucus’s offer didn’t exactly comfort me. “Can you keep him, and yourself, from killing me if I let him…if I allow him to take some of my aura?”

  Lucus’s eyes shuttered. “Perhaps I should try another source.” He looked at me again as his horns shimmered into view and his wings unfurled from his back. “That would be wiser considering you might have fae blood, or shifter blood we can use. But I do believe I’m strong enough to prevent any deaths. I truly do, or I wouldn’t risk it.”

  “What source? Wait.”

  Aurelio frowned. “What are you talking about, brother?”

  “Coren’s aura affected the curse once more while we were away, and I now have another human in my sphere of influence,” Lucus said.

  Hekla.

  Chapter 15

  I pulled my phone out and texted faster than anyone has ever texted.

  Hekla. Do not leave the bakery for any reason. Not a joke.

  She was already texting back as I lowered my hand to see Lucus approaching the portcullis.

  My phone buzzed in my hand, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Lucus and the way his fingers danced in the air, the emerald sparks flying. His wings snapped from his back, and his horns shimmered into view, black and vicious.

  Baccio—horns like Lucus’s and vine-wings spread wide—flew from an alcove on the far side of the courtyard. “Lucus! How can you lure another? I approve, but how is this possible? Another stroke of luck, or is this also Coren’s doing?”

  Baccio landed beside Lucus as I stood there, panicking and unsure on what else I could do.

  Lucus glared at his lean brother. “I have no need for your approval.”

  “Oh, I know. You’ve shown what you think of our opinions time and time again. So worried about the humans in question.”

  Sparks flared over Lucus’s hands, and anger flickered in his eyes as I sidled my way up behind them. “You used to care about the loss of life too, Baccio.”

  Baccio glanced at me and bared his teeth like a wolf. They were as white as his horns were black. “That was before we had to give up Francesco.”

  I glared. “I thought you didn’t want anyone to talk about him in front of terrible me. Look, this isn’t our fault, us humans. We didn’t cast a curse on you and yours. And I’m here so you can test my blood and see if I can help. Doesn’t that mean anything to you, the fact that I am here, endangering my life, in order to try to help you?”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lucus watching our interaction, his body tensed and ready for action.

  Baccio whirled on me and put his face near mine. His skin had the smooth appearance of porcelain, and I found myself staring at his lips, lips that were so much like Lucus’s. “Don’t act as if you have a choice in the matter. If you tried to flee, we would lure you back. Your presence here, the testing of your blood, has nothing to do with your kindness,” he said, his voice mocking. “Despite what might run through your veins, you were raised by humans, and I have seen the way humans behave, their selfishness, the way they drag their designs over the earth as if they were the ones to own it.”

  He was right about humans sometimes being pretty terrible, but I wasn’t about to agree with him. On anything. “But when one of us takes the life of another, we put that human in prison. We appreciate the value of a life.”

  Lucus’s gaze snapped to my face. “We fae are the givers of life, the caretakers of the wood, the curators of the earth’s energy. We are simply created to feed off your kind as a bear feeds on rabbits. Though we are far gentler and allow our quarry to live on. It is no moral fault of ours that we are designed as such. You devour life too. Animal and plant.”

  “We don’t eat humans!”

  Baccio lifted his black eyebrows and cocked his head. “And we don’t feed on fellow fae.”

  I couldn’t argue this. They believed they were a step above humans in the food chain. They weren’t wrong. And this discussion wasn’t going to keep Hekla from showing up here.

  What power did I have to turn this around? They wanted me alive because of my ability to affect the curse.

  So I needed to use my life.

  I spun and ran to Aurelio, counting on the fact that none of us knew if I had fae blood or not, so ignorance would protect his act of feeding. His eyes widened at my approach, but he didn’t fight me as I grabbed his arms and pulled him close. “Feed on me.” I lifted my chin to him as a feral look blazed through the starving fae’s eyes.

  His horns blazed into view, more gently curved than Lucus’s and Baccio’s, and his wings expanded behind him. He dipped his head, and his lips floated just above the skin of my neck.

  In a matter of seconds, sensuous pleasure fell over me like a silk nightgown, brushing over my shoulders and breasts, down my back, across my legs. There were shouts and a female voice somewhere behind us, but I could barely hear them because I was drowning in sensation and an overall feeling of want. I dragged my fingers through Aurelio’s golden hair as warmth travele
d from his breath down and into my body. His hands—pressed against me just above the waist of my jeans—poured heat into me, filling me with a euphoric lightness. I felt as though nothing could stop me, that I was only now truly alive, that this was the best decision I had ever made.

  But a voice inside my head shouted, Connelly! Too much! Get the F out of here!

  I gritted my teeth and mentally pushed Aurelio’s lure away. Sweat slicked my body with the effort of it even as Lucus tore Aurelio and me apart.

  My heart kicked to a stop. Hekla—cheek white with flour and her teal apron still tied around her waist—stood inside the castle’s door, her eyes glazed and staring at Baccio. He smiled like the evil asshole he was.

  “Why did you risk yourself like that, Coren?” Lucus gripped my arm more firmly, his wings shifting behind him.

  I shoved him away and took hold of Aurelio’s wrist. The younger fae was flushed with healthy color now, but still he seemed to struggle to stay upright. “I will give my life up to Aurelio if you don’t let Hekla go immediately.”

  Aurelio leaned into me, and I felt his gaze like a press of fingers against the pulse in my neck.

  Wings shuffling, Baccio trailed a finger down Hekla’s face, and she visibly shivered with pleasure.

  My stomach flipped. “Get the hell away from her, or I die and with me dies any chance you have of ending this shitty curse of yours.”

  Lucus paled. “Aurelio. Stand back.” Lucus’s voice strained on his command. His features clearly showed how torn he was between the short-term goal of keeping his younger brother alive and the long-term plan to untangle the curse in full.

  Aurelio snarled, and I jerked, surprised at the viciousness of the sound. His kind eyes had narrowed, and his lip curled. “I will not. You can’t ask me so much, brother.”

  I swallowed. I’d made this play, so I had to have the guts to keep this show going. “See?” I said to Lucus. “I’m for real here. Let Hekla go, or I’ll keep throwing myself at Aurelio, and it’ll be pretty damned tough for you to get anything out of me. Ever.”