Twenty-Eight

“No!” Seth roared.

“It’s a strategic idea,” Anthony reasoned.

He shook his head, “I will not allow it.” 

“Why don’t you ask her?” Anthony asked, “You know she’d love to do anything that would help you win.”

“I don’t want to have her alone with Kellen, especially without guards. She won’t be protected and there are too many faeries out there that would see that as a way to gain leverage. The answer is no!” Seth was able to keep his tone fairly level, but the more he thought about her out there alone that when he reached the end of his speech he was yelling.

“She is the only one the Dark King will talk to. He could easily let something slip. If all goes well tonight, she could be the reason we win,” Anthony persuaded.

Seth sighed, the rush of anger gone from his tone, “I’ll talk to her.”

Anthony looked uncomfortable, “Well, actually, I already told her. . . she’s getting ready now.”

“And when were you going to tell me this?!” He demanded.

“I was hoping you would say yes, do you want me to tell her she can’t go?”

Seth scowled, “I guess not, she’d get mad for not letting her do this. But if anything happens to her I swear I’ll-”

Anthony cut off his threat with a serious nod, “Trust me, Seth, we know the risk.”

Darby looked at Montana. “What do you think? And tell me the truth,” she gestured at the ridiculously short dress and extremely low and revealing v-neck.

“You look like a s**t,” Montana told her honestly.

“It’s a pretty color. . .” Darby murmured, trying to find something nice to say about the dress that looked as though it would belong in a hooker’s closet.

“It’s perfect for your job and Kellen will love it. But you still look like a s**t.”

“Maybe I’m not cut out for this,” Darby faced the mirror, chewing on her lower lip.

“Don’t doubt yourself, you have to be confident or else this isn’t going to work. I know you can do this.”

“Okay,” Darby quickly inhaled.

If I don’t get on board now I’ll lose my nerve when I get there.

Kellen was finally content. 

He had a drink in his hand, music beating through him, and his fey competing for his attention.

Just like how it used to be.

It was a sinister environment, a club that was only open for fey past four a.m. It was two now and the fey were getting impatient. But the mortals were probably to drunk to notice them if they showed their tattoos and wings anyway.

One of his faeries crawled into his lap and licked his cheek. He held her there by the waist as a few other fey lounged on or around his body. He remained unfazed as he drank, but when he felt his faeries freeze he looked up at the disturbance.

The moment he saw her his heart skipped a beat. She was nervous, he could easily see that. But he had more important things about her to focus on. He tasted the jealousy of the other fey as they saw her and even he had to fight to keep his feelings nonchalant so she wouldn’t taste the longing.

As she approached her confidence seemed to grow with every step as his diminished. He chugged down the rest of his glass and as the alcohol set in he began to relax.

“Are you busy?” Darby questioned, eyeing the fey that were on him.

“I always have time for you, darling,” he pulled off the clinging faeries, giving them each a kiss as they went onto the dance floor.

She sat down on the stool carefully, probably to make sure the dress wouldn’t get any shorter. Personally, he loved the dress, especially with her in it. He knew that it was a trick, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy her attempt.

“Can I buy you a drink?” He asked, not taking his eyes off her body.

One drink and I could make it all come off.

She shook her head, “I came to negotiate.”

“And the dress’s purpose?” He cocked an eyebrow.

She leaned forward suggestively, “To distract you.”

He peeled his eyes off her chest and gazed into her equally dreamy eyes. “It certainly serves its purpose, doesn’t it?”

“I’d like to believe it does.”

“Well,” he took the glass of dark wine the bar tender handed him, “before we negotiate, why don’t we talk a little?”

She laughed, “And what would you want to talk about?”

“You’re Seth’s pet now, right?”

“Lover,” she corrected, her eyes flashing. 

He widened his eyes as though this information was news to him, “Lovers? You’re serious now. And I thought, sunshine had no game.”

She smiled, “Oh, he’s quite good.”

He took a sip, “Hmm. . .” the thought of not having her was enough to have him lose his mind, but he never dwelled much on the prospect of the Light King and her together. His hands and lips running the length of her body. . .

It should be me.

“Yeah,” she went on, “and I’m not about to let you ruin it.” she misjudged his silence for plotting instead of grieving. 

He rolled his eyes, “Best get used to it, love.”

“Will you stop with that!” she commanded in annoyance.

“That’s the thing about being king,” he drawled, “I don’t have to do what I don’t want to do.”

She huffed, obviously irritated, “Can we just discuss the reason I’m here? I want to leave.”

Kellen watched her, “Why would Seth send you here to do his dirty work? Seems awfully risky, our history and all.”

“Seth loves me, and I love him,” It took all of his self control to not wince at those words, “he includes me in matters of his empire. He gives me a reason for being there, not just as his play thing,” Darby explained coldly.

He moved close enough to her that they were touching and dropped the facade, “I didn’t involve you for your own safety.”

Her face softened, “I know.”

“Don’t forget that,” he told her.

She looked away from his eyes, “I wish I could.”

He closed his eyes as he said, “I want to hear you say that you like me better on my knees.”

