Freed (Imprisoned by the Fae 3)

He is. He totally is. Because, after Veron insults me so boldly, Rys reacts by drawing his sword.

“Price? My Elle is priceless. And she’s clever enough not to leave any debt or bargain open to interpretation. All my years and I’ve managed to learn something from her.”

“Hired soldiers.” Veron scoffs. “Like the king, is decapitation your solution to everything?”

Well, duh. How else to kill an immortal creature? Not like I want Rys to kill Veron. I don’t. But, hey, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.

So… maybe that whore comment did sting a little.

Sue me. I’m only human.

But Rys surprises both of us by using his sword to gesture toward Veron’s crotch. “There’s more than one way to end a life.”

“You threaten my manhood? In my home?”

“I don’t threaten, Veron. I promise.” He lunges, angling the point of his sword right at Veron’s junk. To my surprise, the prissy noble actually lets out a screech before dodging out of Rys’s reach. Rys chuckles darkly. “You won’t have any need for the cock in those trousers if you think to touch my human again.”

“You are a crude bastard.”

Rys shrugs. He still hasn’t lowered his sword. “I do what I must. Do we have a deal, my lord?”

I can tell that Veron wants to refuse. But how can he?

“Yes. Yes. I accept your terms.”

“Excellent.” Rys slips his sword back into its sheath. Once it’s holstered, he slashes his hand in the space in front of us, creating a portal. “I’m done here. Now let’s go home, Leannán.”

Home.

Together.

Forever.

“Yes, please.”

A warmly possessive hand on my shoulder guides me toward the portal. Rys presses on it, signaling for me to wait, before glancing over at Veron. I do the same thing.

“Remember what I said,” Rys warns. “I serve the Summer King, but my allegiance is to Elle. If you come after her again, I’ll make what happened to Dusk look like mercy. Find your own human. This one is mine.”

Veron’s lost most of his color. The cocky attitude faded as soon as Rys threatened his dick, but by the time Rys mentioned working for Oberon, Veron’s bronze skin paled notably.

Interesting. I wonder why he’s so afraid of the Summer King?

Hm. Maybe Helix needs to come talk to Veron and find out where his allegiance lies.

Just to check, I give him the biggest smile I can. “We’ll be visiting Oberon’s palace soon. Special invite from the king. Maybe we should tell him you said ‘hi’.”

Unlike me, most fae have an excellent poker face. But Veron is so arrogant, he never guessed I’d have any kind of parting shot. He should’ve known better. He couldn’t tame me when he first had me brought to him, and he couldn’t get me to give into him even when he threatened to let Dusk have me.

I’ve beat them both. And, as his perfect face twitches just enough to show how much he doesn’t like my idea, I know I’ve won this round, too.

“Ready, Elle?”

I wiggle my fingers at Veron in a mockery of a wave before running my hand up and down Rys’s bicep.

Veron makes a short, angry sound in the back of his throat at that blatant touch. But he still doesn’t say anything.

Ha!