And then Helio’s heart was in his throat, because Benny wasn’t alone on the beach.
He was, by all appearances, talking to another human, but that would be impossible. And Helio knew that face and that form, however disguised it might be.
Cyprian was here.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
How long had he and Benny been talking? Had Benny made any promises? Accepted any favors?
Helio approached them with hurried strides—it would give too much away to sprint, but it was tempting. Benny was smiling at Cyprian openly, so sweet and trusting.
Helio wanted to cover his face. That openness was for him alone now, not for fae interlopers who would betray and abuse it.
“Helio,” Cyprian purred at his arrival, not at all surprised to see him. “I was just making the acquaintance of your charming guest. Although”—he dipped his chin to Benny, eyes flashing—“I didn’t catch your full name, Benny.”
“Don’t tell him,” Helio said quickly, all subtlety and artifice melting away in the face of his terror.
He ignored the way his clear distress made Cyprian preen, too focused on Benny, on his cheerful smile that morphed into something warm and intimate as he looked at Helio.
Helio stepped between him and Cyprian. “What are you doing here?”
Cyprian gave a languid little shrug. “Just a small check-in, Helio dearest. Our queen has been sensing your presence in the realm for some time now. She grew…curious.”
Of course she did. Helio didn’t usually stay in one place this long, preferring to bounce around between the realms.
Still. The queen’s attention was…less than ideal.
“I’ve been banished from the court,” Helio said airily. “What does our queen care about my dalliances now?”
“Dalliances indeed.” Cyprian’s gaze roamed over Benny’s form with clear appreciation. Helio resisted the urge to pluckhis roving eyes out. “Benny here was just singing the praises of your…private island.” He smirked. “Tell me, Benny, do you know the name of where you are? The name of the island, perhaps? Or even the country?”
For all that Helio had always thought Benny oblivious, he seemed to know when he was being taunted, his large frame curling into Helio slightly at Cyprian’s words. As if Helio was a point of safety.
A surge of protectiveness ran through Helio, strong and hot. He wrapped an arm around Benny’s shoulders. “Leave,” he snapped at Cyprian. “Now.”
He was playing it all wrong, he knew. It should have been a verbal dance, a battle of barbed jabs and parries. But two seconds in Cyprian’s presence and Helio was remembering howexhaustingit all was. He’d been dining on the sweet simplicity of Benny’s honesty for too long, and now the fae obfuscations and half-truths were too cloying to tolerate.
“Leave now?” Cyprian clucked his tongue. “But I’ve been so rude. Wearing cheap masks in front of old friends.”
And then Cyprian, the asshole that he was, dropped his glamour, revealing his very obviously otherworldly beauty. He grew several inches, his ears turning pointed at the tips, his skin taking on a quite noticeable glimmering golden glow.
Cyprian smirked at Helio. “Would you like to drop your mask as well, old friend? It must be chafing after all this time.”
Helio felt his glamour dropping. He couldn’t stop it—Cyprian had the power of the court behind him, and Helio was no more than a lowly outcast.
“Whoa.” Benny didn’t scream, didn’t shout, but he did step back from Helio’s hold, his brown eyes wide.
“Well, this has been fun,” Cyprian purred. “But I really ought to be going. Don’t worry, I’ll be back to check in soon.” He winked. “Very soon.”
And then he was blinking out of existence, presumably on his way back to the court, to update their queen on Helio’s latest humiliation.
Leaving Helio alone with Benny.
8
Helio
Helio tried to keep his breathing steady as Benny stared back at him, his gaze roaming over Helio’s form.