He felt her hand touch his cheek and he glanced up at her. And for one moment he could pretend that she cared. Seeing what she was doing Darby dropped her hand into her lap, “Kellen, you have to stop, we have our place now and it’s not together. I need to talk about the war, not us.”

It’s so unfair.

But he channeled the darkness inside him so he wouldn’t be so weak, “Look at what it’s come to,” he chuckled, “I’ve been giving all these icky orders to destroy you, that is if you refuse to give up.”

She paled but replied in a strong voice, “Try. I want to see you try and kill me. We all know you couldn’t do it.”

He laughed, “I wouldn’t want too, but I could. Do not deny that I couldn’t. If it came down to it I would singlehandedly slaughter you along with your king. Got it memorized?”

She sat there, speechless.

He didn’t say anything more as he downed the rest of his glass. In the mean time a couple of light faeries were getting serious behind them. He looked down as their skin touched, creating a blinding light.

Darby, still stunned, blinked at the light.

He sat the empty glass down and smirked, a little proud that his words had etched themselves so far into her mind. “Here’s a novel concept, turn your back to the light and it won’t shine in your face.”

She followed his advice and finally mumbled, “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say now.”

He smiled in spite of herself, “Let me know when you know.” He took a shot and waited for her to come up with the right words.

I’m disappointing Seth.

She hated how true the thought was and it brought her to force speech.

“What do you want?”

Kellen looked up, surprised by the sudden question, “Excuse me?”

“What’s the point of the war? What could you possibly need or want from it? And don’t say Seth’s death, you would’ve killed him a long time ago if that was the reason.”

He was silence for a minute, in deep thought, finally he said, “I want what I can’t have.”

He has everything he could possibly want.

“Is war really going to make that happen?”

“Possibly, if things work in my favor.”

“What don’t you have that you want so bad?”

He snorted, “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Apparently not,” she wracked her brain for an obvious answer. Nothing came to mind.

He chuckled wryly, “You always did struggle with obvious things.”

She scowled, “Tell me. That’s why I’m here,” she leaned closer to him so she was almost in his lap.

“Darling, I’m not stupid. If I tell you then you could win the war.”

Darby cocked her head so her hair fell over her shoulders and bushed against his wrists, “Don’t you want to get it off your chest?”

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to.”

“Tell me and I’ll let you buy me a martini.”

It’s so Seth will win. It’s all for him.

But she couldn’t fully convince herself that she wouldn’t want it too.

He sighed, “Why are you making this so difficult?”

“I’m good at my job.”

“Sorry love,” he got up and slipped away into the crowd. Humans and faeries alike turned their attention to him, and he danced with them as he went by; looking every bit like he belonged there with them.

Finding no other purpose for being there Darby left the club. Seeing Kellen again had both excited and tired her. But just the notion of knowing that she wouldn’t be going home with him brought familiar tears to her eyes. She blinked them away instantly.

This is pathetic. He’s probably already slept with half the women in that club already. 

But her thought that was meant to be self-encouraging only made the tears fall harder. She bowed her head down and wiped her cheeks. But not seeing what was in front of her, she ran into someone.

“Sorry,” Darby mumbled.

“Darby?” A familiar voice asked in surprise.

A smile lit up her face, “Philip!”

“What are you doing out here on your own? It’s not safe, especially with the war,” he looked at her worriedly.

“I had business and I didn’t want guards.”

“No business is important enough to leave you unprotected. Do you want a ride home or would you like to talk over dinner?”

“Let’s talk, I want to make it seem like I did more than I actually did,” she told him as he walked with her down the street to a restaurant.

Philip chuckled, seeming to guess what it was she was doing and who she was with, “I would’ve thought for sure that the dress would work.”

She blushed and said in disgust, “Me too.”

He took off his coat and gave it to her, “Tell me what happened.”

“Thank you,” she put it on, instantly feeling better and more covered up. 

They walked into the restaurant and as the waitress left them to order Philip began, “I assume you saw Kellen then.”

“I had to,” she explained, “Anthony said it could give us an advantage in the war.”

“And how did it go?”

“He didn’t even tell me why he started the war,” she groaned, “It was horrible, I was horrible.”

Philip looked confused, “You didn’t know? If Anthony sent you I figured that they would’ve known.”

She studied him for a moment and then closed her eyes as the realization set in, “Why the hell is he starting a war over me? It’s not Seth’s fault that he loves me and Kellen can’t.”

I can’t believe it, Montana was actually right.

“He’s punishing Seth because he has you. It may not be Seth’s fault that he loves you, but the only way he can bear not being able to love you is by getting rid of Seth.”

“Why didn’t you just advise him out of it?” She asked suspiciously, “He would’ve moved on eventually.”

“He wouldn’t be able to get over you,” Philip shook his head, “and I don’t blame him. But I tried to advise him out of it, but you know how Kellen is when he’s determined. I had no choice but to go along with it.”

Darby was quiet before shyly asking, “If he started a war over me then he has to miss me. . . does he?”

“Of course he does, haven’t you seen him? I’ve never seen any faerie, especially a dark one, miss anything so much. You should’ve seen him after you left.”

