Page 7 of The Endless Dance

I probably should feel scared or intimidated by her anger; instead, I’m just intrigued.

“Laska!” Rita snaps.

I’m surprised when Laska’s cheeks burn red, and she takes a step back, turning away.

My jaw drops as I am hit with a sudden revelation.

“Oh! Laska is your daughter!” I proclaim. Now that I’m looking, I see the similarities in them, though their personalities were from entirely different planets.

Laska folds her arms and snorts.

“Took you long enough,” she scowls. Rita casts her another stern glance, and Laska throws her hands in the air. “Fine! I’m going!” She gives me one last thin look before storming past me and out of the tent.

“Don’t mind her,” Rita says apologetically. “She got her temperament from her father.”

“Your owner, I assume?”

Rita blushes. “It certainly started that way. But we have grown to accept one another. I will never love him, nor he me, but we get along fine enough. I did, after all, give him an heir. It is why they want women, after all.”

“Excuse me?” I repeat Laska’s words from earlier, though mine are not scathing. Shocked, yes. Incredulous? Double-check.

“Oh, of course, you wouldn’t know, would you? The reason the fae came to Earth was to breed. Their females were becoming infertile. The fae were dying.”

Chapter Three

They want to breed us.

Their intentions shouldn't surprise me. When I really thought about it, it made sense. Women only from Earth. Males only to Hunt. But I thought of the leagues of fae crowding the portal as we walked through. The countless males who had walked among the women at the Choosing. They didn’t look like a dying breed. Unless… could this possibly be the entirety of their population? All here at once? But… Rita had said the fae were dying. Were. Not are.

She nods, reading the question on my face before I can voice it. “The taking of human women all these years has been a success. There is talk of culling the connection with Earth, but for every vote to cull, there are five more wanting to keep it. Keep the Wild Hunt.” She shakes her head. “There is so much you don’t know. But there is no time right now.” She passes me the dress, and I hold it in front of myself and wince. “Quickly now, I imagine the High Lord will summon you shortly.”

I sigh, but do as instructed. The dress settles like water over my skin, cool and melting into my every curve. I tug at the hem, which barely covers my ass, to no avail. A daring slit splits the fabric on one side from hem to hip. I suppose I should be grateful the underwear matches, because there was no way any of my granny knickers from back home would be hidden in this. The neckline droops in a major plunge. It cascades delicately between and past the valley of my breasts. The shoulder straps are thin as the web of a spider.

I fidget nervously with the revealing neckline.

“One stray lick of wind and my nipples are going to be greeting everyone with puckered shame,” I whine.

Rita and Frieda are silent, so I turn to see what has their tongues tied. They both stare at me, eyes wide and secret smiles gracing their lips.

“The High Lord is going to fall to his knees for you,” Rita squeals excitedly.

“I highly doubt that,” I scoff.

Frieda, however, is nodding along to Rita’s commentary. “It won’t be today, but he saw something in you, Delta, and you are bloody well going to have him kneeling before you one day.” She grins suddenly. “I can’t wait to see it.”

I roll my eyes. I’ve always known I was naturally beautiful, but I wasn’t someone whose simple existence demanded a second glance. Not like the High Lord. Or any of the fae, if I am to be reluctantly honest.

Rita, seeing my exasperation, ushers me over to a mirror, which I hadn’t seen earlier. I step in front of it.

Fuck. They are right. I don’t know what magic Rita worked on me, but she’s turned my simple beauty into something almost otherworldly. I blink and move my head this way and that, to make sure it really was my reflection I was looking at.

“Is this an enchanted mirror or something?” I whisper.

“No,” Frieda smiles, coming up behind me. “That’s all you, Delta.”

With each tiny movement, my skin glitters and shines. It is oddly appealing and makes me look like a woman with a net worth of millions. I would never actually have that to my name, but in this moment, gaping at myself like a fool, I felt like the richest person alive.

A sudden, long, and timber gong sounds, reminding me of the one rung to announce the beginning of the Hunt. It sends instant chills through my body.