Summer of Frost (Forever Fae #3)(24)
Oren shook his head. “Not yet. We’re waiting on Durin to get here. They’re going to need you, too. If anyone can find out the information we need it’s you.”
Anger flashed through me as the pain from my wound sparked again. “You’re damn right it’s going to be me. If he doesn’t cooperate he’s going to have some really nasty nightmares, and I’m going to love giving them to him. Besides, I owe him some pain.” I smiled deviously.
Drake laughed and kissed me softly on the lips. If Oren wasn’t watching I would’ve deepened the kiss, and probably done more if my shoulder wasn’t hurting. “Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Drake confessed.
“Oh, you’ve been there, and even though you’ve pissed me off I still never had the desire to hurt you the way I could hurt others.”
“And for that I’m thankful,” Drake admitted sheepishly. “Do you think you’re ready to work your magic?”
Confident, I nodded. “More than ready.”
Brokk was seated in the throne room surrounded by multiple warriors, including King Oberon and Drake, while Durin and I congregated outside to go through our game plan. Durin, the leader of the dwarves, just arrived and wanted an update so I filled him in on what I planned to do. Durin exuded power and was definitely a force to be reckoned with. He stood about four foot tall with closely cut brown hair, and was built with pure muscle. He was a confident man who never once balked when people had to look down at him. His confidence made him appear as if he was a giant, and he was also well respected. Most of the dwarves were hairy and smelled very musky at times, but Durin was different. He was closely shaven and neatly dressed every time I saw him, and never smelled bad. His warm hazel eyes could see through anyone’s soul, or at least that’s how it felt when he would look at you. They were intense. There were several women on our council who fawned over him every time he visited, and I was sure that was why he made it a point to come talk to my father, King Madoc.
“When I ask him questions, what do you have to do to find out if he’s telling the truth?” Durin asked.
“If I touch him or if I’m close to him I can usually tell that way. It all depends on how strong his feelings are. If it gets really complicated I’ll have to go about this in another way. What do you know about Brokk? What is he afraid of?” I asked curiously. I needed to know what to do if I had to invade his dreams.
Durin was lost in thought for a moment, but then he answered, “He hates the water. He almost drowned one time after he fell into one of the lakes. His armor kept dragging him down. Ever since then, before he left our lands, he stayed away from the water.”
Smiling devilishly, I was ready for the mind games. “Let’s do this, but first, I want to introduce myself to him … the Winter Court way.”
Durin chuckled. “Have fun, Princess. I had a feeling you’d want to make him pay for shooting you.” I answered with a wink.
When the doors opened, Durin and I walked in together. Brokk’s eyes went wide at the sight of his leader, but then he turned smug and unreadable. He wanted us to think he wasn’t scared, but I saw the tremble in his body when we first walked in. The cool and calm look on Brokk’s face only spurred my anger even more, making my steps furious and hard against the marble floors as I approached him. Once he was within striking distance, I reared my arm back and punched him so hard in the face I could feel bones crack. The pain in my shoulder sent a wave of agony through my body, but I didn’t show any sign of weakness even though I was sweating like crazy from the igniting pain.
Brokk’s chair fell back, tumbling him awkwardly to the floor. Trying to hide their smiles, a couple of the warriors bent down to right Brokk’s chair with him strapped helplessly to it. Blood ran down his face, and I couldn’t bite back the smile even if I wanted to.
“Hello Brokk. It’s nice to meet you, especially now that I don’t have an arrow sticking out of my back.”
Brokk grimaced. “That was a mistake. I didn’t know it was you. I thought you were the one strapped to the post.”
“Oh, you better be glad that wasn’t me,” I warned darkly, sidling closer so he could see the promise in my eyes. “Because if it was me, little dwarf, I would’ve ripped you limb to limb and enjoyed every single glorious scream that came from your traitorous mouth. No one hurts my people and gets away with it.”
With that, I slowly backed up and let Durin take over. Brokk’s feelings were everywhere, and since I already had contact with his flesh I was confident I’d be able to read him clearly from a short distance away. Drake left his father’s side and joined me by mine. Leaning over, he whispered in my ear, “Nice work, beautiful. You looked sexy as hell out there. I was about to have to fight off my warriors if you kept it up. You should’ve seen the way they were all salivating over you. Do I need to mark my territory?”
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled him down to place a tender kiss against his lips. He instantly crushed me to him and kissed me back fiercely earning several gasps from the crowd. I laughed when he released my lips, realizing why he did what he did. If anyone else tried to do that they would be sprawled out on the floor in pain, but with Drake claiming me it felt right.
“I guess you just marked your territory,” I said, smiling. “I actually find it kind of hot that you want to mark me as yours, but you have nothing to worry about. I will always be yours.” He grinned and kissed me again before turning his attention back to Durin and Brokk.