Betrayals of Spring (Forever Fae #2)(30)
I spot the perfect candidate for tonight and he appears important enough standing with the nobles. I would say he is the son of a council member by the arrogance in his stance. That’s good enough for me. Now I need to find the person I have come here to take over. I could tell she was wearing the magical object because of the strong pull urging me toward it. I can see my target across the room and there lying between her breasts is the magical purple stone dangling from a silver chain.
I only have to wait for a few minutes before my chance to take over her body suddenly appears. As she’s sauntering away by herself, I take the opportunity to plunge into her body and take it as my own. With my enhanced power, she will have no idea that her body has been taken over. That is one of the factors that will make tonight even more enjoyable.
I have never taken over a woman’s body and being in one is awkward and uncomfortable. How can they wear this shit? The dress is tight as hell and I can barely breathe. I find the Winter fae I am to pursue and I sashay as best I can in these worthless contraptions women call shoes.
“Would you like to dance?” I ask him. I cringe at the sound of a female’s voice coming from my throat. It is awkward, but I have to do what is necessary to get what I want.
He looks this body up and down and bites his lip. The look he gives my host is pure animalistic. I groan in silence. This is going to be harder than I thought. He bows his head and holds out his hand.
“I would love to dance with a Summer beauty.” Not for long, I think to myself.
I grab his hand firmly and I pull him to the dance floor. He seems to like how I take control. He’s delighted, so I plaster on a seductive smile and continue. How pathetic can someone be? I can sense his power is stronger than the servants, but it in no way matches one of the royals. Calista’s power was unimaginable when I took it, and when I take Meliantha’s it will be just as strong and enticing. Time is wasting, so I decide to move along.
With a faux politeness I ask, “May I have the pleasure of your name?”
He responds snobbishly, “My name is Darius. My father is on the Winter Court Council and highly respected among the Winter Court fae.” I was right. He is a noble and too arrogant for his own good. I wouldn’t tolerate people like this in my army. They all know their place and to act in this manner would mean death.
I’ll be detected if I linger much longer.
To speed things up I say, “After the dance, how about we take a walk and get to know each other better?”
He raises his eyebrows with a glint in his eye.
“That sounds like a perfect idea,” he answers with a malicious grin. Yeah, I bet it does. I look around the ballroom and I see Calista and Meliantha dancing on the floor with their escorts. They give no notice of me, so I’m safe for now. However, Meliantha’s guardian is looking at me with suspicion. I need to make sure my departure goes unnoticed by his prying eyes.
The song ends and I quickly drag the Winter fae out of the ballroom and into the bitter frost of the night. I’m glad I planned ahead and hid my iron dagger in the snow on the west side of the palace. I spelled it so no one could see it or detect it. Darius grabs the hand of the body I have overtaken and loops my arm through his. Being this close to him makes me want to kill him at once, but I try to keep in mind that this isn’t my body and that I am pretending to be a helpless Summer fae maiden. One thing is certain…never again will I take over a female’s body.
I pull him in the westward direction and we set off in a brisk pace away from the palace. He must be eager to get a taste of this Summer apple, but I’m afraid he is going to be sorely disappointed. We are nearing the western courtyard where I have hidden the dagger. It is nestled under a canopy of snow by the base of the giant birch tree.
“How do you like the Winter Court palace, my lady?” he asks.
I shrug my shoulders, “I don’t like the cold, but I like that it’s dark.”
He’s still smiling, but he looks confused when he asks, “But you’re a Summer fae. I thought the Summer maidens usually danced in the sunlight naked, and enjoyed the light…or at least that’s what I have dreamed.” I should have ripped his tongue out earlier. He deserves to die because of the ridiculous shit he’s babbling off.
I give him a malevolent grin and the menacing tone in my voice has him panicked when I sneer, “Most of us like it sunny, but not me. I like it dark and violent with the smell of death.”
His eyes go wide and he nervously takes a step back.
“It’s getting late, maybe we should head back.”
I bend down to the ground and I remove the spell from the iron dagger. I reach down to grab it from its resting place.
I leer back at the quivering fae and tease, “But I thought you wanted to have some fun?” I notice his body is physically shaking, and I can tell his flight response is about to kick in. I heave magic at his feet to keep him rooted in place.
“Tsk, tsk, Darius. That isn’t very gentlemanly of you to leave a lady out here all by herself,” I taunt.
“Whatever you are, you are no lady.”
Underneath the skin of my borrowed body is the talisman ready to be brought forth. I wear it around my neck inside of my host’s body. To get it to the outside I have to will it. I make the talisman appear around the host’s neck and I pull it off to place around the Winter fae. We are far enough away that if he screams, I’ll be finished before anyone even gets here. Once the talisman is securely placed, what do you know…he screams.