An Embrace of Citrus & Snow (Fallen for a Fae #1)

28. Bo

Chapter twenty-eight

Bo

“I’m sorry,” Bo said for the ninth time, clutching tight to Ever’s hand. Together, in the orange grove, and Faerie not shifting them away. “I– Fuck, I want to. We need her back. I just–.”

The grove was safe . And Faerie, it turned out, could feel that Bo didn’t like the idea of leaving.

Ever leaned in, lips soft to Bo’s hair, a kiss with the rustle of oak leaves.

“There’s no weakness in fear,” Ever said, quiet as the breeze. “I won’t leave your side, sweet Bo.”

“It’s not– He hurts you .” Bo’s voice broke again, goddamn it. He wasn’t a kid. “How he talks to you and twists you. I don’t trust his fucking promises.”

“Nor should you. I don’t believe we will need to worry about his promises of safety. He is unlikely to offer them.”

Was it hot that Ever had a growl in his voice? Bo, exhausted and aching, the taste of the honey-and-snow oranges on his lips from a snagged fruit, shouldn’t think anything was hot, but … here he was.

“I fucking hate how he treats you. Manipulative and abusive as fuck.”

Another kiss, because Ever apparently liked kissing Bo’s hair. Bo didn’t mind, either.

“Then let us face him together and stand for the other. He will not hurt you.” A thumb, soft, over knuckles. “I am loath to see him again. But Talia…”

“Yeah. Yeah, we need our strange kid back. Okay. Fuck, yeah, okay, let’s do this.”

And if Nimai’d fucked with Talia’s brain, Bo would screw Faerie as many times as it took to rain hellfire on the brownie.

Bo clung to Ever’s hand as the moss bled to bleached wood, fine-grained and gorgeous. Ever’s house, Bo figured. The walls were mostly windows, huge as the arching doorways between rooms. Every space seemed to have something to draw the eye. A framed picture, a book, art. Not quite enough to be called cluttered. The social media ideal of lived in enough.

Holding tighter, he leaned against his kelpie’s arms. He hadn’t been scared, the last time he’d seen Ever’s lands. He’d been in Ever’s arms, the two of them making magic while the Council waited.

Now, hand-in-hand, Bo was scared. Terrified.

This was Ever’s home, he reminded himself. Bo’s home, with the whole consort business.

But not Nimai’s. Not even with every inch of the place screaming his style. Twisting the whole fucking world to make himself right and Ever wrong.

He’d seen it when Nimai showed up the first time. Just hadn’t known what he was seeing. Hotel sheets, rumpled and far too used from a couple rounds. Peeling wallpaper with mildew lingering. Carpet worn enough that there’d be bruised knees instead of friction burns.

That was what the fucker thought of Ever, and pictured the open, clean, admittedly gorgeous desert scene for himself.

“You’ve got a big fucking house, kelpie.” Bo kept his voice quiet, for all the good it would do them.

“Only sometimes,” Ever replied with equal quiet. “My preference is for a closer space.”

“You brought him here? To our home ?“ Nimai’s voice, then Nimai in the flesh, stepping through a set of double doors. Tall as Leana had been and perfectly comfortable looking in the great room, openness and high arching ceilings framing him all pretty like.

Bo flinched, sure. Half expected Ever to move in front of him like usual, but Ever stayed still.

Nimai there, and Ever didn’t pull away. He didn’t speak up, but he stayed shoulder-to-shoulder with Bo, fingers intertwined. Not a whiff of shame to be felt.

“It’s not your home. It’s Ever’s. You muscled your way in.”

Nimai ignored him, his pretty eyes focused on Ever with unsettling intensity, voice rich and warm as a crackling hearth. “Really, Everil, this cruelty is beneath you. ”

“You talk a big fucking game about cruelty for a guy who likes to kill humans to punish your ex. Where’s Talia?”

“Little mortal, I can see you’re under the impression that you care for my Everil.” Nimai looked at him then, expression pitying. “That you can claim a place at his side as an equal. Your naivety is endearing. He’s a kelpie , Oberon.”

“Bo.” Ever’s interruption was soft but unmistakable.

Almost fucking broke Bo, that correction. He could’ve cried again just from that. Instead, Bo squeezed his hand. Flashed him an unsteady smile, grateful as fuck.

”A kelpie ,” Nimai repeated, like a prick. “Not one of the pretty, silly fairies from the play you’re named for. He doesn’t dance around in glades or make flowers grow. He’s a predator. The current and the sharp rocks it drives you against. And you, little human, are not the swimmer you think you are.”