The thought of it alone was enough to break her heart. 

“I will always love him,” she murmured, “even though I’m on Seth’s side.”

Philip sighed, “No matter what one of us is going to die.” 

“I thought it was only the king,” she stared at him.

“Without the king the empire dies.”

How come nobody told me this?

“Why don’t they just appoint a new king?”

“Sorus crowned them kings because they were the only ones who had exactly what the empires needed. Finding someone as perfect for the job as them could take centuries. All the fey would die before that would happen. The youngest go first all the way until there’s no one.”

“This is all my fault,” she put her head in her hands, gaining her a weird look from the waiter as he came back to take their order. Once he left again Darby went on, “if I didn’t tell Kellen I loved him this would all be fine. Kellen would be happy, no war, and no death.”

“That’s not fair to you. You need love, and Kellen knew that when he was with you. He set himself up for this,” Philip rubbed her hand soothingly.

“Then why is he killing Seth if he knew this would happen?”

“Because I don’t think he fully counted on it happening. And now that it has, he’s overcome with jealousy. He wants you to be happy. . . just not with Seth.”

“Doesn’t leave me much to be happy with, does he?” Darby raised an eyebrow.

“He’s the Dark King, happiness really isn’t his forte.”

“He does try though,” a hint of a smile showing on her face.

“He has good intentions,” he agreed.

This time she did smile, “I missed you so much.”

Philip laughed as the waiter set their food done on the table, “Me too, the flat’s been quiet without you.”

Darby took a bite of chicken, remembering the first time she ate food as a faerie with Philip. The memory made her want to laugh. “What were you doing before I ran into you tonight?” She asked, changing the subject.

“What I’ve been doing every night, taking care of Kellen. I was going to pick him up at the club.”

“What for?”

“I didn’t want to let him get completely wasted, we have to talk with the fey tomorrow, and them seeing their king hungover doesn’t really say inspirational.”

She laughed as her phone rang in her bag.

“I bet that’s Seth, go ahead and answer it,” he excused her.

Darby smiled at him before taking the call, “Hello?”

“It’s Seth.”

“Hi, miele, what do you need?” 

“Just checking up on you. Is everything okay?”

“Well kinda,” Darby didn’t want to tell him how bad she did tonight, “Kellen didn’t help me much, even with the dress,” she heard Philip snort in the background, “but then I ran into Philip and he took me out to dinner.”

“Can I speak with him?”

“Umm, sure,” she said puzzled, handing the phone to an equally baffled Philip. She listened curiously to what she could hear of the conversation.

“Yes, she’s fine. And no, I don’t know all of what went on between Kellen and her,” he chuckled, then paused as Seth responded. “Yeah, I’ll take her home. Alright, bye.”

“What did he want?” Darby asked.

“Just wanted to make sure you were safe, he was incredibly worried. He also wanted to know how much I knew of what happened, which wasn’t much. But I would be curious to see what else went on.”

She eyed him, “I don’t know if I’m actually supposed to tell you.”

Philip laughed loudly, “Darby, not only did I answer your question but I’m sure I gave you more information than I should’ve. Same with you. I only ask because if Kellen did something stupid he won’t tell me and you would. He is my responsibility, not just as a king, but as an adult too.”

Darby never had a problem with trusting Philip and he always seemed to be honest with her. She gave in. “Well, we really didn’t get anywhere. There was some talk about Seth and he actually opened up for a moment. I didn’t get very far when it came to the war.”

“What did he say?”

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to give up the brief personal moment they shared so readily, it was their last good time. 

“He told me that he kept me out of the political affairs for my protection. And he wanted me to say that I liked him better on his knees.”

He forgot the reason we were both there, that we weren’t fully alone. He let go of the arrogance and cruelty for a minute. The look in his eyes reminded me why I fell in love with him in the first place.

Philip seemed proud as he smiled, “He won’t ever stop caring for you.”

“But he doesn’t love me.”

“If he could he would.”

Darby sighed in exasperation, “He is such an a*s! But then. . . he can be so sweet.”

“He’s a very complex person,” He agreed.

“And now we have to lose him.”

“Well,” Philip took a drink of his beer, “I have to admit, I’m still counting on Seth’s death.”

She gave him a small smile, seeing as they reached an impasse. But she swirled the straw around her glass and asked, “Honestly, who do you think has a better chance?”

“It’s to even to tell. I think it’ll be a matter of luck.”

One mistake could change the outcome of the war.

The frightening thought made her feel sick.

“I’m not sure if I want to talk about this, can you change the subject?” She mumbled.

“Umm, sure. So,” Philip seemed to be at a loss for a conversation, “I hear that there’s going to be a big storm this weekend.”

She laughed, “I think we have to much going on to make small talk.”

Philip grinned, “Then how about I pay the check and take you home. You look exhausted.”

I feel exhausted.

But she nodded and smiled, trying desperately to shake the thought that his could be the last time she’d see him alive.

As much as I love Kellen, I won’t allow Seth to die. I need to pick a side, even if it kills Kellen.