A Taste of Poison (Entangled with Fae #4)

by Tessonja Odette

“If we’re on a first-name basis, does that mean we’re friends?” “No.” “But we’re more than cold acquaintances, and for the time being, we aren’t enemies. Are we allies then? Or partners!” I find my heart skittering at the last word. I know she meant it in a business sense, but partners can have a romantic connotation when used a certain way.

I give her a halfhearted smile that only tugs one side of my lips. “I’ll try not to die.”

Helody limps back on all fours, then slowly dips into a shaky bow. A bow. To Torben.

As far as anyone knows, part fae have always aged at the same rate humans do, stopping only when they reach maturity.

Many pureblood fae born after unification aged at a humanlike rate until they reached maturity, while humans experienced a slow in aging, particularly those in close intimate relationships with a fae.

No wonder you’re such a grump.” I quirk a brow. “A grump?”

Her coral lips lift into a teasing grin. “I think I’m starting to like you.”

Regardless, I’m grateful that the broadsheets create a barrier between us, if only to hide the traitorous grin that tugs my lips.

“That feeling is part of losing someone that you love. To ignore it is to dishonor their memory. You don’t get a free pass. You don’t get to run away and feel nothing. You will work through it. You’re strong enough, and every day you’ll get stronger.”

The indecipherable look on Torben’s face after I told him about where I was born is starting to make sense, as is the wry grin on his lips when I said it was strange we’d never met. Strange indeed. Now the truth snaps into place. My first memory of comfort isn’t of my father. It’s of Torben.

Her life is worth a thousand times more than an estate.

“Do that again,” I say before I can stop myself. “Astrid…” There’s a note of warning in his voice, but I don’t know what he’s warning me against. “Please,” I say, my voice nearly breathless. “Touch me again.”

I take a step back, ready to sink onto the bed and possibly disappear forever. Then the door clangs open just as loudly as it had closed. Torben’s eyes lock on mine, chest heaving. On swift feet, he strides back into the room, gathers me in his arms, and presses his lips to mine.

I’ve heard that before. I’ve been told I’m beautiful more times than I can count, but never has that phrase been meant for me. It’s always been about another’s reflection.

My magic is dormant. I know it is, by the absence of its hum. Torben can see me. And he thinks I’m beautiful.

I’ve felt lust. Pleasure. I’ve thought I’d experienced love. But this…this is… More. Different. Frightening.

It had taken all my courage to decide to tell Torben the truth. That even though I no longer felt emboldened by the reckless intensity of last night’s arousal, I still wanted him. More of him. All of him.

In the end, it didn’t matter. He didn’t want me back.

I bite my lip as I take in the tight trousers that had so recently been the bane of my existence.

He brings the chipped porcelain teacup to his mouth, and I’ve never been so envious of an inanimate object.

His gaze is hard, intense. “I do believe you, Astrid. Do not doubt that. Never doubt that. I will do anything to prove your innocence.”

Before we left the manor, Torben handed me a long strip of red velvet—a hair ribbon—and mumbled something about having bought it for me while I was recovering because he thought I’d find the texture pleasing.

Thank the All of All it does.

I’m the one who…who…doesn’t want to be seen.”

The gentle touch stands in stark contrast with the sudden darkening of his tone. “Because no one threatens your life in my presence unless they have a death wish.

I’m not sure if I can live—whether a short life or a long one—without having more of you.”

“Astrid.” The sound of my name on his lips sounds like a plea. A question. “I can see you right now. All of you. I see your gray eyes, your blue-black hair as dark as a midnight sky. I see your coral lips. Your flushed cheeks. And I see you. Your bravery. Your courage. You are so beautiful. So strong. Fragile too, but not weak. Never weak. You’re incredible.”

Which means I’ve basically been obsessed with you my whole life.

“Astrid, you’re allowed to be strange. You’re allowed to be a mess. You can be all these things that are part of you. It won’t stop me from loving everything about you.”

His lips turn up into a dazzling smile. “You want my heart?” I nod, then finally manage to croak out, “Not just your body.” He presses his hand over mine and I feel his heart beat faster, wilder. “It’s already yours, Astrid. My heart is already yours.”

“I was supposed to claim your heart,”

Yet, in the end, you were the one who took my heart.”

“But you’re wrong, Torben. You did claim my heart. Just not in the way you expected to.”

If I have to wait ninety-five years for my next taste of you, I will.” I keep my next promise a secret. If I have to die for you, I will.

I recall how angry I’d been to be chained to him, how desperate I was for the key. Now the thought doesn’t seem so bad at all.

He was worth it. And if everything fails and I must die, then at least I’m happy to have lived. Truly lived. Not as someone else. Not as another’s reflection. Just me. Existing outside another’s eyes. Me, as I am, with all my messes, mistakes, and oddities. For the very first time, I feel like I’m real.

If I have my way, I want you by my side. And I want to be by your side, growing together.

“I love you, Astrid Snow. Never, ever forget that for as long as you live.”

“What kind of monster am I?” comes her wailing voice. “What kind of person sees their own reflection and…and hates what they see?”

I promise to deliver you where you need to go alive and unharmed.

I can’t bring myself to move. Can do nothing but stare at the fae who birthed me.

It was but a temporary solution, for without my reflection magic, I couldn’t devour love—the only truly nutritious emotion.

You seemed so much like me, leaving a trail of enemies behind as you moved from town to town, even making an enemy of the queen.

I try to speak, try to tell her that what she’s asking of me makes a mockery of the word family, but even speaking is too difficult.

I doubt she’s ever experienced real love herself. But I have.

“I’m using your magic and you see nothing. There are no qualities you cherish in yourself. Nothing to fall in love with.”

My heart leaps at the impossible sight of the bear. My bear.

He knew what I still hadn’t discovered—that I had the ability to show my true face.

This female who I’ve considered my enemy, who I’ve hated as much as she’s hated me…just made me a promise. A fae promise, a binding one.

“The ties of blood matter not to me, only that Edmund loved you as his daughter. You were his world well before I came into his life. He wanted everything for you.