For all the homework Nimai did, finding out Bo’s name and his profession, he really didn’t know shit about him.

“Holy shit. Really? A kelpie ? Well, fuck, color me shocked. Here I thought he was just some other kind of big, fanged horse prancing around in the water.”

“I have no intention of harming Bo,” Everil interjected, a little firmer than before.

“You won’t, but you could ,” Bo said, tugging at Ever’s hand. “There’s a reason I kept my hands in my pockets and my feet on dry land when you changed that first night. You’re a badass, flesh-eating stallion with knives for teeth. You’re the river .”

“Ah. Is that how it works, then?” Nimai’s voice rang with silk condescension, some disgust laced in for good measure. “As long as you’re safe, it’s of no concern when your neighbors disappear? Where do you draw the line? Your friends? Your parents?”

“I– Wait, is that a serious question?”

The silence lasted a beat until Ever murmured, “I believe so.”

“If he ate my parents, I’d consider that a Christmas gift, Nimmers.” Somehow, Bo managed to sound amused. “None of my friends are stupid enough to go swim with a strange stallion or grab their reins. That’s just asking to be taken out of the gene pool.”

Ever tugged at their joined hands, brushed a kiss to Bo’s knuckles. His smile was all sharp, cutting edges.

“Sweet Bo,” he murmured.

“Pretty fucking kelpie,” Bo replied, just as quiet, only momentarily not terrified of Nimai, not with Ever smiling at him with his glamour down .

“You child .” Nimai’s voice dripped with disdain. “How easy to play unimpressed, when you grew up on the shadows of us, sanitized for your adoring audience.”

“If you think my parents made the fae out to be anything but monsters kept at bay, whoever you had look into me really fucking sucked,” Bo said, voice flat. His eyes returned to Nimai, lips quirking despite his tone. “I was raised to be afraid. I just learned to appreciate it.”

Nimai scoffed, his eyes hard and cold. “You think he’s a story you’ve found yourself in, nevertheless.”

“Nimai–” Ever attempted.

“And you. Are you really so desperate to slake your lusts that you believe he means it? Do you truly think he’ll still be eager for your lips when he’s seen them wet with human blood?”

“ You’re the one who locked someone up and had their mind invaded by a creepy fucking selkie,” Bo snapped. “And kidnapped a Gate. Not very fucking hospitable.”

“You are unseelie , Everil,” Nimai continued, as if Bo hadn’t spoken, because the guy was a prick . “You’ll never rise above your nature if you keep indulging in it, and you’ll ruin our ward by association.”

Ever cringed toward Bo. Shifting closer. Not away.

“If ‘rising above’ means acting like you, then thank fuck he hasn’t. Get bent.” Bo turned his attention to Ever, tugging his hand. “And yeah, I’m not kissing you with blood on your mouth. Ground rules: wash your face. And you’re fucking great how you are. Fuck this ‘rising above’ shit.”

“I won’t,” Ever said, his words very soft.

“Don’t mumble, “ Nimai snapped.

“I won’t,” Ever repeated. All careful calm. He didn’t even shake, except where his hand gripped tight to Bo’s. “I’ll always be who I am, Nimai. I’ve tried for you. I have. But it’s never made a difference. I disgust you when I’m happy and bore you when I’m obedient. You don’t want me. And I–” Ever took a slow, shaking breath. “And I don’t want you.”

“You selfish, greedy fool.” Nimai took a step toward them. “You can’t even conceive of everything I’ve sacrificed for you. I’ve tolerated your unseemly habits. Taken you back again and again. All I’ve ever asked is that you try . And even that’s too much to ask of you.”

Ever curled closer, trying to hide against Bo (and didn’t step away, he stayed close) .

It’d be nothing to rant back at Nimai. Fuck, it’d be easy as breathing. Loud and messy and exactly the kind of hissing throw-down he needed to not .

“You’re amazing,” he told Ever, instead of spitting venom at Nimai. “Faerie’s chosen King of Holly. My bond. He’s a fucking liar with his ‘all I’ve asked for,’ the hero of his own screwed-up story.” He kissed Ever’s shoulder firmly, the closest bit he could reach without letting go. “I see you. My brave, sweet, fierce kelpie.”

Ever’s breath shook on the exhale. He nodded once, then pressed his forehead to Bo’s temple, eyes closing for a brief beat.

