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LORD DALLINAR WAS RELIEVED when his chamber was finally restored by magic. He poured himself a large glass of whiskey and sipped it slowly as he waited for his minions to return. An hour passed and he finished his drink and poured another. By the time he’d finished it, he was drunk and pissed off. The agents hadn’t returned, which meant something had gone wrong.
Thumping his empty glass down on the coffee table, the fairy unsteadily rose to his feet. “I guess I’ll have to go and retrieve Nilanthy myself,” he said, ignoring how slurred his words sounded. He carefully made his way downstairs and grimaced at the pouring rain. He fumbled his wand out of his pocket and erected a shield around himself, then stumbled along the path to the front gate.
A carriage arrived for him as he held onto the lightless streetlamp at the curb for balance. “Take me to Nilanthy’s house,” he ordered the driver haughtily, then hauled himself inside. His chauffeur drove him to the fairy maiden’s house and pulled to a stop. “Wait here,” he commanded. His foot slipped on the step when he disembarked and he fell to his knees. He glanced around to make sure no one had witnessed his clumsiness and climbed to his feet.
Two bodies lay on the path in front of Nilanthy’s door. “Some guards you are,” Lord Dallinar muttered with his upper lip curled. Both of the Night Cursed agents had been slain by magic. Their eyes were wide and staring, but they didn’t have any visible wounds. They would regenerate the following night and return to their duties guarding his private tower without remembering that they’d died.
Lord Dallinar thumped his fist on the door and distantly heard footsteps approaching. A human witch yanked the door open. Her annoyed scowl changed to fright when she saw him. “Lord Dallinar,” she stammered.
“Go and retrieve your mistress right now,” he ordered her coldly.
“Yes, my lord,” she said obediently and scurried away.
He heard a whispered conversation, then waited impatiently for the fairy who had so rudely snubbed him to appear. Nilanthy finally strode into sight. She crossed the foyer to stand just inside her doorway where she was safe. “Why are you here, my lord?” she asked with a frown. She was as beautiful as always, with her long black hair, pale skin and dark blue eyes that he dreamed about when he slept. “I declined your invitation, yet you sent two Night Cursed guards to attempt to kidnap me. I was forced to kill them both and now you’re here in person. Are you going to try to take me from my home by force as well?”
The fairy lord narrowed his eyes at her insolent tone. “I think you’ve forgotten who you’re talking to, madam,” he said snootily. “I am a member of the Immortal Triumvirate and I rule this city. I have the right to summon whomever I please to my home and you had the audacity to refuse me.” His emerald green eyes snapped with fury as he looked her up and down.
“I’ve heard the rumors about what happens to the women you call to your bed,” she said scornfully.
The wind went out of his sails at her accusing, knowing tone. “What are you talking about?” he asked, but a sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.
“Word has it that they vanish, never to be seen again,” the fairy maiden said. “None of them have survived to speak out against you, but all fae women suspect it means death to answer your summons.”
She made the mistake of gesturing at him as she spoke. Her hand left the protection of her home and he grabbed hold of it and yanked her outside. Shoving her against the wall of the house, he tried to kiss her and fire burst from her in a strong spell. The shield he’d created decades ago protected him, yet he was shocked that she’d attempted to harm him. “How dare you!” he said, seething in rage. “You’ve just branded yourself as a traitor. I could have Xiara Evora execute you for your disobedience!”
Instead of being cowed by his threat, Nilanthy smiled grimly. “Go ahead,” she invited him. “Summon the Guardian of Nox to behead me for refusing to become your next victim. I’m a high-ranking member of the Magic Guild, not a lowly scullery maid. You’re not going to get away with raping me and getting rid of the evidence.”
“I have no intention of getting rid of you,” he told her sulkily. “I am going to make you my wife.”
Nilanthy gaped at him, then burst into laughter. “You’re going to make me your wife?” she repeated in horrified hilarity. “If you think any fae woman in Nox would agree to subject themselves to whatever disgusting, magical means you’re using to achieve an erection, you are sadly mistaken.”
Her insult made the blood drain from his face. He was mortified that it seemed to be common knowledge that he was using a magical device to bed his chosen partners. Up this close, he could sense a binding spell on her that she hadn’t cast on herself. “It seems someone has already laid claim to you,” he said to change the topic. “Did you cast that spell at me, or was it a product of this enchantment?”
Nilanthy dropped her eyes, but not before he saw fear in their depths. “That’s none of your business,” she said and stepped back into the safety of her home again. “I have no desire to be your wife, or to warm your bed, Lord Dallinar,” she said, looking him directly in the eye.
He smirked at her, hiding his alarm that things had gone so badly awry. He saw the human witch peering at them from further down the hall and wondered how much she’d seen and heard. “Guild Master Onvier seems to be quite taken with you,” he said. When she blanched, he knew his hunch about who had created the binding spell was accurate. “I can free you from him, Nilanthy,” he said in a seductive tone. “Agree to become my wife and he’ll never touch you again.”
The fairy maiden’s expression became bleak and she shuddered. “You’re both evil,” she said flatly. “All you care about is satiating your own sick desires. You don’t care about anyone else. I don’t want either of you to touch me ever again.”
Clearly, the woman wasn’t in the right frame of mind to listen to reason. Lord Dallinar drew his dignity around himself and gave her an elegant bow. “I’ll give you some time to think about my proposal,” he said charmingly, unwilling to give up on what he wanted so easily. He sauntered back to the waiting carriage and climbed inside. Nilanthy’s door slammed shut before he could wave at her.
Lord Dallinar was more shaken than he cared to admit as he headed back to his tower. He thought he’d been careful to dispose of the women he’d bedded and had discarded. As far as he knew, there had been no survivors. No one could have lived through being pushed to their death from so high up. Rumors had still spread somehow and all fae women feared him.
He realized he was smiling nastily and giggled. The fairy lord had always craved power and respect. Now that he had it, maybe it wasn’t enough after all. He found he liked the terror his victims displayed when he summoned them to his bed. Even after he convinced Nilanthy to become his wife, why should he stop bedding conquests? Plenty of fae folk had lovers on the side. It was almost expected in the upper hierarchy. Since he was at the top of the ladder, he could change the rules to suit himself whenever he wanted.
“What are they going to do about my appetites anyway?” he murmured as he climbed the stairs to his tower. It wasn’t like the female population could demand a trial and hold him accountable for his crimes. His victims were all dead and couldn’t speak out against him.
He chuckled at that notion and poured himself another glass of whiskey. He deserved it after the harrowing night he’d just had.
