“There’s nowhere else I ever want to be,” she said through quivering lips. It was the truth, at least right then. She loved her daughter, but Jacque had her own life. Lilly adored her grandson, but it wasn’t the same kind of love she had for her mate.
The queen wanted to experience the strength of her king once again. She wanted his teasing, his love, his anger, his everything. She just wanted him.
“I’m here.”
“For now,” she said. “But not forever.”
“We will get forever one day,” he told her as his hand ran up and down her spine. “One day, we will walk down the streets of forever and never be parted again.”
Lilly’s body shuddered, but she couldn’t respond. There was nothing more to say, at least not now. So, she just let herself be held. She fiercely soaked up the presence of the mate she’d lost because she didn’t know if she’d ever get this again. And though having him for this fleeting moment made her angry because she knew it wasn’t forever, it also placed a temporary bandage over the massive hole in her chest where her heart had been removed. Oddly enough, the only difference between her injury and Alina’s was that Lilly still breathed. Again, she envied the female alpha.
Lilly’s eyes drifted closed. She ignored the fact that she felt no heartbeat within Cypher’s chest. There was no warmth or rise and fall of his chest from his breath. But they were his arms, and he was holding her. It was enough. For now.
Chapter 4
“I’m convinced all of life's problems could be solved with cotton candy. If everyone else would just realize this, then things would be so much easier. And better. Much, much better.” ~Myanin
“I think we have enough,” Tenia hoisted the enchanted backpack over her shoulders. Myanin carried an identical one. Each was stuffed to the brim with bags of cotton candy.
Myanin thought about it. “I suppose it will last a couple of days,” she said as she shoved a piece in her mouth from the already half empty bag she’d begun eating the minute Tenia had paid for it. Tenia always had the exact amount of human money they needed when they checked out with the merchant at each of the stores, which told Myanin the fae was using her magic to come up with the money.
“Days?” Tenia said, her eyes widening. “This is only going to last a couple of days?”
“I told you I had an addiction. What part of that didn’t you understand?” She licked her fingers, having finished off the first bag, and walked over to a bin that was obviously used for waste. Myanin tossed the empty bag inside and turned back to the fae.
“I thought you were joking.”
Myanin lifted a brow. “I don’t joke. Especially not about cotton candy.”
Tenia nodded. “Okay, then.” She glanced around the parking lot of the fifth grocery store they’d visited, all of which had been completely cleaned out of cotton candy. “Personally, I would like some actual sustenance. I don’t have an addiction to cotton candy, nor can I keep up my strength on such a sweet diet.”
Myanin’s eyes narrowed. “I’m beginning to rethink our whole relationship.”
“I thought you didn’t joke,” Tenia said.
“I don’t.”
They stared at one another for several awkward moments. Myanin could see the fae was uncomfortable. Finally, the djinn spoke. “But if you must eat, then we can find someplace to provide you nourishment. It is for the best. I would not have shared my cotton candy with you anyway.”
Tenia rolled her eyes. “I know of a couple supernatural eating places that are considered neutral grounds,” she said and held out her arm.
Myanin nodded. She appreciated the fact that the fae was a quick learner. The djinn didn’t like being grabbed. Myanin had made that perfectly clear. Since then, Tenia had just held out her arm for Myanin to hold so they could flash. The djinn wrapped her hand around the fae’s forearm. “I didn’t know there were such places in the human realm.”
“Some supernaturals like to have a place among the humans where they don’t have to hide what they are,” Tenia explained before flashing.
When Myanin’s feet hit solid ground, she blinked several times to get her bearings and then looked around. The pair had come to rest on a dirt road. Night had fallen, and the only light besides the moon came from a dilapidated shack across the road. The face of the building contained several grime-covered windows that obscured the view inside. One window held a neon sign that said Welcome and blinked erratically, threatening to go out permanently at any second. There was a small gravel parking lot in front of the building, but no cars were parked outside. Nothing could be heard except the noise of crickets.
“Let’s go,” Tenia said as she started toward the building.
“Are you sure this is the right place? It doesn’t appear particularly accommodating,” Myanin said as she followed.
“The building is warded,” Tenia said over her shoulder. “And bespelled to appear as uninviting. It’s just to keep the humans away. You’ll see.”
Myanin shrugged. “Do they have cotton candy here?”
The fae just shook her head and marched onto the rickety porch. When she opened the door, the silence of the night was shattered. Loud music erupted from within the building, mixed with the hum of conversation, laughter, and even a few growls for good measure.
They stepped inside, and suddenly every eye turned toward them. The loud chatter morphed into whispered murmuring.
“Is there a reason they are