“My Bo,” he answered in a whisper. “Summer King.”

Nimai laughed, the sound as cruel as it was lovely. “Is that how you imagine yourselves? And will you let him tie you down and slit your throat when midsummer comes? We ended the old magics for your sake, human.”

Fuck him and his laughter, mocking them. Mocking Ever .

“I already have,” Bo said, grinning at Nimai. It was very nearly genuine. “Different kinds of sacrifice, though. Tied down by Faerie to an altar and railed by my kelpie soulbond.” Bo kissed Ever’s hand. “Leana’s guest room is an orange grove now. I’ve got a feeling it’ll be there a long fucking time.”

Nimai’s lips tightened in disgust, beauty marred by the cruel twist of his mouth.

“Enough,” he snapped. “Giving a whore a crown doesn’t make him a prince. Everil, I don’t know what you imagined would happen, bringing him here. But I’ve indulged your perverse little game for long enough.”

Nimai strode forward, and Ever let go of Bo’s hand to step pointedly in front of him. Like the last time, but … different. Ever, confident now, or at least pissed off enough to fake it.

“ No , Nimai. You won’t touch him.”

“And you won’t stop me. You never have. You’re pathetic , Everil.” Nimai’s voice turned cajoling, warm. “My love, this is for your own good.”

Bo shivered, looking down at the first lick of ice at his soul. The pale wood floor darkened, went softer and textured with age, the scent of dust and shadows in the air. Power crackled, brought with it the steady whisper of water, somewhere just out of sight.

Bo grinned.

“I’m no longer interested in your form of protection,” Everil answered. Soft. Calm. Unwavering. Fucking badass.

“Even so. I care about you. Despite everything, Everil. He never will.”

“Perhaps,” and still so quiet, unmoving, and no shame, “but my statements stand. You won’t touch him. Bo is my consort.”

“Summer, save me from your tantrums . If you could hear yourself. Be glad no one else is witness to this nonsense you’re spouting; it would take decades to make right. Consort? Winter King?”

“Nimai–”

“Even if those magics were anything but stories, you imagine Faerie would allow you to assume the role? Would accept as supplication the squalid rutting of a kelpie and his whore?”

Nimai was close, too close, his voice growing brighter, harder with every word. Even with that, with everything , Bo didn’t expect him to reach out to snatch Ever’s holly crown.

But he did. He fucking did , and the air filled with the unmistakable tang of fresh blood.

The crown clung like it had when Bo’d tried to remove it. But this time, the leaves cut sharp into Ever’s scalp, pain blossoming through their bond. Blood flowed, fresh and red, dripping down his face.

Dark strands gone sticky, even as the leaves under Nimai’s palm looked soft, leaving the brownie’s palm untouched.

Ever hissed, and Nimai, the fucking prick , bared his teeth. He tugged harder, ignoring Everil’s pain hiss and Bo’s yell of anger. The holly crown dug in; Bo could see the spines weaving themselves together under Ever’s skin.

Blood traced like tears down Ever’s cheeks, then to the floor. Each drip smelled of sandalwood and old places and red copper.

“Nimai,” and Ever’s words were pain-choked but gentle, his gray eyes lined with blood from the raw, ugly wounds on his forehead, “you’ve cut me.”

Nimai’s horror was slow dawning but very fucking real, eyes wide and hand slack on the crown.

“Oh fuck, I thought he couldn’t–” Bo reached for the back of Ever’s shirt, fingers curling tight in the light fabric. He didn’t pull, though. Didn’t step around Ever’s side to see how far down his forehead those spines went.

“ ‘Shouldn’t’ is more accurate,” Ever said, calm as a goddamn cucumber and giddy like a schoolgirl under that, where only Bo could feel. “I’m asking you to let go, Nimai. Please don’t require me to tell you.”

“It wasn’t my intention ,” Nimai said, defensive, before Bo could get out the words to tell the bastard to back off. “This is your fault. ”

The fucker let go, though. His fingers red-stained but whole. Ever’s breathing went shallow, and Bo could see the spines pulling back from under the kelpie’s golden skin. Jesus.

Pain in the set of Ever’s jaw. The bond, though…

Release. Cut strings. Stepping out of a courtroom knowing something important had happened but unsure of how to move forward.

Bo leaned in, wrapping an arm around his bond’s waist.

“Your oath made no reference to intention,” Ever was saying while Bo tried to hold on.

