Lady of The Lake (Fey Academy for Spies, #3)

by C.N. Crawford

This man is a flickering flame in the darkness, and I’m the moth drawn to his fire. I know he’ll singe my wings, but I can’t resist the light.

Anyone who so much as looks in your direction without my permission will beg for death before I’m done with them.”

“Since when did you give a fuck about the gods? The only god you need to worship is me.”

Arwenna trembles, the rain slicking her pale hair to her face. “And what am I supposed to do?” Talan cuts her a sharp look. “Curtsy, Countess. You are supposed to curtsy to a princess.” She pales, frozen, a statue made not of marble or bronze, but of pure outrage. He exhales, then arches an eyebrow. “Must I really repeat myself, Lady Arwenna?” His voice is quieter now, mocking. “You know the rules better than most. Or have you somehow forgotten even the most basic etiquette?” Gritting her teeth, Arwenna keeps her eyes locked on me. Her lip curls slightly, baring her canines. Though vibrating with tension, she slowly bends her knees in a stiff, perfunctory curtsy. Her face flushes with fury.

a MAN

“Darling, don’t you know I’m a monster?”

Now, I’m your plaything.” His eyes glitter like dark jewels, and his gaze sweeps down my body, then up again. The dark, velvety feel of his magic wraps around me, making my pulse race. “Not nearly as much as I’d like you to be.” I stare up at him. “You and I don’t exactly go together.” “And yet here we are, the only two people in the world with primal powers. And I think you like me more than you let on. Even if you know I’m evil down to my bones, some part of you wants a taste of my poison. Underneath your pretty little uptight farm girl exterior, you hunger for chaos. You crave adventure. You want the freedom to make bad decisions.” His voice drops low, and a dangerous edge slides through his words. “And what’s a worse decision than me?”

Moths flutter around us—not metallic, but real ones that are bright blue. Corbinelle moths. Beautiful to look at, but they’re venomous. Like Talan, really.

“Will you have a little faith in me for once?” I say, my voice tight. “I’ve been cleaning up other people’s messes since I was a kid.”

I want to kiss every inch of your skin, to caress you with my tongue. To taste you would be to sip the nectar of an exquisite bloom…

Because sometimes, when you look at me, I think you want me to tear your dress off and fuck you so hard, you’ll wake the dead screaming my name.”

“I’ve been wanting to strip you naked and watch you come since the night you first insulted me, Nia.”

“Any signs of the assassins?” “Already gone, Your Highness. We’re sending trackers to hunt them down.” “Find them alive. I want their confession. Because they didn’t just try to kill me. They tried to kill my wife, a mistake I will make them regret.”

“And what if we end up separated?” “I will find you, little wife, wherever you go.

“My lethal wife.”

The way he’s looking at me like he’s about to lose control completely sends a dark thrill plummeting into my core. He’s desperate, the perfectly composed prince coming undone before me, and I want this moment to last forever. His expression is worshipful.

You felt like something I lost a long time ago. And ever since, I haven’t been able to clear my mind. Without you, now, I think it would feel like the air stopped moving through the trees. It would feel like the sun would never rise, the rivers would stop flowing, and everything would turn to dust.”

But you are an Agent of Avalon, a plague to our kingdom. The traitor I’ve been looking for all along. Isn’t that right, darling wife

“I will never stop thinking about you.” His voice is ragged. “Even when the stars burn out, you’ll still be in my head because you were the only thing that ever made me feel like I wasn’t completely alone.”