True Love's Kiss (A Slow Burn, Orc Romance)

CHAPTER IX

VULTOG

The fae let out a frenzied gargle...it was laughing. "You are brave to think you can negotiate with me, human."

"Those who ask for nothing, receive nothing," Rayna rationalised her actions, heedful of the vicious animal she was colluding with.

The infant giggled and clapped her hands together in oblivious amusement. Chubby build, alabaster flesh and round, blushing cheeks, she looked nothing like Rayna. I casually affixed myself to Rayna's general vicinity, careful not to draw unwanted attention to us. My line of thought was that onlookers might assume I was the child's father.

Secretly, I was ecstatic that an opportunity to escape Earth had landed at my feet through no major loss.

The fae's beady eyes were dark pearls that gleamed at me. "This is your friend, I assume?"

Rayna was bobbing the child up and down. "Yes, he's really homesick. So you'd be doing him a huge favour."

At best we were disgruntled allies united by a common goal, but that was not the right moment to ponder over semantics.

Across the populated room, Juno emerged from the otherworld of facts she'd buried herself in. She tilted her head sideways, quizzing her sister's sudden fascination with a child the three of us did not know. Juno's lack of animation was a sign that she couldn't see the fae. The young woman usually lightened up at any inkling of a new discovery.

I put my finger to my lips, so Juno knew that Rayna and I were in the middle of something precarious.

"I admire your courage. Most mortals would have screamed and run away by now..." Meanwhile, the fae had finished weighing the benefits and disadvantages of doing business with us. I suspected that having a mortal indebted to them was an attractive prospect.

One of their hands transpired from their tunic pocket. A drawstring pouch hung from one of their clawed nails. The beans were inside.

Home was within my grasp.

I didn't care that I was using a mortal infant as a pawn. No matter that these beans were likely programmed to deposit me in some depraved underworld teeming with vermin. I could already smell the distinct air of Terraork. Swimming nude in the waterfalls not far from my household, and commencing a season of celebration were at the top of my agenda.

Failing to take my own advice, I removed the mobile phone from Rayna's authority and spoke into the device. "I cannot be one of the human pets you Unseelie like to keep. You see, I am actually an orc. Vutog, Son of Nag and Mura. I will see to it that your generosity is compensated greatly by my King–"

That obnoxious gurgle sounded again. "The word of the Orc King means naught. Your faith in him is entertaining though."

"Be careful of what you are implying, Unseelie," I forewarned. A fae playing mind games, I expected nothing less. The suggestion that my king was untrustworthy, was unthinkable.

Rayna plucked the phone out of my fist, her smile wavering. "We still have a deal, right?"

The fae opened the pouch and took out a single bean.

"Whispers at the Queen's court carry news that your esteemed king has betrayed the Queen," the fae said to me directly.

"Gossip is not a credible source."

"The Court never lies." The purple seed winked at me teasingly.

Fed up of the creature toying with my faith in my king, I leaned over to lay hold of the bean--it was as good as mine.

In that moment, I learned the true meaning of a situation 'going south'.

"Oi! Whatdoya think you're doin' with ma baby?!" Finally conscious of the whereabouts of her offspring, the chatty mother exploded in anger. Every conceivable eye in the room gravitated to us, as the mother stormed over to Rayna and dug her talon-like red nails into her shoulder.

"So, this little angel is yours?" Rayna lied smoothly, cooing down at the giggling child. "We found her wandering around..."

I stumbled forwards, coming into contact with empty air. The fae was suddenly nowhere to be seen. Scratching my scalp, my head whipped from one side to the other, seeking the troublesome creature.

An elderly man pointed a shaky finger at Rayna and I. "They're being untruthful, poppet. There was talk of nabbing the sweet child, right out from under you."

Utter chaos erupted.

"You thieving bitch!" The mother took her kin back from Rayna.

A sinister voice slinked into my ear. "Here, take your precious bean."

The fae was still present, now wrapped around my neck from behind. Just as I opened my mouth to decline, they shoved the magic bean deep inside and smothered my lips with their gnarly palm. I thrashed about in alarm, however freeing myself from the vengeful creature was proving to be highly taxing.

"Let's all calm down-n," I heard Rayna stammer. "This is just a misunderstanding."

"Liar!" The old man hooted.

"Whatever is the matter, Vultog the Orc? I thought this was what you craved?" Another hand came up to pinch my nose. My eyes watered and dizziness swirled in my brain. The bean lodged itself at the entrance of my throat, teetering on the edge. I clattered about, throwing my arms and punching my fists--anything to shake the fae off my back. The salt packets rained down around me. In the turmoil, my knuckles accidentally clunked the arm of a passerby.

In my waning periphery, I gathered a twitching heap of hair pulling, slaps and guttural sounds. The outraged mother and Rayna were fighting.

My lungs burned and the passage of my throat desperately glugged for air. I resisted my body's attempts to swallow down the bean, choking on the edible seed. Hysterical cackling conquered my ear canal, "Enjoy the trip to Wonderland. It's a long way down."

I collapsed on the floor, on my knees and clutching at my neck.

"Oh my god, is he okay?"

"Wh-What is going on here?"

"Keep filming, this'll definitely get us more followers on socials!"

"Someone call the police! Security!"

"Vultog? Stay still, you're chokin'!" Someone pelted blows at my back and belted their arms around my midsection. Lady Juno. She squeezed and pumped at my stomach. Juno's compressing hugs persisted until the bean was knocked out of my airway. Lathered in saliva, it flew into the face of the elderly man, who was now waving his walking stick and lobbing expletives and epithets at Rayna.

Gaining the upper hand, she pushed at her opponent with all her might. The angry mother lurched back into the wooden barrier and tumbled over it, crashing into the furniture and falling down with a gut-wrenching yowl.

Juno pulled me to my feet as I wrangled for control over my wheezing chest, and the reflexive tears streaming down my cheeks. Rayna felt around on the floor for her phone--the dark, reflective screen was now marred with a spider web of cracks. "Let's go. Now!"

Immediately, we barrelled out of the room, hastily vacating the destruction we'd caused. 

The child's loud cries haunted us throughout our rapid departure from the Tower of London.