Bo kissed Ever’s shoulder and tried his best to let him handle it. Not that it stopped him from glaring at Nimai.

“I’ve got you,” Soft words and gentle hands, fingers light on Ever’s hip, curled to keep a hold on his shirt, the other around his waist. Then, louder, for the class, he added, “What’s this mean, kelpie?”

“It means nothing,” Nimai replied, voice tight with unease.

“I was asking Ever, prick.”

“ Nothing . A few knicks from a false crown. If Everil hadn’t insisted on wearing the hideous thing, it never would have happened.”

Ever laughed. Like, actually laughed, breathless and bloodied, with Nimai right there. “ ‘I’ll cause no injury and shed no blood. This vow I give willingly, on my name. Its breaking is the breaking of self.’ ”

“Everil–”

“ ‘The surrender of will.’ ”

“Everil, you’re being ridiculous.” Nimai’s words came fast and angry.

He talked like a man who knew he’d seriously fucked up.

“It means ,” Ever said, words set firmly, like a stone path. He reached back and took Bo’s hand, fingers sticky and shaking. Bo clung back. “Nimai has broken his oath. His witnessed, name-bound oath. It–”

“Broken my oath because I lost patience with your sordid, irreverent delusions?” Nimai sneered the words, and he got taller, somehow. The walls paled, and the air went dry as a rainless year. “Very well, Everil. If you insist on playing the victim, then be one .”

The world moved.

Floorboards roiled and cracked beneath their feet. The wood shards jutted toward Everil, cruel points cutting through his pants, into his legs. All around them, the walls drew in tighter, curtains draping over the hearth and catching fire, the flames climbing with ridiculous speed.

Bo stumbled under the rolling shift as reality went out the fucking window, the brownie’s perversion of a warm and happy home lancing through their bond, metal and copper. He reached for Ever. Tried to catch him. Something. Only managed after a shard caught in Ever’s knee.

“Ever!”

Bo gripped tighter, arm around his bond’s waist to pull him closer again. Fuck. Fuck. He wasn’t strong enough to pick Ever up. The walls mostly flame and closing in. Nimai filled the room, his eyes like wildfires.

Sharp, bleached shards crumbled into time-softened wood. Blood, or sex, spilled on stone. New life and sacrifice.

Bo, trying to hold onto the river. Faerie’s Summer King.

Everywhere, tastefully placed objects shattered, reforming as fat, humming bees. They multiplied, flew from Bo’s lips when he gasped Ever’s name. The kelpie looked at him with wide eyes, as the world shifted, and shifted again.

Bees, frost tipped in blinking blues and whites, stretching and sharpening. Going lean and flat as they flew toward Nimai. By the time they reached him, they looked more like butterflies.

Paper thin, cold as deep water, in a room thick with smoke and heat. Nimai swatted at them, flinching when they brushed his skin, spreading hoarfrost wherever they touched.

“You’ll come to thank me for this,” Nimai said over the fire’s roar as he crushed one of the butterfly-bees into silvery dust. “I won’t allow pests in our home .”

And Bo, wrapped in vines and sticky with Ever’s blood, mouthed ‘fuck ’ as the flaming curtains turned to rope and flung themselves at them.

“ My home.” Ever said, quiet and still loud, somehow, a growl at the edges. “You’ve ceded your last claim to my territory.”

The fires didn’t die. They simply weren’t. Bo sagged against Ever, the vines fading back into the darkening wood of the floor. The air was still thick with ash, and Nimai stood there, shocked and staring.

“Caroves. Love,” Nimai said, all soft coaxing.

“Bide,” Ever said, low, and Nimai went truly still. The floor curled itself over his feet, and the butterfly-bees flickered tauntingly around his wrists. Ever turned to Bo instead, pulling him close by their joined hands. “Are you harmed, sweet? ”

“I– No, fuck, no. But you –“ Bo stroked a shaking hand over Ever’s cheek, unmindful of the blood. “You had thorns in your fucking skin. And your legs .”

“I’ll mend,” Ever promised, leaning in, eyes closing when Bo’s fingers trailed, gentle, at his hairline. “We must deal with the current matter first. Blood stands witness.”

“Caroves. I’ve forgiven much, and I’ll forgive even this, even if you insist on keeping your toy.” Warmth again, in Nimai’s words, and hurt. Wariness, too, and no fucking wonder. The brownie stuck where the house held him while the bees stood guard. “But even I won’t look past a geas.”

