“Understatement,” she said under her breath. To her utter surprise, Steve chuckled and nudged her shoulder with his arm. His misplaced humor unsettled her even more. That he’d had a knife to his throat a few minutes earlier and murderous intent obvious in his brother’s actions, and yet maintained his familiar calm and unbothered character…
Stress. You’re delusional, girl.
“I downplay my brother’s faults for fear of hurting his delicate ego.” To Thaddeus, who now appeared to fume at Steve’s lightheartedness, he added, “But Rori has a point. After all, you storm into my home with your twisted version of brotherly love, and the sole intent of beheading your only brother in the name of the Tuatha de Danann and all that bullshit, right?”
Rori shot to her feet and grabbed Steve’s wrist when he took a challenging step toward the beast of a creature. Brother by blood or not, Rori caught the faint narrowing of Thaddeus’s eyes like a predator waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He had not moved or provoked Steve, but the air was rife with tension that she began to believe was a silent trap forged with magic.
She would not bear witness to her best friend’s boyfriend being mutilated by his psycho brother. Not tonight.
I need to get us out of here.
“Steve—”
“Cael,” Thaddeus correctly sharply.
Rori snapped a furious glance at him and quickly regretted it. Thaddeus’s eyes flashed with shards of gold in those icy blues, his lips drawn into a tight line while one brow slowly lifted. The very corner of his mouth began to curl upward, the devil in disguise more tempting than he had been thus far. Heat stirred between her thighs and butterflies danced at the base of her throat.
Steve covered her hand with his. “It’s okay. He won’t harm you.”
“Let’s just get out of here. Cassy’s hurt,” Rori whispered. She wasn’t sure if it mattered how quietly she spoke, whether Thaddeus could hear her or not. By the shift of his gaze to her sleeping friend before returning his brutally piercing attention to her, she surmised his hearing was otherworldly. Like every other aspect of him. “Let’s walk away.”
“And forego the fun?” Steve shook his head. “I assure you, Cassy’s fine.”
“For how long?” She cast a side glance toward the subject of her question. “I don’t understand what happened here tonight, but it doesn’t involve Cassy or me. Call the cops. Get them involved.”
Steve barked out a laugh and eased her hand away from his wrist. “Police can’t do a thing against the Fae. We handle our quarrels ourselves.”
Rori shuffled away a few steps, her eyes widening. Fae. Did he say…Fae? Her gaze went between both men, their golden hair and pointy ears. The magic she’d witnessed. Theperfection.
Fae.
“Oh, God.”
Thaddeus stepped closer to her, a murderous hand reaching for her face. She smacked him away with a growl.
“Don’t youdaretouch me.”
He huffed, that tiny grin turning back into a scowl. “Your little mortal has fire. That I’ll give you.”
“She not alittle mortal, nor is shemywoman. The one on the sofa is mine.”
“Disgraceful,” Thaddeus hissed.
“Disgraceful? What about it is disgraceful?”
Steve’s demeanor shifted so suddenly, becoming as cold as his brother’s, that Rori found herself inching away, closer to the knobless door. She’d figure out a way to escape, call the police, and get Cassy to safety. She was no good to either of them dead.
Steve stalked closer to his brother. “What, Thad? That I choose to live a happy life with a woman who brings me joy? That I shun the ideas of the Seelie and think they’re all archaic in their perceptions of humans? That I didn’t bow down and pant after a spoiled fucking princess who fawned over your childhood best friend?” Steve flicked his hand dismissively and groaned, “Give me a fucking break. Something tells me you’re not in a good place right now if you’re coming here to dispatch your own blood. Our parents would be rolling in the heavens if they could bear witness to your disgusting behavior.”
Rori’s interest piqued as she paused precariously between the sofa and Steve. Long enough to watch Thaddeus’s expression shift and melt into something dark and sinister, like a golden demon. The temperature in the room dropped, leaving a chill to caress her bare skin. A conflict of appearance and essence that clashed in an electrical zing that hummed in the air. A warning.
“You know naught of my affairs with Daeanna and have no authority to speak on them.”
“And you think you can come here after a century and deem yourself higher-than-thou to speak onmyaffairs? Thosewhich you knownaughtabout?” Steve’s snide jab was shadowed beneath his growing frustration. It was a side Rori had never seen in him before. “Your princess is dead.” Steve leaned toward his brother and snapped, “Dead!”
He spun away with a flagrant wave of his arm that knocked Rori back before she could duck away. She stumbled, lost her balance, and smacked hard into the devil god who had lunged at his brother. Instant fire exploded beneath her skin as Thaddeus stiffened under her weight, his attack lost as she battled the invasive warmth running rampant in every direction, down every limb, through every nerve and cell and fiber of her being. She was all too aware of the hard muscles in the arms she clung to, hidden beautifully beneath soft silk. The sight of an unmoving chest inches from her eyes as he held his breath, all the while his sultry scent permeated her with each shallow breath she struggled to take. Wisps of that magical blue skittered and faded across his skin, each vein connecting with something deep inside her she couldn’t understand.
Somehow, she grew a backbone and remembered how to use her muscles. She tipped her head up.
