Bad Fae | romantasy | Bad Fae #1

Chapter Thirty-Nine

True to his word, Dain and I stayed in that room for a week. Meals appeared by magic. No one bothered us. There was no dealing with the consequences of our new geas beyond enjoying each other.

But, at the end of the week, he could no longer put off his duties.

We went, separately, to meet the Shaden for lunch. I got there before him, finding Venali, Phin and Ninleyn waiting. Expectantly. A knowing smirk played at Venali's lips. Something bright and warm and soft curled in Ninleyn's eyes. And Phin just looked like she needed some sordid details.

As I walked to my seat, Dain entered behind me.

"I thought you three weren't going to be here?" he asked carefully, getting to his seat and taking it before I'd made my way to mine.

"What made you think that?" Venali asked, turning his shit-stirring smirk onto his friend.

"The fact I told you not to be."

Venali shrugged. "I assumed it was more like a guideline."

"You assumed wrong."

"I wasn't going to miss this."

"Could you?" Dain asked flippantly, picking up his glass.

Venali shook his head. "No. You finding Grá Go Deo?" He snorted. "No. I can't miss this."

Dain darkened. The shadows gathering across his face until they seemed to cover him. Like he'd let the glamour fall away and he'd summoned them all. Then, they shot from him, a honed missile, straight at Venali, throwing him backwards. With the shadows off him once more, Dain was revealed to be engrossed in something in the opposite direction of Venali as though intimating 'it wasn't me'.

Venali picked himself off the floor, righting his chair and sitting back down. "Feel better?" he asked, a wry smirk playing in his eyes.

"Marginally," was Dain's response.

"Am I allowed to welcome Yana to the family yet?" Phin interjected before Venali could voice whatever his mouth had opened to say.

"I think Venali's already done that," Ninleyn said slowly.

Dain's eyes flashed to Ninleyn, who held up his hands in innocence.

"Does this make her officially one of the Shaden, then?" Venali asked, like he for once was actually trying to diffuse the situation. My eyes flickered to him, and I saw there was a hint of awkwardness hovering around him. I wondered if it was because of the implication of him still fucking me, which was clearly not going to fly with Dain. As though, he was trying to assure Dain that he wasn't going to even think of coming between whatever Dain and I were now.

"I suppose it does," Dain said, his eyes rising to me for a moment.

"What exactly does that mean?" I asked. "I've heard you called than numerous times now and no one's ever really told me what being Shaden means."

"It means you dwell in the shadows, bound to Dain," Phin said. "Which, because of the nature of our bindings, makes you bound to us."

"I told you that we do not tolerate being parted for long?" Ninleyn said and I nodded. "That will include you now as well. Not merely in name, but in practise. The...five of us are inextricably linked now. Through a magic far more powerful than even our kind fully understands."

I sighed. "Well, great."

"Is it the same for Yana, though?" Ninleyn then said, like he'd though of something.

"What do you mean?" Phin asked.

"Well, Dain is of shadow. He commands shadow. But Yana... Yana is shadow. She is death. Does this mean she's–"