Ambrosia (Frost and Nectar, #2)(2)

Making my way down the path, I came to a massive tree that loomed out of the murk, the trunk a midnight blue. The branches of the tree arched over the river, the crimson leaves shot through with moonlight high above me. The huge tree blocked the path, thick roots twining down the slope to the river.

I slipped around the tree. Thick boughs shielded the moonlight, and shadows enveloped me.

I shivered, and someone caught me from behind, pulling me into the darkness, one arm wrapped around my waist in a vise-like grip and a hand clapped over my mouth. Fear surged in my veins.

I struggled, slamming my attacker hard with my elbows and trying to rip through his jaw with my horns. The scents of wet rock and soil filled my nostrils, and as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I realized I was being dragged into a cave.

Leaning down, my captor whispered in my ear, “Please be quiet, Ava.”

I recognized the deep, honeyed baritone of his voice, at once dangerous and alluring. The oaky scent of the Seelie king wrapped around me, skimming over the jagged edges of my fear. I was trapped in the steely grasp of the man who might want me dead.

The question still clawed at my mind: was he going to kill me? Because that was the job of a Seelie king.

“Ava.” His powerful arm pinned me in place. ”I need you to be quiet. Someone was following you. ”

I went still, no longer struggling against him, and my muscles gave in. Slowly, I caught my breath, and he lowered his hand from my mouth. My heart still thrummed like a hummingbird’s. Fear, or simply the effect Torin always had on me? I wasn’t sure.

Whatever the case, he wasn’t letting me go.

“What are you doing here?” I whispered. “How did you get here?”

“I followed you through the portal,” he murmured. “And right now, I’m trying to save you from a demon.” Torin’s breath warmed the shell of my ear, and his muscled arm remained clamped around me. “He’s been tracking you.”

Had he not noticed that I was a demon?

My heart pounded faster. In my panic, I hadn’t seen the other Unseelie. “And why aren’t you letting go of me?”

“Because I can see that you’re an Unseelie, and now I’m questioning everything.” A razor’s edge slid through his silky voice, and fear skittered up my spine. “Were you sent to destroy my kingdom, changeling?”

My jaw tightened at the accusation, and I wriggled around to face him. Except he wasn’t letting me go—so I found myself staring right up at his piercing blue eyes, pressed against the wall of muscle that was his chest. His forearm remained locked firmly around my lower back like an iron bar.

“Sent on a mission to destroy your kingdom? Don’t be ridiculous, Torin.” It came out sharp and a little too loud, echoing off the stone. “If this was all part of a Machiavellian master plan, do you think you would have found me in a bar drunk and covered in curry sauce?”

He arched a black eyebrow. “Lower your voice, changeling,” he whispered. “But if it wasn’t your intent, you really have done a remarkable job of destroying my kingdom. My throne is cracked. My power is gone. Faerie lays encased in ice, and I have no queen to heal it. Famine and cold will creep over my kingdom, and I am trapped in the Court of Sorrows itself, where I’m guaranteed a gruesome execution if I’m caught. It does seem a bit convenient for the demons, doesn’t it?”

Demons. There was that word again, coming out of his perfect mouth. But how could he possibly think I was a spy?

“There was no plan,” I said through clenched teeth. “I haven’t lied to you.” My voice trailed off. I was still trying to wrap my mind around this. “And I want the fifty million dollars you owe me.”

The corner of his mouth quirked. “You can’t be serious, changeling.”

“We signed a contract. As a fae king, you can’t break it.”

“You’re not a Seelie. The contract is void.”

I was still looking up at him, pressed tight against him. “That’s not a real rule, though, is it? It wasn’t in the fine print.”

“Is this really your concern right now?”

“Your kingdom will be fine. Just find yourself a proper Seelie wife. I’m sure you’ll manage.” I wished my tone hadn’t sounded quite so acidic. “But you still owe me. ”

His arm was tight around me, and I could feel the pounding of his pulse through his clothes. “You know, I really shouldn’t be anywhere near you.”

“Then maybe you should let me go,” I said evenly.

“It would seem that I have to.”





2





TORIN




Insanely, I didn’t want to let her go. Even in the gloom of the cave, I could see the gentle curves of her copper horns. She was an ancient enemy of the Seelie, fiendish horns and all—the evidence was right before my eyes—and I’d followed her to the Court of Sorrows.

The only bright spot in this situation was that I’d felt the weight of Queen Mab’s curse lift. The moment I’d pulled myself from the portal, breathing in the air of the Unseelie realm, the curse had released its icy grip on my chest. It was a strange sort of certainty, a weightlessness I’d never known before.

Why was the curse gone? I had no idea. But without it weighing me down, I could give in to my desires…I could touch Ava. I could kiss her deeply and pull the hem of her dress all the way up to her waist. It was in the nature of the fae to give in to lust, to seek pleasure above all else —