23. Malachi
Spending an entire day loving Ciara, how I’d longed for such a long time had been the happiest day of my life and that was saying something because I was always happy when I was with her. She made my heart whole and now she’d made my body whole. We’d talked between rounds of sex. Eaten the bowl of fruit we’d found in the kitchenette then I’d eaten Ciara for the first time spread across the countertop. She’d tasted better than the sweet fruit, but then I always knew she would.
Her heat and the potion, so she wouldn’t fall pregnant, was a brief reprieve from the coming tragedy of our lives.
As the sun set and the heady aroma of Ciara’s heat shifted into her sweeter scent, we both understood we couldn’t put off the inevitable any longer. We washed in the bathing room, taking the time to clean each other with the perfumed soap. Our hands glided over each other’s bodies as though we hadn’t spent an entire day worshipping each other. Her touch still turned me on, but I willed my cock to not harden to full mast.
Stepping out of the bathroom we dried and found an armoire with an assortment of clothes. Ciara shimmied on a black dress with gold threads glistening under the blue lights from above. She seemed even more magical. I dressed in a pair of dark pants and a tight shirt of starry night blue which clung to my chest.
I took her hand in mine and led her toward the door.
“Malachi, wait.” She jerked my hand.
I stopped and raised my eyebrow.
Her pretty pink tongue which had done wicked things to my body darted out along her lips.
“I want you to know—”
I placed a finger over her lips. She didn’t need to tell me. “I understand.”
She nodded, and I dropped my hand. I recognized she loved me. She realized I loved her. That was all that mattered.
I opened the door, and we stepped outside into the fresh air of the Water Sprites’ village. They’d hidden away their secret place from the rest of the world. They were like us.
A girl rushed forward. “Sir Axis is awaiting you.”
“I remember you,” Ciara said. “You were at Sir Axis’s house.”
“I was.” She strode along the walkway making us rush to keep up with her. For such a small thing she sure was fast.
“Are you his daughter?” Ciara asked.
“Heavens no.” She laughed. “I’m not even a Water Sprite.”
“What are you then?” I asked.
She lifted the thick length of her hair away from her ear and revealed its pointed tip.
“You’re an Elf!”
“I’ve never met an Elf,” Ciara said. “I’ve met no one but Fae until recently.”
The girl flicked her hair back into place.
“I have to say, I’m enjoying our trip.” I grinned.
Ciara blushed because she understood I meant our time together alone. “Me too,” she whispered.
The girl led us from the boardwalks over the water and onto the rich soil. At once a jolt of power shot up through my bare feet. My palms glowed a radiant white. Ciara too must have sensed the connection because her shadows were covering her hands and twining around her wrists.
Sir Axis sat at the edge of the forest on a throne carved from a large log of a Redwood tree stretching to the sky behind him. The closer we stepped the more I made out the intricate carvings on the throne. Swirls depicting water leaped from the armrests. They’d carved water creatures into the legs and behind his head were the wings of a gigantic bird.
“Ah, the ‘friends’ are gracing me with their presence.”
Ciara tilted her chin high not letting his comment get to her. She was so strong. I admired that about her. I wouldn’t take his dig either.
“We are friends,” I said.
His fingers tapped on the arm. “Friends who fuck.”
Ciara gasped. The girl ran into the woods as though she didn’t want to be here for this.
“What Ciara and I do, is our business.” I folded my arms over my chest.
“True.” He lounged back on his throne and flung a leg over his knee. “So, what do you want to ask, Princess Ciara?”
Ciara stepped forward. “Sir Axis, we’d like to thank you for your hospitality.”
He nodded.
“We have an enormous problem in the Summer Court. Our Spring of Life is languishing and will soon cease to flow. If that happens, we’ll lose our immortality. The Fae will die.” She forced her palms together and her powerful shadows vanished. “We’ve searched for a cure but have found none. Since you’re exceedingly powerful over water, you’re our last hope at curing the spring.”
Sir Axis leaned forward, placing his elbow on his knee and his head on his hand. It seemed like he was studying us and trying to decide if we were worthy of saving.
“I can fix your spring.”
“You can?” Ciara’s voice wobbled.
“Of course, I can fix any water.” He lifted his chin and flicked his fingers.
A stream of water flew across the air toward him, landed at the tips of his fingers, and curled up his arm in the same way Ciara’s shadows slithered around her arm.
“So, you’ll help us?” she asked.
“I suppose I can. Take me to your spring.”
Ciara’s shoulders slumped. I stepped closer toward her and placed a calming hand on her lower back.
“Only Fae can travel to the Summer Court.”
“Such a shame.” His brows dipped. “You traveled all this way for nothing. I can’t cure the spring from here.”
“There has to be a way,” she pleaded.
We couldn’t have come all this way and be this close to a cure and then have our Veil keep us from curing the spring. I churned the complication over in my head, but I couldn’t see a way we’d get Sir Axis through the Veil. Wait… marked mates of Fae could travel through the Veil into the Summer Court, but that would mean Ciara would have to mark him as her mate. I squeezed my eyes shut before snapping them open and staring at Sir Axis. He smirked back at me.
“You recognize a way, don’t you?” I asked.
“I’m familiar with the same way you are,” he replied.
“No.” I shook my head. “Not happening.”
“Shouldn’t the princess decide?”
“Decide what?” Ciara asked.
I sighed. “Marked mates can travel through the Veil.”
Her eyebrows rose then dipped into the biggest scowl I’d ever seen.
“You’re not suggesting I mark him as my mate?”
I gulped. “What other way is there?”
She placed her hands on her hips. “After everything we’ve shared, I can’t believe you’d suggest it.”
Sir Axis stood. “Don’t worry, beautiful, Water Sprites are happy to share. I wouldn’t stand between you and your friend spending time together in any way you want.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You wanted this all along, didn’t you?”
“Me?” He placed a hand on his chest.
His act of innocence didn’t fool me.
Ciara tapped her fingers on her hips. “Not saying I would do it, because this idea is ridiculous. If I marked him, then he’d fall into the Quiet for Dia knows how long and he wouldn’t be able to help us. So, if he planned this, then it was a flawed plan.” She stepped closer to Sir Axis and every part of me wanted to lunge in between them to protect her. “You don’t appear dumb enough for that.”
“I knew.” He stepped the last of the distance between them. “I wanted to see what you’d do. Would you put your happiness first or the lives of your people?”
“That’s not what I did!”
“Isn’t it? Wasn’t your first thought for Malachi?”
She peered wildly over her shoulder at me. My heart clenched inside my chest. This couldn’t be her choice. Her happiness over keeping everyone alive. She deserved to be happy. I’d make sure she was.
“It’s all right, Ciara,” I said. “If I need to share you to keep us all alive, then I will. I’ll still love you.”
Tears welled in her eyes and her bottom lip quivered. All I wanted was to take her in my arms and keep her safe.
“I’m strong,” Sir Axis said. “I’ll probably wake without delay from your mark.”
She whipped her head back around.
“As soon as I can, we’ll go to the Summer Court, and I’ll fix your spring.” He lifted a hand and tucked the strands of her long hair behind her ear. “The choice is yours, Princess.”