“Sweet peas?” I asked Adam, who was watching me.
“It’s your favorite flower and the only bottle of scent I ever saw in your bedroom,” he replied, making my eyebrows rise. “Syn, I was inside your apartment all the time working cases; I paid attention.”
“I just didn’t figure men did that kind of thing,” I replied.
“I do. I need to go get my sister. Kier said it takes a few hours to prepare a female for the ceremony—even with magic,” Adam said, scratching his head while he spoke. “Syn.”
“Yes?” I asked quietly.
“I’m going to kiss you,” he said before gently pulling me against him and lowering his mouth to mine.
His kiss was searching, and still I felt nothing, at least nothing I should be feeling. When he pulled his lips away from me, he looked a little torn. “It will come. I promise you, Syn, it will come.”
“What will?” I asked, pulling away from him.
“This internal fucking lust I feel for you, but every time I kiss you…never mind. I’ll go get my sister.”
He left me standing there as confused as he looked. I may be slow sometimes, but I had a sinking feeling that this bond we shared had fed him my emotions; ones that had nothing to do with him, at all. I still had yet to ask Ryder about the bond, and now I had no idea who I was supposed to learn from. Despite Ryder’s assurances that Adam’s mother would teach me everything I needed, she didn’t seem like she was going to teach me anything except the way to the front door, right now. The only one I knew here was Adam, and he was as clueless as I was.
I sat on the soft bed and waited for his sister to come. Adam had a sister; how freaking weird was that!? I hadn’t even thought to ask about my family, but it didn’t seem like a healthy idea to get too close to them, considering Dresden and my psychotic brother wanted me dead. Besides, they were Light Fae and snotty as all get out from what I saw, and I wasn’t interested in knowing anymore pretentious, adulteress, self-absorbed, homicidal snobs. What an eff-ed up family.
“I heard she was raised by humans,” a voice sounded from outside the door.
“Mother says she is to be groomed to become the Queen, and I don’t see that happening. I think Cadeyrn should sire the heir and toss her back to whence she came. Could you imagine it, Astrid? Raised by humans? She must be positively horrible.”
“She stole your brother; she is horrible, Moira. I say your father should throw her into a pit, and only allow her out to feed Cadeyrn when he is hungry; kill’s two birds with one stone. She can have his heir, and then we can be done with the thieving bitch.”
They laughed.
“I can totally hear you,” I said, glaring daggers at the cracked door.
Silence met my ears until they strolled in. The one looked like a female version of Adam—thick brown hair tumbled down her back, while lime green, and emerald eyes met mine. The other was a bit taller with lustrous auburn hair, and grey and blue eyes. I was off to a smashing start with his family. Both were dressed like something out of Pride and Prejudice. I wanted to laugh, I may not be dressed in the most fashionable of styles, but at least it wasn’t a couple of hundred years out of fashion.
“Positively rude. You will address us as is our right. I am Princess Moira, and this is my sister in-law. Princess Astrid,” the shorter of the two said haughtily.
“Sorry, raised by humans. I totally have no manners,” I said, watching as they looked me up and down with distaste.
Smashing fucking start.
“Girls, stop. Princesses should not act this way,” Mari admonished, coming in behind them with an angry glint in her eyes.
“Look, I didn’t mean to steal Adam from you, or Cadeyrn, or whatever you wanna call him,” I blurted with a touch of annoyance in my tone.
“Only a selfish person would steal a child from its mother,” his mother said, narrowing her eyes. So much for hoping she accepted my apology.
“Selfish? Didn’t Kier tell you what happened? I watched my parents being raped and slaughtered in front of me. I watched Fae kill them; assassins who were hired by the Light King, to kill me. I was a child; there was no way of knowing that the pain I felt at being helpless would bring Adam to me. Hell, I didn’t even know I had pulled him from your world into mine until this month! We had no idea we were even Fae. I get that it pisses you off, but it was not premeditated, or done maliciously. If I could give you back the years with him, I would.”
The two girls had the decency to look startled by my words. Not his mother, though, but at least she seemed to be considering my words.