Midnight's Temptation

Phelan studied her for a moment, scarcely able to believe what he was about to say. “You’re Fae.”

“Bingo, stud.”

He frowned at language coming from such a sweet face.

“Ah, let me guess,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “You were expecting elegant and otherworldly.”

“Aye.”

“Well, get over it. Stud.” She looked him up and down. “And you are a stud. But that’s not what I’m here for. Unless,” she trailed off and smiled wantonly.

As attractive as she was, Phelan couldn’t believe the idea of touching her repulsed him. “Nay.”

“Can’t blame a Fae for trying.” She shrugged. “Alrighty then. Down to business.”

“Why do you talk so … modern?”

She smiled and tossed back her hair. “I love it. My queen, not so much. But I’m not at court now, am I? So I can talk however I want. So, spill your guts, stud.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Why? You know your appeal to the opposite sex. Hell, I’m sure you also could’ve had any man you wanted. You ooze sex appeal, stud.”

Phelan blinked. He looked away from the Fae. “What do you want with me?”

“Haven’t you guessed? I’ve come to torment you.”

“You’re succeeding.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me my name?”

He blew out a frustrated breath and leaned a hand against the side of the cave. “Will it make you go away? Never mind. What’s your name?”

“As if I’d tell you.”

She was going to make his head explode. This wasn’t how he’d pictured a Fae. That wasn’t exactly true. He’d expected them to have unearthly beauty, but the quiet elegance he imagined wasn’t even in the vicinity.

“It was your pain,” she said quietly from beside him.

Phelan glanced over at her to look at her profile. When had she moved? “Why did you allow me to find the Fairy Pool and no’ let me see you then?”

“We were there.” She smiled and cut him a look. “You were otherwise occupied. Stud.”

He briefly closed his eyes and chuckled. “Can you tell me why you let me find the pool?”

“How do you know it was you we wanted to find it?”

That drew him up short. “You wanted Ai … You wanted the woman to find it.”

“Perhaps it was both of you.”

“She’s evil. You’re no’ a Dark Fae. Why would you want her?”

The Fae laughed, the sound bouncing off the sloping cave walls. “You’ve never seen a Fae. You don’t know what one looks like, much less one of the Dark.”

“I’m right.” He knew he was, he was just waiting for her to admit it.

Her grin grew. “You’re right.”

“Tell me why you’d have interest in a drough.”

“I could ask you the same question.”

Phelan spun around and stalked the short distance to the back of the cave. “Stop it! Stop answering my questions with questions.”

“Then stop being a wanker.”

“Just give me an answer. Please.”

There was a soft exhale before she said, “It won’t matter how I answer you. Whatever I say, you’ll question it further. Sometimes, stud, it’s better when there isn’t an answer.”

“I doona believe that.”

“If you can answer me with truth—the truth you’ve barely allowed yourself to understand—as to why you had interest in a drough, then I’ll answer your question.”

Phelan sank onto a nearby boulder and dropped his head into his hands as he leaned forward. “I can no’.”

“You can’t say the words because hearing them out loud will make it more true than hearing them in your head.”

He nodded. He wanted to deny everything she said, but he couldn’t. It was as if with her, he could admit to things he couldn’t even admit to himself.

There was a crunch of a boot as she nimbly made her way over rocks to sit beside him. “Tell me. Why were you with a drough?”

“Because she stirred my blood. Being without her seemed impossible.”

The Fae patted his shoulder. “If we hadn’t wanted Aisley to see the Fairy Pool we would’ve waited until you returned alone. We wanted the two of you to see it together. And before you ask, I can’t tell you why. Not yet at least.”

“Does it have to do with the Druids on Skye?” he asked as he lifted his head to look at her.

She nodded her head, her beauty shining even in the dark cave. “I’m not sure why it involves the Druids, but it does. We aren’t all-seeing, though some of us claim to be.”

“Why wait until now to come to me? You could’ve come while we were still on Skye or in Inverness, or even at Dreagan.”

She lifted one arched blue-black brow when he mentioned Dreagan, her gaze full of revulsion she didn’t try to hide. “The Fae don’t mix with the Dragon Kings. Ever.”

“All right.” The finality in her voice made him want to ask what had happened between them, but he knew she wouldn’t answer. “So are you here to comfort me?”

“Not exactly, stud. I’m here because I could never resist a hunky man who needed a good, swift kick to his perfectly formed ass.”

“What?”

She grinned widely. “I knew that would get your attention. Seriously though, you need to stop thinking of the woman and focus on your enemy.”

“Wallace.” Phelan sat up straight. “What do you know?”

“I know he’s more powerful than ever before. He holds more magic than Deirdre collected in her thousand years.”

“Shite.”

“That’s certainly one way of putting it, stud.”

Phelan got to his feet and started toward the entrance. He halted after a few steps and looked back at her, her silvery eyes almost glowing in the dark. “Is that all you came to tell me?”

“No.”

He waited as she stood, her tall, thin body gliding effortlessly over the jumbled rocks upon the floor until she stood beside him.

“The surname you search for who can end the selmyrs is Bennett.”

“Thank you,” he said and exited the cave.

Rhi watched him leave with a heavy heart. She had only given him half the clue he would need to discern the only person who could bring down the selmyr.

He wouldn’t have believed her anyway if she’d given him the truth.

She walked to the edge of the cave and watched Phelan’s form reach the top of the cliff. “Be careful, prince. Someone you care about is going to die very soon.” 

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Phelan threw open the door of the castle. “We need to look at the surname Bennett.”