Who was this man? Why was he so kind? So understanding of everything she was going through, even though she couldn’t voice her concerns?
Elva sighed again and shifted her hand fully over his. Donnacha flipped his own hand over and linked his fingers with hers.
“Still okay?” he asked.
“I think so.” She closed her eyes and prayed he wouldn’t ask her to explain this change. She didn’t know what she was doing. There were no answers to her strange decision to touch him after two months in his presence.
Maybe this was her desperate call for help. Maybe she really wanted to be someone that others could trust, someone another could love. Or maybe she wanted a reason to run back to Scáthach and tell her he truly was a monster.
That he was dangerous. So she could come back here and destroy him with a sword just to rid herself of her confusing reactions to him.
Donnacha shifted again, then murmured, “Go to sleep, Elva.”
“Good night, Donnacha.”
“Don’t overthink it,” he said with a yawn. “It’s just sharing a little heat.”
But was it?
10
The mirror loomed above him. Magic reached out to him, tendrils of power that wanted to overwhelm and destroy.
Donnacha knelt on the floor in his bear form. He ground his teeth together and refused to look up at the Troll Queen pacing on her side of the magical creation. She’d summoned him only to say nothing. Instead, she paced.
He stared at the ground until he could take her incessant movement no longer. “What is it you want?”
The Troll Queen whirled. The charcoal color of her skin appeared duller in this light. Or perhaps she was ill. He hoped it was some kind of plague that could kill her kind. “Your little faerie seems to be doing quite well here.”
He felt a swell of pride in his chest. “Yes, she’s settled in just fine.”
“Well, that’s really a shame. That wasn’t the point of her being here.”
Donnacha knew better than to gloat. He knew better than to tempt fate by pushing the Troll Queen when she could easily snap. But he wanted to look in her eyes and see her reaction when he told her they were growing closer by the day. “We’ve become friends,” he said. “Perhaps, in time, we can become even more.”
The Troll Queen bared her teeth in disgust. “How dare you? This was a punishment. A temptation you were not supposed to enjoy.”
“And yet, I have. I’ve enjoyed myself greatly.”
He was surprised to realize how truthful the words were. He was shocked that he hadn’t realized it until now, but he did very much enjoy being around her. Even the darker times, like the night when she had panicked having him so close in her bed.
A sound of pleasure rumbled in his chest whenever he thought of how he helped her, even in the small ways. Whether that was to teach her how to better clean her sword or how to handle her time with another person in her personal space, he’d made a change in her life.
Donnacha didn’t know how to put it in words how that made him feel. He was thoroughly, wonderfully, excitedly part of her life as someone she would never forget now. He’d done something more than just exist in her world for a few moments.
Such as it was, he looked at these moments as a precious gift.
The Troll Queen’s lip curled. “Well, isn’t that lovely? The little cursed dwarf has found himself a friend.”
“She’s a wonderful person.”
“Yes, yes, I’m certain she’s a wonderful little thing. The Seelie King did find her entertaining for a time. I’m certain she’s told you all about that.”
Was she trying to get under his skin? Donnacha shook his head and met her gaze. “Of course, she has. Friends tell each other difficulties like that. Did you think her previous marriage would make me think any less of her? That she was some kind of castoff from another man? She’s a person, regardless of her history.”
The Troll Queen stepped away from him, fading into the shadows of the room beyond. “I don’t care what you think of her, Donnacha. I’ve already brought someone to talk sense into your little…plaything.”
“Someone?” What did the witch have up her sleeve now? He didn’t want to think what kind of creature she’d pulled out of the woodworks.
The Troll Queen was connected, he knew that very well. She had so many dark creatures at her beck and call, he didn’t know what to expect. Was it going to be some duchess who owed her a favor? Someone else who had made a deal with the disgusting creature lurking in front of him?
The grin on the queen’s face said otherwise.
She laughed, tilting her head back while the stick-like hanks of hair shifted around her face. “Don’t look so frightened, my dear boy. I haven’t brought out the ogres just yet.”
“Who did you invite to the castle?”
“Oh, no one particularly terrifying. Just the woman from her past. The one who lives down at the base of the mountain with all her little…children.” The Troll Queen waved a hand in the air. “You know, the one who likes to fight with sticks.”
“Scáthach?” he asked. “You invited Scáthach here?”
“Well, not invited really. I just suggested she might need to check in on her little student. After all, your faerie girl hasn’t sent any news back, and it has been months.”
He frowned. Months? That wasn’t possible. Perhaps a month, that he could believe, but so many months?
“You brought the castle into the faerie realm,” he muttered, realization dawning on him. “The entire castle?”
“Oh, dear. Did I not tell you that? Your little faerie woman might
