combined with the firmness of his demand, locked in the repayment of his favor. I’d heard of the pain associated with gajoïs but had never experienced it first-hand. As an invisible fist gripped my gut, I swore I would never again strike a faerie bargain.
Never.
I flung my palm against my abdomen. “Fine.” Not that I had a choice.
The pressure inside my body vanished instantly, but it would return if I tried to renege on the claimed gajoï. There was no messing with fae magic.
Smiling, Josh knocked back his drink. “Oh, and, Amara, get to it quick. The portal changes location in five days.”
I sipped my iced water, wincing when I swallowed, expecting pain that thankfully didn’t come. “Have you considered the possibility that I won’t be able to get in, salt or no salt?”
“Yes.”
Why, oh why, had I let Joshua Locklear take the blame for my mistake? I tapped a button on the countertop to get the barmaid’s attention. “Can I get two shots of tequila, please?”
“Tequila?” Josh whistled. “Damn, Prinsisa. Here I’d pegged you for a prosecco girl.”
“I don’t like bubbles.” The same way I didn’t like the idea of peeking into a supernatural jail. “Anything else I should know about this place?”
“It’s a prison, so don’t expect rainbows and unicorns.”
I rolled my eyes as two shot glasses filled with clear liquid appeared in front of me. I lifted the first and tossed it back, the alcohol singeing my tongue and throat. Josh tried to grab the other, but I made the glass levitate to my mouth, sprinkling some wita to hide my little magic trick from human eyes. After pounding it back, I floated the glass back down to the counter. Unseelie mind control might’ve been one of my favorite powers.
“Showoff.” He signaled the waitress for some refills.
I longed for the alcohol to loosen the dread clinging to every organ in my body. A supernatural prison. Geez. I’d rather he’d asked me to kiss a dile, poison and all.
“I’ll try to do it tonight.” I licked the bittersweet dregs of alcohol from my lips.
The Plexiglas stool squeaked as he crossed one foot over his opposite knee. “I almost wish I could take it back.”
“Take what back?”
“The gajoï.”
I grunted. “You’re telling me . . .”
He raised a shameless smile. “I should’ve locked you into spending a whole night with me, naked and horizontal. Or vertical.”
Whoa. Nasty. I wrinkled my nose. “You did not just suggest that.”
He laughed. “Don’t look so appalled. I’m a very good lay.”
“You’re gross.”
“Never thought I’d agree with Trifecta on anything.” The familiar voice made my spine tighten and my eyes close.
How I wished I could open a portal and jump into it. Why couldn’t portal creation have been part of my arsenal of superpowers? Remo Farrow—aka my worst enemy—had joined the party. This was shaping up to be the worst night of my life.
“Propositioning your princess gives me grounds for immediate arrest.” Even though my eyes were still closed, I could imagine Remo’s golden ones, all shiny and smug. There were a few people Remo disliked more than me, and Josh was one of them. My mother was the other.
To this day, Remo was convinced that she’d killed his grandmother for her dust. Remo’s mother, Faith, shared her son’s belief. Neither mother nor son believed Stella Sakar had attacked my mother first—and not even once, but twice.
“Sorry to interrupt your little date,” Remo all but spit, “but the wariff and your father need to speak with you before dinner, prinsisa. They’ve tasked me—since your guards proved extraordinarily inefficient—to bring you back to Neverra immediately.”
My eyes flew open. First Giya, now Remo. Maybe this wasn’t just another silly revel. “I can bring myself back.” I asked the waitress to beam over my bill. After I wired the money, tagging on a hefty tip, I stood, careful not to brush up against Remo and the three lucionaga he’d brought along—two males with inflated muscles, and a female guard, whom I’d heard was lethal with blades. “Worried you needed backup to get me home, Farrow?”
Remo’s face darkened, turning the same burnt-copper shade as his hair. “Actually, my desire to protect the women in your family is so very lacking I thought it sounder for you to have others around if anything were to happen to you.”
“More like you’re worried about your own safety around our prinsisa,” Josh lobbed in good-naturedly.
“Careful, Daneelie,” Remo growled.
Josh rolled his shoulders back, the tendons and joints rippling underneath his short-sleeved white tee. He