A Taste of Poison (Entangled with Fae #4)

by Tessonja Odette

My legs are too weak to move. I swallow hard, my throat as dry as sand. “You’re…you’re…” “Frightening?” His low voice emanates from deep inside his bear form. Like the kelpie I once met, his lips don’t move when he speaks. My eyes return to those round ears. “You’re so…” Another step closer. “Terrifying?” Something melts inside me, a calm breaking through the dark storm of my emotions. “Fluffy.” He halts. “What?” I take a step closer, ignoring the pools of blood all around us. “Can I please touch your fur?”

That’s when I realize something that sets my heart racing, thudding, hammering, rioting. Not only do I see her, but I…see her.

What matters is that, however briefly, I saw her.

What doesn’t matter is that she’s absolutely and undeniably lovely.

I’m about to counter that with a gibing retort when she takes a sudden step closer and holds the white kitten out toward me. I stare at the ball of fluff. “What?” “Hold her.” “Why would I?” “Why wouldn’t you?” “Because she lives behind a refuse bin. You do recall I have a strong sense of smell, do you not?” “Just hold a kitten, Huntsman. It will be good for you. Your grumpy act is getting old.” “If I hold a kitten, can we get on with our business?” “Of course.”

“Oh, Natalie. How can anyone resist squeezing your sweet little brains right out?” I pull my head back. “That’s rather violent.” She scoffs. “It’s just an expression. Don’t you ever feel that way when you see something cute? The overwhelming urge to just…squeeze?” “No.” “Hmm. Well, you must live a very boring life.”

The sound of my name on her lips helps clear my mind further. I can do this. I must. For us both.

“Astrid,” Torben whispers. I feel a hand press lightly against my lower back. I realize I’m still frozen under the archway, and the Master of Ceremonies has his hand extended my way. He must have announced me.

Torben speaks again. “You can do this.”

I suppose I can express this next part. For her.

I’m still grieving everything I’ve lost. It hurts. I won’t lie and say that it doesn’t. I will continue to grieve for my father, my mother, and my estate,

to honor them with the emotions they’re due. Don’t make me grieve for you too.”

“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.”

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

But meeting Astrid changed things. Only a little at first, but after the other night, when I climbed on the bed in my bear form and felt her small body press against my belly…it broke something inside me. Or perhaps stitched it back together.

Not only is it the first time she’s looked anything but miserable in days, but she’s let down her magic, giving me one of those rare yet breathtaking glimpses of her true face.

Slowly, she turns her gaze to mine. My heart sinks as her face falls beneath a haze.

It is my home, but it feels strange having said the word to Astrid as if…as if it were her home too. Or perhaps not strange, but entirely natural. Too natural.

“You’re beautiful, Astrid.” My heart slams against my ribs. 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. But right now… My magic is dormant. I know it is, by the absence of its hum. Torben can see me. And he thinks I’m beautiful.

His lips curl into a warm smile, made even more stunning by the shyness that continues to play over his features.

She’s been asleep for at least half an hour, and I’ve hardly dared move more than an inch lest I wake her. I’m too afraid that if I do, she’ll roll away from me. And I’m not ready to feel her absence.

The way her presence consumes me in this moment is something I’ve never experienced before.

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

“It does matter.” Torben’s tone is sharp, icy. “I’m doing this for you.”

Before it can fully snap into place, I reach inside my pocket until my fingers meet something soft buried at the bottom. 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. He was right.

This time he entwines our fingers as if he knows how badly I need to feel rooted to something right now.

Torben pulls me into his chest. I feel his lips come to the top of my head, feel his strong arms wrap me in an embrace far more comforting than any magic.

“Because no one threatens

your life in my presence unless they have a death wish. It’s bad enough I had to stand before Queen Tris and hear the way she talks about you without being able to lift a hand against her.”

“Not sure if it matters that fate might tear us apart, either by danger, punishments, or deadly bargains. I’m not sure if I can live—whether a short life or a long one—without having more of you.”

feel as if nothing else matters. Only this. This

moment where I can stare into someone’s eyes without feeling the need to hide.

“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.”

“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?”

He presses his hand over mine and I feel his heart beat faster, wilder. “It’s already yours, Astrid. My heart is already yours.”

Torben tilts his head until our foreheads touch. His heart thuds heavier against my palm. “I was supposed to claim your heart,” he whispers, a note of pain in his voice. “I hate that I agreed to perform such a vile act. I hate that I ever placed my hands upon you with that intent. 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.”

“I mean it. I…I’m in love with you, Torben.”

“I love you,” he rushes to say, then again, slower. “I love you, Astrid Snow. Don’t misunderstand me.

He won’t. I will haul myself before the queen if that’s what I must do. My chest tightens at such a terrifying thought, but if I must subject myself to Queen Tris’ violent wrath to save Torben’s life, I will.

If I have to die for you, I will.

How any foolish woman ever chose another man over him is beyond me. I would choose him a thousand times, even amongst the impossibly stunning attractiveness most fae males tend to possess. Torben is a beauty beyond all others. Rugged. Sharp. Dangerous. Honed to be lethal yet secretly soft.

“I love you,” he whispers.

“That

goes without saying, Astrid. If I have my way, I want you by my side. And I want to be by your side, growing together. Learning more about one another. About ourselves.”

She smiles, and the sight of it makes my chest feel ...

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

There’s nowhere you can go that I won’t find you.