Fragile Eternity (Wicked Lovely 3)

“Call?”

“Who would come for you, Seth? If you needed rescue, who would save you?” She pressed her body to his as she spoke. “I can’t. The girls? The cubs? Our king? Who would make you safe from the whims of Faerie?”

“Niall. Like a brother.” He pushed a button on his phone. The water didn’t touch him as he did so, only her, Aobheall. He held the phone in his hand but didn’t lift it to his ear.

“Where are we, mortal?” Aobheall murmured.

“Fountain.” He felt stoned, drifting further into some reality that would keep him untethered.

“And how long have you been in our arms?”

“Forever.”

“Damn it, Seth.” The voice was from the phone.

“Would you stay here, Seth? Or would you walk out of the park?”

“Stay forever.” He couldn’t pull away from Aobheall. With her, with them. He could see them beyond the veil of water. Ash’s Summer Girls. They’d take care of him. He remembered being sad before he was in Tracey’s arms. He wasn’t sad now. “With you.”

Seth was still in the fountain when Niall arrived.

The Dark King stepped into the water, and for a moment, Seth was struck by a wave of emotions completely at odds with his true feelings. Niall was a god. Seth looked at him and couldn’t remember ever wanting anyone quite so intensely.

Then Niall lifted Seth’s hand and pressed something into it. “You seem to have misplaced yours.”

The touch of the charm to his skin cleared Seth’s head. He realized he was soaking wet and standing in the fountain with Aobheall—and lusting on his best friend.

“You”—he took Aobheall’s hand—“are kind.”

Her laughter was the sound of crashing water. “Not truly, Seth. If I were kind, I would’ve suggested you call Niall before I had my chance to dance with you.”

“For a faery, you are kind,” Seth amended.

“Come dance with me if you need to forget. I’ll hold that charm for you, not forever, but for as long as we negotiate in advance.” Aobheall turned away and slid her hand down Niall’s face. “And you are still always welcome in my fountain.”

Niall smiled. “I am in your debt.”

She laughed again. “And when haven’t you been? I like keeping you there.”

The Dark King kissed her. Shadows shifted into the water droplets. Instead of multicolor rainbows, the arc that formed was shimmering bands of gray and silver studded with bursts of light. As Niall kissed Aobheall, her form dissipated, and she became a part of the water falling in her fountain. The sound of her final sigh lingered for a brief moment.

Niall stepped out of the fountain and into the park. “Seth?”

Silently, Seth followed him. The Summer Girls weren’t dancing; the cubs had stopped playing; the rowan were motionless. None of the Summer Court denizens were eager to have conflict with Niall. Well, maybe a few of them were, if the looks on their faces—especially Siobhan’s—were honest. In truth, Seth suspected that more than a couple of the Summer Girls still sought Niall out, but that wasn’t something Seth wanted to know.

“Tracey?” Niall called.

She spun to him and held out her hands. The vines on her skin shrunk away from Niall, but she didn’t. Niall took both of her hands in his.

“You really oughtn’t do this again.” Niall stepped on the tendril of a vine snaking from her ankle toward Seth. He ground it under his boot. “Seth is my brother now.”

“We like Seth. He was sad and leaving us…” Tracey reached a hand toward Seth.

Niall caught her wrist, stopping her from touching Seth. “So you took his charm to make him feel better?”

Tracey nodded. Several others, including Siobhan and Eliza, came to stand beside Tracey.

“He was happier,” Eliza said. “What does it matter why?”