“Dude, shut your fucking mouth. You’re really going to fucking call me a toy and use his first name when you’re stuck to the fucking floor in a house that’s not yours?”

“My bond speaks truly,” Ever added, his fingers laced with Bo’s. “An oath, sweet Bo, serves to protect the giving of a true name. Break an oath, and the name, that core of a person, is forfeit. An oath binds a person by their will. A geas binds them despite it.”

“Meaning you can use one to make him back the fuck off,” Bo said, watching Nimai. The brownie fucking stewed , keeping his mouth shut. So, Bo raised his voice, just to make sure Nimai knew he was speaking to him. “Tell us where Talia is, or I’ll ask Ever to make you do some truly heinous shit, Nims. I’m not fucking bluffing. You know as well as I do there’s a lot of fucked up things you can do that don’t constitute ‘harm’ by your standards.”

Fondness and concern, all there in the bond, front and center. Bo basked in it.

Nimai glared, furious and silent. Bo let the quiet stretch, then looked to Ever, opening his mouth to speak–

“She is safe,” Nimai ground out, his voice still everything bright in the world. “With Lysander. Kesk’s Gate. They’re age mates.”

Another one of Ever’s people at Kesk’s mercy. Bo’s eyes snapped back to Nimai, and Ever, the badass, growled. Near silent.

“Let us end this, so we might collect her,” Ever murmured, looking away from the brownie. “I can bind him against harm, Bo. And require him to leave. Will that suit?”

“You remember what we talked about before coming here, kelpie? What I see as damage instead of you or him. You got an issue with that?”

“I don’t object. Only, I’m not in the habit of setting geasa,” Ever offered, caution in the words. “But my understanding is that with greater scope comes less specificity. Faerie is capricious at times. ”

“So maybe silence, leaving us the fuck alone, or frogs pop out of his face when he tries to do shit?”

A smile curled in Ever’s reply. “Yes.”

Bo shrugged, feigned nonchalance as his spine fucking crawled at Nimai’s continued silence. It was almost worse than him spouting his bullshit, like playing a video game without seeing a big bad, knowing they lurked in the shadows.

“I’m good with that if you are.” Bo leaned against Ever’s arm, looking back to him again, swallowing hard. Ever being there, being willing, being fucking everything, and not freezing up. That, he found strength in. “Count me full-fucking in.”

“For a human,” Nimai spat. “A human .”

“A moment.” Ever touched Bo’s cheek, then turned from him to Nimai, striding across the room to his once bond.

Nimai said something, low, his eyes gold and sorrowful and manipulative as fuck. Bo heard Ever’s soft, “... no us. And I must protect what’s mine.”

Then, louder: “Caroves.”

“Rheionus Arrikaz Taighik, this geas is yours.” Ever spoke loudly enough for the words to travel, like he was announcing them. Letting Bo witness. “You may not harm, nor cause others to harm in mind, body, or soul, Oberon Cedardusk Gardener or any he claims in his heart. I regret that it came to this, Nimai.”

A snarl from Nimai, all teeth. A mouth that opened on words unspoken. Ever didn’t flinch, only watched, a whisper of sorrow threading through their bond.

Bo loved him stupid amounts.

Nimai took a step forward, free now, sending chills up Bo’s spine. Then he turned away, reaching for a door newly opened in the wall. The brownie fled, like a fucking coward, and closed the door behind him with a deceptively soft click.

Ever did flinch, then, just a little. Bo reached out, red fingertips brushing over his hand. Around them, bees droned. Fat and drowsy once again.

“You okay?” Bo asked, quiet.

“I…” Ever drew in a slow, shaking breath and turned toward Bo. “May I?”

“Yeah, Ever. Yes. Fuck.” He moved closer, held out his arms. Ever moved into his embrace, and Bo held him, stroking his back and blood-sticky hair, careful of the holly and hidden cuts. “Did good, pretty kelpie. ”

“It’s a brutal act to strip someone of their will.” Soft words, no guilt behind them. Only regret. Ever buried his face in Bo’s hair, and the oak leaves rustled soft reassurances. “I would do so again. Without hesitation.”

“I know you would.” Bo squeezed him harder.

They stood like that for a long time, bloodied and clutched close in a house that looked half forest, half desert, burnt and sodden both, and breathed.

“Come, sweet,” Ever said, at last, breaking the quiet. “Let’s get ourselves in order. And then I intend to collect Talia if I have to tear Faerie to its foundations to do so.”