“Very well,” Myanin said and held out her arm. “After I have eaten my fill of the cotton candy, then we shall make our way to the wolves.”
“You sound like the fae who become addicted to the leena flower,” Tenia said, with humor in her voice.
“Does this flower taste like cotton candy?” Myanin narrowed her eyes at Tenia. The more appropriate question was probably “Can it fill the growing emptiness inside of me?” But Myanin wasn’t about to turn her mental analysis of her addiction to the food into a public conversation.
“The leena flower takes the flavor of your favorite food. So, in your case, it probably would taste like cotton candy. But it also gives you a feeling of euphoria. Some fae can ingest it freely and never become addicted. Others are not so lucky. One taste and they cannot live without it.”
“Hmm,” Myanin huffed. She already had enough she couldn’t live without, like guilt. She didn’t need to add another thing. “The candy of cotton gives me all the euphoria I need.” Lies, her voice purred in her mind, but she ignored it. “Lead on, fae.” She held out a hand, which Tenia took and flashed them to a parking lot. Myanin glanced around and saw a square building. No surprise there. The humans continued to show a complete lack of creativity with respect to the shape of their important public structures.
“We better stock up,” Tenia said. “I don’t think daily trips to the grocery store for cotton candy will be the most efficient use of our time.” She removed a small piece of fabric from her pocket, no larger than the palm of her hand, and began to unfold it. In a few seconds, the fabric transformed into a backpack that appeared large enough to carry an arsenal of weapons … or a couple armloads of cotton candy.
“Okay,” Myanin said. “That was impressive.”
Tenia smiled. “I have my perks. But it’s better than that.”
“It’s better than a pack that folds up to the size of a three-inch piece of fabric?”
Tenia nodded. “It has a nifty trick. It holds whatever I tell it to, as much as I tell it to.”
As soon as the implications of the fae’s words hit her, Myanin’s lips turned up in a slow smile. “We’re going to make this store our bitch. And then we’re going to make Venice Beach our second bitch.”
Tenia’s brow dipped. “I’ve heard that phrase before, but I don’t know if you’re using it correctly.”
Myanin shrugged as she headed for the doors of the store. “Don’t care. All you need to know is that we’re about to clean this place out of all the cotton candy it has.” Myanin was grinning like a djinn child who’d just been handed their first weapon. It must have been a scary sight because humans she passed turned quickly away. That was fine with her. She was on a mission, and it ended with sweet pink and blue concoction melting in her mouth. She pitied the person who got in her way.
Chapter 3
“If ever there was a time that I had to seriously reach to channel my inner queen, not that I knew I had an inner queen, it was now.” ~Lilly
Lilly stood rigid outside the doors to the great hall, her shoulders pulled back, gaze fixed upon the wood as if she could see through it. The queen had already been standing there motionless for way too long, but she couldn’t seem to bring herself to lift her hand to open the door. She could hear the muted conversations of her guests within. Two guards stood on either side of the doors. They were equally motionless, staring ahead. She’d waved off their attempt to open the doors for her.
For whatever reason, Lilly needed to be the one to open the doors and break the seal of the room, like breaking a dam that held her entire future behind it. She must be the one to choose to step into that room, to face those who would either support her or try to bury her. You can do this. You have to do this. You will do this. Before she had time to second-guess herself, Lilly grasped the handle and pulled. The low murmur of voices stopped, and all eyes turned to her. Her stomach dropped. The air rushed out of her, and she bit her lip to keep the gasp from escaping. The force of their gazes froze her in her tracks. Her eyes darted around the room. Lilly saw everything from curiosity to contempt in the faces of the strangers seated at the U-shaped table.
A second glance brought her eyes to a figure standing motionless in the back of the room. It was him. Her mate. He stood regal and proud, his yellow, piercing eyes looking straight at her. She drank him in—his broad shoulders, his powerful arms, arms that had held her close less than a month ago. Her mind was flooded with a tidal wave of memories. She knew he must only be a figment of her imagination, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to spring across the room and prove herself wrong.
He was every bit as stunning as he had been the first time she’d seen him. But he wasn’t really there. After the meeting, when she returned to their chambers, he wouldn’t be joining her. He wouldn’t help her undress and then pull her into bed whispering sweet words into her ear. She wouldn’t feel his lips or smell his masculine scent. As much as seeing this mirage was a welcome breath of air, it was also a form of torture. What she wanted—what she needed—was just out of her reach. Life was a bitch, and then it kicked you in the junk. Those were words she’d heard Jacque say when Trent had broken up with her. She’d never agreed more with her daughter.
“You can do this.” His voice filled her
