Jalkyn leads me to the little dining hall but promptly abandons me there. No one else is in the hall and the food’s all gone and I’m staring at the empty table for a moment and then a plate of food appears out of thin air.

I glance over the corner of the room and sure enough, there’s a brownie there. My brownie in fact. I wave to the little guy and smile. He pops back out of sight.

I sigh and sit down to my solitary meal.

Or try to.

Iain is in my face as soon as my ass is planted.

“Fucking the whore?” are the first words out of his mouth. Oh my god, Jalkyn is right; these people really don’t like him.

I scowl at him. “Fuck off.”

He glares back, crossing his arms over his massive chest. Godammit, I hate it when people are bigger than me!

“It’s not your business who I sleep with,” I snarl, pissed.

He glares back, equally pissed. “I am honor bound to protect you. I do not want to be forsworn because Jalkyn drains your essence.”

I snort, disbelieving. Shit, he doesn’t just think Jalkyn’s an ass, he thinks he’s a murderer. Fuck, I know ainmhain faeries can potentially do it, but most don’t. Apparently, it’s a really, really disturbing feeling. For the ainmhain faerie. The other can’t really tell. There is a slight tugging and you’re not so energetic for a while and at the same time you’re hornier, but it’s not obvious if you aren’t looking for it. I let Janie test it out on me. She made a face after about five seconds of kissing and said, “Ick, not doing this, not even if I get to sleep with a gay man and make him enjoy it.”

I was thirteen at the time and got pissed at her. She wasn’t supposed to know. The only person I had told I was gay was Myda. Janie was totally cool with it though. Most people are. There are only a few worlds that have issues with the whole gay thing.

But anyways… if you know it’s happening while it’s happening, you can look for the signs. I learned them. Jalkyn isn’t draining me. He hasn’t even made an attempt to.

“Jalkyn hasn’t even tried.”

He snorts. “And how exactly would you know?”

Oh. My. God. He sounds soooo contemptuous. I’m underage, not a three year old.

“I can tell,” I say pointedly. “You can tell when an ainmhain faerie is draining your essence.”

His gaze softens. “You’ve run afoul of an incubus?”

I snort. “Fuck no. I have a friend back home and let her experiment on me.”

His eyebrows shoot up in surprise and then he goes straight to pissed. “Great, you’re a naïve fool. It is the ainmhain’s faeries natures to deceive.”

I snort. “Dude, they’re normal faeries. Well, except they need sex on a regular basis… But other than that, they’re pretty normal.”

He glares at me.

I tilt my head and let my eyes slip past him, pretending like I’m gazing off into the distance. In reality, I’m staring at a rather interesting tapestry on the wall. “Of course, all faeries are deceptive, aren’t they?”

I focus back on him, smiling slightly. “Oh wait, I bet you got taken by an ainmhain faerie.”

He turns bright red, skin nearly matching his hair for a moment. Wait, what? I think about what I just said. ‘Taken.’ I meant in the tricked, swindled type of way, but… Oh shit. Hot damn. An image takes form in my head without any conscious effort. Shit. It’s really, really, really hot. I never really pictured Iain as a bottom, but…. goddamn, I think it would look good on him. Especially with one of those pretty, delicate ainmhain faeries on top… Braid pulled back, back arched sharply, dull metallic skin shining with a thin sheen of sweat… Inexorably, Jalkyn replaces the pretty blonde I picture in my head and soon it’s Iain and Jalkyn and… it would explain why Iain hates him so much, but Jalkyn said no one’s freaked out on him the day after, which I totally believe… Man, I’m confused.

“Um…” I mumbled. “Did Jalkyn-”

He looks even more horrified for a moment. “No! I would never let that trollop touch me!”

Ha. He said trollop. “Okay…”

Another wash of red sweeps over his face and then he turns and storms out. He seems to do that a lot. But this is food for thought. Iain and an ainmhain faerie that isn’t Jalkyn….

After dinner, I end up going back to sleep. There is no such thing as too much sleep when you got hammered the night before.