Carefully, Mara removes it from the tray. “Do you know what this is?” she asks.

I shake my head, bewildered by this newest turn of events.

“I would’ve thought that perhaps … but never mind.” She hands me the goblet, and it’s only as she does so that it clicks. This is her gift—whatever this actually is.

Reluctantly I take the silver cup, staring down at the liquid with a slight grimace on my mouth.

When I don’t take any further action, some of Mara’s men laugh at me like I’m a simpleton. To receive a drink but not to taste it!

“You must try it,” the Flora Queen insists.

There’s no way in hell I’m going to try it. Not a drink given to me by this broad.

Before I can commit some further faux pas, the air shifts and the shadows deepen. Everyone else must feel it too because conversations become hushed.

And then out of the shadows, Des appears, as though from a dream. He’s light and darkness, from the shadows that curl around him to the moonbeams that seem to illuminate him from within.

Fairies step out of his way, making an aisle of sorts for him to stride down. Silently he heads for me, his white hair brushed away from his face, his jaw firm. Just like the first time I saw him, he takes my breath away.

“What is this I hear of a gift?” he says when he reaches our group.

He gently takes the delicate chalice from my hand. “Is this it?” he asks, pacing several feet away, his eyebrows raised.

He brings the glass to his nose.

“Lilac wine,” he says.

Several people throughout the room gasp.

He gives Mara an approving smile. “Cunning as ever, dear queen.”

Ever so deliberately, he overturns the liquid, letting it spill onto the floor as he paces.

The room goes utterly silent.

I glance from person to person, trying to figure out what’s going on.

“You trod on my hospitality?” she says, an edge entering her voice.

“Perhaps you should think twice before you try to con my mate. Someone could get the wrong idea,” Des says, looking remorseless.

I knew something was up with that drink.

Now Mara smiles. “And perhaps you should explain to your human mate why you refuse this most sacred and arcane of lovers’ rights. Or why she will die a mortal when she could’ve lived at your side for eons.”

Chapter 33

“Alright, what is lilac wine?” I ask.

The two of us are back in our rooms, Des’s jacket thrown haphazardly across the table, his shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal his corded forearms, and my heels are kicked off, my hair cascading wildly down my back.

He leans against the wall, watching me, his arms crossed over his chest. “A drink.”

Awesome. Forthcoming Des has gone into hiding.

“You’ve got to give me more than that.”

Both Mara and Des had almost lost their shit over the wine.

“Contrary to your opinion, I actually don’t,” he says, his eyes glinting in the dim room.

Frustrating man!

“Listen,” I say, “if you don’t tell me, someone else will. This is your chance to set the record straight.”

His arms drop to his sides and he prowls forward. “Fine, you want me to set the record straight? Here it is, straight and clear: I have imagined giving you lilac wine a thousand times.” He comes right up to me, and something about his agitated mood has me backing up. “I imagined slipping it to you just as Mara did, coaxing you into drinking it when you didn’t know any better.”

My back hits a wall, and Des pins me in with his arms.

“I’ve even had it prepared before,” he says, reaching out and stroking the column of my throat with his thumb. “I had it in my fridge back on Catalina Island, and I’ve had it on hand in my palace.”

“What is it?” And why do you have to be deceitful about it?

His jaw muscles clench as he wages some internal war between telling me or not. Eventually, he gives into my questioning.

“Somewhere deep in time, fairies found a way to make their mortal lovers immortal,” he says.

His eyes look piercing, eager, as he speaks.

“They gave their human lovers lilac wine, and flesh that should’ve aged became ageless, and magic that was once imperfect became perfect. Two species became one.”

“I don’t understand,” I say, “why keep this a secret?” It’s not like I have anything against lilac wine, now that I know about it.

“Maybe I didn’t want to know your opinion. If you wanted to be immortal, it would mean you were okay to forsake all those things that make you so delightfully human—things I happen to love.”

Awwww.

“But if you didn’t want to be immortal, it would mean that you expected me to stand by and watch you age—watch you die.”

His gaze scours my face, deepening with sadness. Because I am aging. I will die long before he ever does.

“So you thought slipping me the wine was a better idea than getting my opinion on the matter?”

See, this is why couples need to talk about things. Healthy option versus unhealthy option here.

“If you notice, I have slipped you nothing,” he says.

“But you’ve considered it,” I counter.

“How many things have you considered? Does consideration make it wrong?” His lips brush my cheek.

I swallow. “What stopped you from giving me the wine?”

He pulls away a little, frowning. “The same thing that stopped me from taking you away the night of your prom and making you mine forever. I have enough broken humanity to know it’s wrong, and enough self-control to fight my innate nature.”

“And what’s your innate nature?” I say, my words whisper soft.

“To take what I want, when I want, and to apologize to no one for it.”

Yeesh.

“You want to know a secret?” He doesn’t wait for me to answer. “Only if you drink the lilac wine will our bond be complete. Only then can we freely share our magic.”

Chapter 34

This lilac wine is sounding better and better the more I hear about it.

“Remind me again why you don’t want me to drink the wine?” I ask.

Des gives me a small smile. “It doesn’t matter what I want. I waited eight years for you, cherub, and now you’re here, warming my bed and weaseling my secrets out of me. This is more than enough.”

“Why would Mara give lilac wine to me?” I ask, now curious about the Flora Queen’s motives. It’s obvious enough that she’s no fan of mine, so why give me such a gift?

Des tilts his head. “Let’s strike a deal: I’ll answer your question if you’ll answer one of mine.”

Everything just has to come down to a deal with the Bargainer.

“Fine,” I say. It’s not like he can’t just take a bead and force the truth out of me anyway.

I feel a subtle shift of magic in the air as Des binds me to the agreement.

His smile spreads before he tucks it away. “To answer your question: Mara probably had several motives when she gave you the lilac wine. She’d want the room to see her being generous to a human and accepting of our bond—that’s just good for politics. She was also making a point that you’d be more accepted if you were made to be more like us. And finally, she was probing our relationship for weaknesses.”

“Why would she do that?” I ask.