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I held out my hand to him. "Come to me, Frost."
"To you I would gladly come, Meredith, but not to all of you."
I let my hand fall across the pillow that was still in my lap. Sage wasn't getting quite as good a show as
he might have wanted, but he fluttered joyously above me because I tended to put on clothes or get
under the covers before he took blood. He'd proven himself untrustworthy. I don't mind being groped
when I've invited it, but unwanted attention I didn't need. I figured with Rhys and Frost, I'd be safe
enough. Looking at Frost still standing by the door, I began to wonder.
"You agreed to this, Frost," I said.
"I agreed to give blood, but not to let the little fey work his glamour on me."
Sage turned in midair and fluttered back toward the bigger man. "A sidhe who fears the magic of a
demi-fey, what riddle is this?"
"I do not fear you, little man, but I will not willingly allow any fey to use his magic upon me."
"Allowing Sage to use glamour when he takes blood is the compromise, since I won't give him sex."
"It is not my compromise," Frost said, and he seemed to look taller, broader of shoulder, more sure of
himself. I'd learned that the more certain he seemed, the less certain he was, but he wouldn't have
thanked me for knowing that, let alone for sharing it.
Rhys sat up from the pillows where he'd been reclining. "Princess, may I?"
I made a small motion, and sighed. "If you think you can help."
"Let Sage taste Frost"  he hurried with the next words, because of the look of outrage on Frost's
face "as he tasted me, a tiny lick, nothing else. Let's see if Frost really tastes like a god, or whether he
just tastes sidhe."
It wasn't a bad idea. "Frost, will you allow Sage to lick you, that and nothing more?"
Frost opened his mouth, I think to refuse, but I added. "Frost, please, it's not that much to ask."
He hesitated a moment, then nodded, once. "I will allow it."
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"Sage," I said, "a small lick like you gave Rhys in the other room, nothing else."
Sage flew close enough to the bed for me to see a truly evil smile, but he nodded. I didn't trust it, but he
nodded again and fluttered toward Frost.
Frost started to take a step back, then seemed to realize what he was doing and stood his ground. Most
sidhe seemed to believe that no one short of another sidhe could use glamour on them successfully. It
wasn't true, but a lot of them believed it was. The fact that Frost didn't believe it made me wonder whose
magic he'd fallen afoul of. He reacted as if he had reason to fear the demi-fey.
"Wait," I said. "Has Frost ever been given to the demi-fey for torture like Galen was given to them?"
"No," Frost and Rhys said in unison.
Sage shook his head. "We've never had the pleasure of the Killing Frost staked out for us." He licked his
tiny lips, making enough of a show of it that we'd all see. "Yum."
Frost looked at me. "Don't make me do this."
"Do what? Let him lick your skin, see what you taste like? It's not a hardship, Frost. Did you fall afoul of
some lesser fey's glamour? Is that why you're worried?" The moment I said it, I knew I'd been too bold.
"I have fallen afoul of no fey." His face was at its most beautiful, cold and arrogant, with the bone
structure to make a plastic surgeon weep with envy. The grey of the silk robe seemed almost to blend
with the glittering silver of his hair. He was like some sculpture too beautiful to touch, too proud to stoop
to touching anyone else.
I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but didn't dare in front of the other men. I looked into that face,
trailed my gaze down his chest, his waist, thought about everything that lay under the robe, and knew that
even if we'd been alone, he might not have admitted that anything was wrong.
"Taste him, Sage." My voice sounded as tired and discouraged as I felt.
Sage moved forward, his wings barely moving, as if he should have fallen rather than floated. He
hovered just over Frost's face, then darted in and out, a blur of yellow and blue and red. He was near the
ceiling and out of reach before Frost could swat at his face, almost as if Sage had known he'd do it.
Sage was hissing, and at first I thought it was because Frost had swatted at him; then I heard the anger in
his voice. "He tastes no different from the white knight."
"Then take my blood and let Frost out of it," Rhys said.
Sage flew near the bed. He crossed tiny arms across his chest and stamped his foot in midair, as if he
were on solid ground. "No. I bargained for two sidhe warriors, and it's two I want."
"I'll give blood," Frost said, "but no glamour. I agreed to blood, not magic."
Rhys started to say something, but I touched his arm. "You'll have what we bargained for, Sage, all of it,
but let Frost go back to his bed. He's no use to us tonight."
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Frost flinched at my last words, a mere tightening around his eyes, but I'd made a study of him and knew
what it meant.
"Who would you have in his place?" Sage asked, flying lower so that he and I were face to face. "Galen,
perhaps?" His smile managed to be both evil and happy.
"You know better than to ask, Sage," I said.
He pouted, but he didn't mean it. "I will not share you with the goblin again. I want no drink from
Darkness." He seemed to think about it for a moment, then alit upon the pillow in my lap. The purple
satin sagged under his weight. He was always heavier than he looked, or even than I remembered.
"Nicca, then, for he is all that remains."
I nodded. "Agreed." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]