"Him? Seriously?" 

I looked over at Cosmo who slowly started to grin. He looked from the small fae to me, then back and forth again, before clapping his hands happily.

"Well this works out great! Why don't you two hop to it, eh? The sooner you're king, the sooner I get what I want."

I think it was safe to say that I was officially lost. I watched the fae as his whole being started to crumple. Tears were freely pouring down his cheeks. He looked crossed between happiness and absolute despair. 

"I'm not sure I understand what is going on. Who do you think I am?" I asked cautiously, clutching the sheet tighter around me, feeling really exposed now. 

Cosmo only laughed, with a sort of maniacal edge that immediately alerted me. 

"You, my sweet little witch, are the key to everything."

I did not like how that sounded. 

"What is going on?" Griffin demanded. He seemed to snap out of whatever shock he was experiencing and gaining back that confident power that I first knew him to have. 

"He's my consort," the fae whispered, never taking his eyes off of me. The tears stopped flowing and he only gazed at me in wonder. It was starting to freak me out a bit. 

"You must be joking!" Griffin gasped. He seemed to be well informed on the situation whereas I was not.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means that this young fae is the Fae Prince Gentry Eritheia, next in line to take the throne...if..." Griffin paused in his explanation. I looked over at the fae and noticed the pained look that scrunched up his delicate features. It was a look that was most certainly not supposed to be there. 

"If what?" I urged. 

"If he finds his consort and is impregnated by him before Yule."

I choked, stumbling back a few steps, nearly tripping on the long sheets. Cosmo seemed to take note of that and frowned. As if my ruining his sheets was more important than the conversation that we were currently having. I really wanted to strangle him for that. 

"I really can't be him. I'm sorry."

"It's you. I know it's you. I can feel it, damnit!" the fae hissed. I was startled by the sass coming from the tiny body. His wings fluttered rapidly with anger, almost lifting him off of the ground. 

"But there must be some kind of—"

The fae fluttered over to me before biting his wrist, drawing blood and shoving it into my mouth. I tried to protest or get away from the small man, but the blood already flowed down my throat. It was sweet and tangy. Like nothing I've ever tasted before. 

Blood was not supposed to taste this way, not even if I were a vampire. It didn't taste like blood at all, more like candy or some sugary syrup. 

"It's sweet isn't it?" the fae hummed. His eyes nearly rolling to the back of his head. I couldn't tell if it was because it felt good or he was about to lose consciousness. So despite my body telling me to drain him dry, I pulled away, wiping my lips, discreetly licking off the excess blood around my mouth. 

"Why?"

"Because you are my consort. Everything about me draws you in. Even my blood. It is my life force and the force of fae. Something so powerful can only be sweet."

"That may be, but I seriously must decline. I've already made too many mistakes. The more men I sleep with, the worse my guilt becomes. I cannot betray my lover any more than I already have," I told him firmly. 

The fae's face crumpled in despair, as if he expected things to never work out. It broke my heart to see such an expression, but I messed up way too many times. It wasn't fair to him, the guys I have slept with, the ones I wanted to sleep with, and the man I promised I would only sleep with. I just felt so...dirty. 

"Ah, ah, ah, my little witch. I'm not giving you a choice," Cosmo smiled, crossing his arms and stepping toward me with a slightly menacing look in his eyes. It made me very aware of the situation and how dangerous this man was. I glanced over at Griffin and realized something.

"What about our deal? You were supposed to take Griffin back to safety," I pointed out. Griffin looked away guiltily. 

"Yeah, about that. As I was about to uphold that very deal, our little hybrid here struck another. He would not leave until you did. I guess that means never. So free sex for me!" he cheered. 

"Griffin...you didn't," I nearly sobbed. 

The young Lord clenched his jaw and looked down. 

"What? The sex wasn't that bad! It was fantastic and you know it!" Cosmo pouted. I glared at him, shutting him up successfully.

"We can't stay here forever, you turned down that deal."

"Ah, I turned it down because it was going to happen regardless. I won't let you leave my home and there is absolutely no way you can escape. So hah!" 

"Then you're never going to get what you want from the fae because I refuse to sleep with him," I challenged, looking at him levelly. 

"You are infuriating, do you know that? And I kind of like it."

I rolled my eyes, this conversation was pointless. He was the most childish man I'd ever come across, and that's saying something, seeing as Ezra could be quite childish.

"I know this may be too much to ask of you, but my entire species is counting on me to get pregnant. I hate for it to be for this, but just get me pregnant and you'll never have to see me again, I promise," the fae pleaded. I frowned at him. 

"I'm sorry. I want to help you, but for starters, I'm not the kind of guy to have a child and then abandon it. If I were to ever have one, I'd raise them properly. And secondly, I just really can't help you. I honestly think you are mistaken and even if you're not, I'm already spoken for. The only reason I'm even away from the witch clans is because I am on a quest to find my lover who disappeared. I'm sorry."

"Nonsense. You slept with me," Cosmo drawled.

"That was to save Griffin!" I snapped.

"And he is trying to save an entire species. Don't you think you're being a bit selfish, little witch? Keeping all that extraordinary cum to yourself?" 

I've never wanted to punch a person so much before. 

Cosmo sighed in annoyance before grabbing Griffin's arm and pulling him into his chest. He gripped Griffin's jaw and twisted his head to the side, letting his sharp fangs hover over Griffin's vulnerable neck. I saw Griffin struggle, but the way he was locked in the Mer's grip was impossible to escape. 

"If you don't go and mate with the fae right now, I'm going to kill this little hybrid in cold blood right in front of your pretty little face. Now come on love, don't be stubborn."

I glared at the Mer before grabbing the fae's hand and tugging him inside the cave. 

Damn it all! Why does this keep happening to me?

*

"Where is he?" The Prince of Vampires seethed. He had the servant of Lord Griffin pinned up against the wall in a chokehold. The anger was so clear in his blood red eyes, it frightened everyone into submission.

"He told me that he needed to leave, that someone was calling for him and that's all I know. He was headed to the forest and that's the last I saw him!" Eron insisted, staring down at the Prince fearfully, holding on to the angry vampire's hand. 

"What about Noah? Where is Noah?" Wes demanded. 

Eron's lip curled up in disgust at the mention of the witch, which had the young prince snarling harshly, tightening his grip. He may not have voiced his concern for the witch, but he was equally worried and would tear the servant apart if they bothwere not found. 

"I don't know where he went. He is not my concern."

Sylus threw the servant away from him, sending him soaring in the air and crashing into the opposing wall. 

"We can't even go looking for them because of that lot!" Ezra sneered, pointing at the very angry group of Mers that had surrounded the house. They could not step foot on the property because of the circle of sea salt the acted as a barrier. Salt kept Mer's away, they couldn't be around it or else they'd dry out and die. But as soon as someone crossed the barrier of salt on to their side, they were dead, no doubt about it. 

"What are we supposed to do? We can't fight them, but we can't look for Lord Griffin and Noah if we don't," Adel said, sounding strained. It was clear that they were stuck in quite a predicament. 

"We have no choice but to wait them out. They'll grow bored once they realize we aren't budging," Wes growled, clearly unhappy with the idea, but defeated by the lack of options. 

"And how long with that take?" Sloan asked.

"It could be a few hours or even a few days."

Sylus sucked in his teeth furiously. Then with resolved rushed out of the door toward the angry mob of man-eating Mer people. No one was prepared for the young prince's actions, but as he headed toward the line of salt with purpose, the whole house began rushing after him.

"Sylus no!"

Sylus stepped out of the barrier and with a war cry, straight toward the Mers. 

"Sylus!"

And all Hell broke loose.