“Am I not coming with you?”
Envy hadn’t imagined the subtle edge to her question, the hint of disbelief. They’d never played the game apart like this. At least not intentionally.
“No. You’ll remain here.”
He made a show of straightening his suit, pulling at his cuffs, as if he wished to look his best. He allowed innuendo to drip from his tone.
“I have a private matter to tend to. I’ll be gone for hours, so don’t wait up, Miss Antonius.”
He’d told her once before that if he took a lover to his bed, he’d need hours.
She hadn’t forgotten.
Camilla flinched.
Envy had never felt more like a villain.
But he left her standing there alone, looking like he’d broken her heart, then cut her with its sharp pieces.
To save his court and also keep Camilla safe, especially if Vittoria was still involved, he’d do much worse.
FORTY-NINE
CAMILLA STARED AT the door long after the prince had left.
He’d lied to her. Pretended he was seeking a lover when his expression looked as pained as hers. Had the idiot even realized he’d glanced away, his throat tight at that most crucial moment?
“What an ass.”
He was an even bigger ass if he believed she’d simply stay put. As far as Camilla knew, she was a guest in his circle and as such she could travel wherever she pleased.
Before deciding where she’d like to visit first, she plucked up a few discarded pages, scanning more of the clues he’d tossed away. Interesting. He believed Wolf was the messenger.
Camilla had a slightly different suspicion.
She called for a cloak and thick wool gloves, which took far longer than she’d expected. The maid who’d arrived was flushed, her eyes bright, almost feverish.
“Apologies for the delay, miss. Staff is short…” She trailed off, glancing back down the corridor. “Were you needing anything else?”
Camilla followed her gaze. No one emerged from what she presumed were the kitchens below. Typically, a cottage of this size was considered a country estate. Envy should have a full staff—butler, footmen, maids, and cook.
“Are you alone?” she asked the young demon.
The maid nibbled on her lower lip. “Just me and one footman left.”
Camilla’s brows knitted. Something in the way the demon had said they were the only ones left caused unease. Before Camilla could ask her to expound, the maid dropped a polite curtsy, then darted back down the hall.
Camilla stared after her for a few more moments, but Envy’s choice to keep the cottage barely staffed wasn’t really a great mystery. Maybe he didn’t use it often. Maybe the others were preparing for Camilla’s arrival at his House. Or the supposed guest he was expecting tonight.
Either way, she had bigger things to focus on.
Camilla donned her cloak, pulled on her gloves, then stole into the snow-covered night. Excitement thrummed through her as she inhaled the cold, spruce-scented air. The Seven Circles were under a constant cover of snow and ice, the realm a winter wonderland.
Her breath puffed in front of her as she darted along the tree line, her steps crunching on the frost-coated ground, sinking into the soft coldness below.
She glanced behind at the cottage, the windows glowing with warm gold light. She’d half expected Alexei to emerge, but wherever Envy had gone, his second seemed to have followed. Envy probably expected her to stay inside the cottage.
A renewed sense of annoyance had her pressing on, searching for the far western edge of Envy’s circle. Soon enough, the howl rent the air due north of where she’d paused. The sound raised an army of goose bumps along her arms.
Camilla tossed a quick glance around once last time, to be certain she wasn’t being followed, then plunged into the woods. The animals grew silent, watchful.
A predator lurked nearby.
Several minutes later, she found him sitting on a mound, a brook fighting against the elements nearby, the trickle nearly frozen but refusing to submit to winter’s might.
“Wolf.”
“What a delight.” His teeth gleamed in the moonlight. “Our paths cross again.”
He’d discarded his hat, allowing the full majesty of his Fae glory to shine.
He knew what he was doing. And Camilla allowed herself to admire him for a beat.
His white hair was tousled from the gusts of arctic wind, his ears on full display. His star-kissed appearance like the night in all its glittering charm.
He was still beautiful, still as ageless as the last time she’d seen him up close, two years before. His Otherness reminding her of how quickly he’d enchanted her, how fast she’d wanted him in her bed. But he was a reminder of her past. Of a choice she’d been given years too late.
“You had a message,” Camilla said. “Give it now.”
Wolf tsked.
“Is that any way to speak to an old friend?”
He unfolded himself from the rock and was suddenly before her, her hands clasped in his as he swung her around. He danced them across the snow, humming a tune that would enchant any mortal who heard it.
“My sweet little lover,” he crooned against her ear. “Come to court. Imagine the fun we could have. Twisted in sheets, twisted in our dark souls. Don’t you wonder what it could be?”
She did. And that was the problem. She shouldn’t want to go to the dark court at all.
Camilla allowed him his moment, then halted, feet stubbornly fixed to the ground.
“You brought me out here in the dead of night, I came. Give me the message. I’m sure you have many mortals to charm.”
“Some immortals, too.” His chuckle was filled with sensual promise. “Why deny what you are? You hide under that fa?ade, dimming your light. Year after year.”
He trailed a nimble finger along her ear, his expression sad.
“Do you even remember what you are? Or has playing pretend for the humans made you think you are one?”
She batted his hand from her ear, then strode away, furious. “I am not here to debate my choices.”
Or lack thereof.
“Then tell me what you are. Prove you still know.”
Camilla’s throat tightened, her hands curling into fists. She had not admitted the truth out loud since the first day they arrived in Waverly Green and her mother had forbidden it.
Wolf’s animal-like eyes glowed dangerously.
“Shall I remind you what it was like, to finally be with an equal?” he said quietly. “Not to have to hold back?”
She was breathing entirely too fast, her nails carving crescent moons into her palms.
“You wanted me, Camilla, because we are the same. When you came to me in the dark market, you knew I could give you what no mortal man could.”
“Yet you take mortal women to your bed. Do they not give you what you desire?”
“You know as well as I do, I cannot truly fuck a mortal without glamour. It will never be the same as it was between you and me. Flirt with your demon now, but when the time comes, you’ll mate with a Fae. There is a place for you in the Wild Court.”
This was not at all the way she’d wanted this conversation to go.