Daemon looked at the illusion dubiously. It wasn’t the easiest advice to follow, since being a constellation was so new. Or rather, he supposed, it was old knowledge, but Vespre had hidden it from Daemon when he left the sky and was reincarnated as a newborn baby. The memories were still inside Daemon, but buried deep, as his other powers had been.

“Wait, I have an idea,” Fairy said. She set down the plant she was dissecting and bounded over to Daemon. “This worked last time to give you some confidence.”

Before he knew what she was doing, she stood on the tips of her toes and kissed his neck softly. Then another, her lips like warm silk. He turned to putty.

“Liga, go for a walk, please,” Daemon said, his voice gruff.

His brother chuckled. “I’ll give you ten minutes, but then we have to get back to work.” He turned away and disappeared into the woods.

Daemon’s mouth was on Fairy’s in an instant, his days’-old stubble against her smooth skin. Their bodies smashed together, too, and the force sent them tumbling to the ground, scattering dried leaves and chestnuts everywhere.

Holy heavens, he’d been stupid to wait so many years for something like this.

Fairy lay on top of Daemon and turned her attention to his neck again. He moaned and wove his hands through her hair.

“You’re going to leave a mark,” he said.

“No, I’m not. It’ll disappear as soon as you change into a wolf.”

“What if I can’t shift?”

“Then your neck will be marred forever.” Fairy flashed a wicked grin.

“You’re going to pay for that.”

“Oh, really? How?”

“Like this.” Daemon wrapped his arms around her back and rolled so he was on top. She shrieked in surprise.

He wanted her perfect little mouth again. Their lips parted, and their tongues danced slowly with each other. Daemon pressed his body against Fairy’s, and she arched her back and hips to meet him. The only thing between them was a few layers of clothing. Damn the late-autumn chill for all these clothes!

Fairy reached up to unfasten his cloak but only made it through one button.

“Why are you stopping?” Daemon asked.

“The sky is darkening like a storm’s coming.”

“It didn’t look like rain earlier.”

She smiled regretfully and refastened his cloak. “I don’t think it’s a real storm. I think it’s Liga giving us a warning that our ten minutes are up.”

Daemon sighed heavily. “And here I always thought I’d love having a sibling.” He rolled off Fairy.

She kissed him one last time, then climbed to her feet and offered him a hand up. “Do you feel a little better about yourself now?”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “It’d be impossible not to. The way you want me . . . it makes me feel like a god. Well, a demigod.”