“No. That is the price of this piece. If you believe it’s an unreasonable price, find another artificer.”
I stared him down. No woman was worth an obsidian dagger. Except for a Queen. A Queen that could stand up to Seraphina. If I’d been sure that Rose was that Queen, I’d have given the dagger over without question. But I wasn’t sure.
I gritted my teeth and held out my hand, the dagger appearing from mist. “Why shouldn’t I just kill you and take the necklace?” I snarled.
“I thought we were friends, Sebastian,” he said, not showing even a slight anxiety at having that dagger pointed at him. At the same time, fire glinted in his eyes as his muscles prepared to react.
“That’s not a friendly price. I’ll give you nearly anything you ask, but you ask too much this time, Damian.”
“That is the price of the necklace. Take it or leave it. Or kill me and deal with the difficulty of finding an artificer to handle that diamond when it is full. Those are your choices.”
An instant later, I tossed the dagger onto the counter. “Take the damned dagger. I will be finding another artificer, Damian. One who knows not to push me too far.”
He nodded and slid the necklace across the counter, and I snatched it up. I stalked out of the shop, and when I glanced back at Damian, he was holding the dagger as though it were some kind of crystal vase, terrified that he would break it.
That dagger would allow him to protect himself better than almost anything else. He was already faster, stronger, and stealthier than most of the Fae. Even me. If he could drain his enemy as well, it would make him a force to be reckoned with.
I hoped that Rose was worth it. I was at a severe disadvantage if Nyx finally caught up to us. I stepped out of the shop, breathing in the misty air and tried to reconcile the loss of a weapon that I’d held for a thousand years.
It would be worth it. At least I hoped it would.
Chapter 14
Rose
“Two full English breakfasts,” Astriel said to the waitress, a younger woman who looked like she had experienced more than a few of the less than pleasant parts of the world. The waitress gave her an odd look, and Astriel smiled seductively at her. The waitress seemed to jump at the smile and said, “That may take a little bit. We don’t get a lot of breakfast orders at this time of night.”
“I know, hon. Run along and get the order in. We’re going to sit and talk a bit anyway.”
The waitress nodded to Astriel and scampered off. Then Astriel leaned forward. “How long have you had wings? Most of your kind learn to hide them quickly enough.”
“I woke up with them a few hours ago,” I said nervously. This was a friend of Sebastian’s that he’d said to trust. I tried to remind myself that I should be less nervous around her, but everything about her pushed me into a fight or flight reaction.
She walked with the confidence of knowing that every person who saw her was drawn to her. It was obvious why. She was probably the most beautiful woman I’d ever met, and she made me feel like a troll next to her. Granted, I’d lived my life thinking I was hideous. I was always the ugly friend. Next to Sasha. Even next to Tiffany.
The one who couldn’t convince a guy to date her in three years of college.
I knew that my face wasn’t odd anymore. I was pretty. I told myself that for the hundredth time since I met Astriel.
I still didn’t have those curves. I was normal, not some mix of pornstar and high fashion supermodel like Astriel. Was she normal for Fae?
“Oh…” she said. “So, what’d you think of the Immortal Realm?” she asked with a smirk. “I’m guessing that Bastian took you there, and you claimed your power?”
I nodded. “It’s kind of weird. We saw a unicorn, and it tried to kill me.”
She grinned. “They tend to do that. I’ve always wondered if they grew that horn because they’re such giant dicks that they needed a second one on their head.”
I couldn’t help but giggle at the remark. “Tell me about yourself, hon. You’ve managed to get one of my best friends into a hell of a lot of trouble, so I’d like to know at least a little about you.”
“I’m just a normal girl. I grew up in the foster system. I studied hard and got into college. I don’t know what else you want to know.”
“Well, first of all, you’re anything but normal. Wings of shadow don’t grow on normal girls. You’re full-blooded fairy. That means that you were born to rule over half of the Fae. Born to rule over people like me. That happens to be one of many reasons I don’t get over to their side very often.”
“Why do fairies rule over the rest of the Fae?” I asked.
“Because they’re the most numerous and most powerful of the Fae. There are maybe fifty full-blooded succubi like me. And we’re mostly useless when it comes to battle. There are even fewer incubi. Vampires don’t have the juice to rule. Shifters don’t want to. Each and every group has at least one reason why they couldn’t or shouldn’t rule. Except fairies. Plus, fairies like to get up in everyone’s business. It’s natural for them.”
“Oh.” I paused realizing what she’d said. “You’re a succubus? Like, you have sex with people and they die? Kind of like Sebastian?”
“No. I don’t kill my food. Keeps them from coming back. They just feel really really tired. Most attribute it to the mind-blowing sex, but others don’t even notice the relationship.”
“And Bastian and I are different. I don’t do the dream thing very well. I can do
