Sex, Lies & Magic

Seventeen

I knelt in a huge room filled with hundreds of Unseelie Sidhe. I wore my hair piled high on the top of my head in bun so my neck was bare. Beside me stood Craven with a naked sword in his hand. My body trembled from the cold. I wore a linen shirt so thin with a glance down I could see the dark halos of my nipples through it. The light fabric did nothing to shield my body from the heavy draft.

"He says you're in love with it," a deadly looking woman with long blue-black waves assessed staring at me. She had cruel eyes which were black and charcoal gray. On top of her head a circlet of jet glimmered in the dim torch light. "If you wish to live in my Court you will abide by this Court's rules. Or you can go back to your father—if he'll take you. Either way, it dies or goes to Cael."

There was no fear as I looked at Craven.

"Do it," I whispered.

"Go on with it, then." The Queen's small pretty lips tugged into a happy smile.

"Remember that clearing where we hand fasted?" Craven ripped off part of the shirt he wore and used it to blind fold me. "I wish we never left. I love you." He breathed.

"I love you too." My tears were soaked up by the blindfold. I raised my chin and the razor-sharp blade whistled through the air.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. A cellphone skittered across the wooden floor. I felt a bit like a truck hit me, then backed over me a few times for good measure. If there was such a thing as a pleasure hangover I had it. Squinting against the bright day light I groped around on the side of the bed. With one eye open, I picked up the phone. The display read C CALLING.

I inspected the foreign device for a moment.

This is not my phone.

Curiosity got the better of me and I answered the call.

"Hello?" The line went dead instantly. Furrowing my brows, I sat up more as Craven slept on naked beside me. I tried to open his phone but found it locked. Waving my hand over the screen my magic traced the path of the pattern lock and my finger followed it.

The first thing I did was check his text messages, the unread one at the top of the list made my whole world implode.

- Have you ripped her heart out yet?

Craven had answered all the messages between him and this C person with a simple "yes, my prince," or "No, my prince." He never said the Prince's full name. With trembling hands I opened his e-mail and each document granted me more insight into the real situation between Craven and I.

Around the time he showed up in my building he received an e-mail which detailed everything. My class schedule, where I worked, my work schedule for that week, my likes, my dislikes. It was more in depth than even the most invasive dating site questionnaire.

Nausea overcame me and I sprinted to the bathroom naked. Gripping his phone still in hand I vomited into the toilet. Once I stopped, I closed and locked the bathroom door as I continued to read. The e-mail was sent from Prince Cael, or rather Cael Sitheach. From what I read, Craven was Cael's enforcer. Which meant he lied to me from the start because a Seelie would never serve an Unseelie.

I washed my face and stared at my reflection.

"What to do?" I whispered to myself. My hands were shaking so badly they practically vibrated. "Why couldn't it have been a side chick?"

Tears spilled down my cheeks, taking with them the remnants of my makeup from the prior night. My clothes from the day before were still in the tiny linen closet so I dressed as I thought out my next move.