Dragon Fae (The World of Fae) by Terry Spear Read Free Book Online Page B

light blue, birds twittering about, though she couldn’t see any.
    She hated to speak to him about the problem with Cassie and Micala, but she knew that she had to. This issue between them had to be resolved one way or another.
    Deveron sat down with Alicia on his lap on a curved wooden bench held up by two wrought iron ferocious-looking lions, mouths bared, showing off their wicked teeth.
    “You went to see Cassie instead of me,” he said, his dark gaze fixed on her eyes, his expression somber. He sounded disappointed, more than angry with her.
    “I was going to break up Cassie’s relationship with Micala once and for all.”
    “You were going to destroy your friendship with her.” Deveron sounded surprised.
    Alicia couldn’t help the tears that filled her eyes at the thought. She’d been friends with Cassie since pre-school. Finger-painting, playing dress up—she considered her velvet gown and realized she was back to playing dress up—and then later, sharing secrets about boys. She didn’t want to hurt Cassie. She didn’t want to end their friendship. Not ever.
    She hadn’t ever had a friend as loving or a friendship that had lasted as long as the closeness she’d shared with Cassie. She hated having to destroy it, but if it meant saving her from Micala and what would happen to Cassie because he didn’t wish to give her up, Alicia would do nearly anything.
    “She’ll be all right, Alicia.” Deveron brushed the top of her head with a kiss.
    She stiffened. “Micala—”
    “I will kill Micala if this means I will lose you,” Deveron said fiercely.
    Alicia stared up at Deveron, not believing his words, yet his hard expression said he would be willing to do anything to keep her safe. “Your cousin.” The words came out on a whispered breath. “You can’t. He’s your cousin.”
    “If his seeing Cassie means I could lose you …” He didn’t say anything more as if it was too difficult to speak of the possibility, and he appeared deadly serious.
    “No,” she said, shaking her head.
    “Then what , Alicia? What had you intended to do? Exactly. ” He was angry now. Angry at her and angry at Micala. She didn’t think he was upset with Cassie. She was the innocent pawn in the whole blasted mess.
    Alicia looked away from Deveron’s searching gaze, not having planned to tell him what she had intended to do. It would just be done. She’d lose her best friend forever, saving her from the cruelty of the fae and—
    “Alicia?”
    “I was going to tell her I was in love with Micala and he was in love with me, but he didn’t know how to break it off with her.” She choked on the lie that would break her friend’s heart. “That’s why he rarely visits her. And that’s why I rarely see her either. Because…because I love him.”
    Deveron squeezed her tighter against his chest, his mouth pressed against her forehead and the brigand was smiling! She was dying here, destroying her friendship with her best friend, the ultimate sacrifice, and he was smiling!
    She brushed away tears and scowled up at him. “It isn’t funny.” Her voice was dark and dragon roughened and choked with tears.
    His smile broadened, and he chuckled. He said her name with such tenderness, shaking his head at the same time, not allowing her to leave his lap when she struggled to. He was so maddening.
    “She would never have believed you.”
    Alicia stopped wriggling and stared up at him. “She would.” Not sounding sure of herself. She imagined she’d be crying the whole time, trying to make the whole thing sound like the truth, but she knew as soon as she spoke the words to Cassie, she would have broken down and cried her heart out.
    “No, she wouldn’t. She would know that you believe that Micala is bad for her. She wouldn’t understand why. But she’d know that your heart was in the right place. That you were trying to stop them from seeing each other. But she wouldn’t believe that you were in love with