Macy POV
I don't remember how I got back to my room last night. Hell, I am not even sure this is my room. This place is familiar and strange. I know I just got here, but I can't remember ever being anywhere before. I know this hasn't always been my home, but where was my home?
As I lay in bed, I try to make sense of my life. I had to have been somewhere before I came to the palace. Did I live in the village? Is there a village?
Pretty soon, my head starts hurting from trying to remember, or maybe it hurts from getting drunk last night. I make a silent vow not to drink any more fae wine. Keeping my wits about me is going to be essential.
Clumsily, I get out of bed and make my way into the closet. Pastel gowns hang as far as the eye can see. I hate each and every one of them, but I can't continue to wear the outfit from yesterday. However, the thought of pissing off Cassian is enticing.
Standing in the closet, I begin to arrange the gowns by color, hoping I might find something in black hidden away. Alas, there is nothing. A light knock on my door pulls me away from my work.
"Come in," I call out.
Whoever comes in silently and doesn't search for me. Peeking my head out of the closet, I see Destin. He is standing awkwardly with a box under his arm.
"Hello," he says quietly. "I brought you a gift."
"You can take it back," I respond curtly. I don't want anything from him, though I am not sure why.
"Please," he begs. "I really think you will like it."
Biting down on my bottom lip, I step from the closet, wrapping my sheer robe around me. It doesn't do much to cover me, but it is better than nothing at all. Destin doesn't look away from my face but shuffles from one foot to another. I watch him squirm for several moments before putting him out of his misery.
"Why are you being nice to me?"
"The Immortal Realm can be a bit of a shock," he says. "I want to make your transition comfortable."
I scoff. "What transition?"
His forehead wrinkles. "You cannot have forgotten already. Macy, where did you live before you came to the palace?"
"This is ridiculous," I grumble. I don't want anyone to know what I have forgotten.
Destin steps closer to me, and it feels wrong, but I don't back down. He pulls my arms away from my body and pushes up the sleeves of my robe. "How did you get these?"
Symbols line both of my arms like tattoos. A sharp pain pierces my temple, and I find it difficult to stand. Destin lowers me onto the bed, but he doesn't let go of my hands.
"Don't fight it," he whispers.
I close my eyes and steady my breath. Identical faces flood my mind like memories released from a vault. This place, this realm, is not my home.
"I am not from here," I whisper.
"Good girl," he murmurs, cupping my chin. "What else do you remember?"
"I have mates," I whimper. "I was born to be a bargaining tool between the Moon Goddess and King Roland."
"There is more," he urges me forward.
Only I don't dig any further. "Why are you helping me?"
"Because I want you," he admits. "I want you to want me too, but not because you have forgotten your life in the Human Realm. I want to win you from your barbaric mates."
"Why would I want you?" I hiss through my teeth.
Destin leans in close and whispers in my ear. "Because I will worship you and give you the world. There will be days and nights of pure passion. I will make your toes curl and your body quiver. Your arousal will run down your legs as you beg for me, and I will be willing to give myself to you. You are innocent but not untouched. I will make you beg for things that you didn't know existed. But, most of all, I will not call you Crazy Macy."
He steps back and leaves my room like he didn't admit his desires in my ear. My teeth grind together, and I hate him for his words. How dare he think I would choose him over Edward and Winston? I was made for them, and they were made for me. There is only one small problem, and that is the effect his words had on me. There is no denying my panties are soaked, and I hate myself for it. I feel disgusting for letting another man's words tempt me. Yet, I get some sort of satisfaction from knowing that every word out of his mouth is the truth.
My eyes fall to the box he left on my bed. I desperately want to shove it to the floor and forget it exists. Yet, I don't. With a heavy sigh, I pull the red ribbon on the box and slide it open. There is a blood red gown with a card lying neatly on top.
"Black may have been your color, but you would look like the devil you are in red. Destin."
It is beautiful. I have never worn anything so bold. I carefully lift it from the box, and it is lace, the whole thing. There is nothing to hide my body aside from some carefully placed patterns. I could never wear this, but I can't put it down.
Another knock startles me, and I hurriedly hide the gown behind my back. Nyx strides in wearing leather pants and a tunic. Her silver wings follow her gracefully while mine drag against the ground. I scowl at her presence.
"What?" I snarl at her.
"I came to help you get dressed," she replies.
I look her up and down again and only get more irritated. "Why do you get pants?"
"Because I am not a Princess," she smirks. "What is that?"
She reaches around me and snatches the red gown from my hands. I can't stop the blush creeping across my cheeks.
"It was a gift," I tell her, conveniently omitting who it is from.
"Destin always did have… different taste," she sighs.
"Who says it is from Destin?"
"He is smitten with you," she replies. "He will charm you until you give in."
"I am not giving in," I grind out. "I have mates."
Nyx lays the gown on my bed and chews on her bottom lip. "Where are they?"
"What do you mean?" I shout.
"It has been at least a month or more in the Human Realm, and they have not come to the portal. They know the way, yet they have not come for you," Nyx's voice trails off.
"They will come for me, and I will not forget them. No matter how much fae wine Roland forces down my throat."
"It is not the wine that makes you forget," she tells me. "It is the Realm. Eventually, everything about the Human Realm will be lost to us all."