Chapter 29
Amonth had passed.
Four weeks.
Thirty days.
A full month since Vaelor and Drakyth nearly fell into Adrastus’ trap, and I hadn’t stopped looking over my shoulder.
Well, not mine. Vaelor’s.
He’d been bleeding profusely and limping when he returned. Thank the Goddess Iaso had been here. She’d almost left for a trip to see Ewan in Nautia, but I talked her into staying a day or two extra for “girl time.”
Lies.
It was all lies, and they were bitter on my tongue when Vaelor came into view, injured—then more lies to cover that.
They’d been ambushed. Adrastus had known they were watching and waiting, and he’d managed to catch wind of their plan. He faked his departure, removing his son from the estate instead, but how had he known?
We still hadn’t answered that question, and that doubt-filled fear kept me looking over Vaelor’s shoulder, waiting for the moment that Adrastus would appear behind him.
And the nightmares.
Goddess, the damned nightmares.
Night after night, I envisioned someone being murdered by Adrastus, whether that was Drakyth, Adon, Vaelor, me, or even his own child. I never saw a face on his son, but it was a twelve-year-old boy with wings, pale from lack of sun. I could hear his terror, or sometimes, it was worse: his resignation, his relief.
I wasn’t sure why I’d grown protective over a child I had never laid eyes on, but I had. Maybe it was simply because he was a child forced into the hands of a monster. Maybe it was because I knew childhood pain—not in the same way, but I could empathize, because mine could have been the same. The years after my accident were only good because of Godrick, and this boy deserved that too. Maybe it was just another one of fate’s tricks, a string, a connection, or maybe it was because of a much greater reason, one no one else knew of. Yet.
I couldn’t stand the thought of a child—a damned child—locked away in the room Vaelor had described. No friends, no toys, no smiles, no hugs, no laughter, no life.
Everyone deserved a chance to live. Everyone.
The metallic tang of blood met my tongue, and I ripped my finger from my mouth. My nail beds were shredded, my cuticles cracked and bleeding as they’d taken the brunt of my anxiety.
Until Adrastus was imprisoned and the boy was safe, it wasn’t going to go away. I knew that. Vaelor knew that, and thus, one more reason he wanted to bring it all to an end.
He was more determined to finish what he’d started than ever, which was why we were here in Canyon: to buy arrows tipped with that spellbound iron.
Vaelor held an arrow up, inspecting the tip as sweat rolled down his forehead. My own shirt was starting to cling to my form.
The blacksmith’s hearth was hot, yet she somehow seemed unphased. There wasn’t even a sheen of sweat on her back, revealed by the strange blouse that cut low enough for her flaming bird tattoo to peek through.
My eyes widened when she turned, holding a dagger glowing bright orange without gloves.
“And the spell was already encased?” Vaelor asked.
“Yep.” She dropped the weapon in a bucket of water, and it hissed and bubbled around the burning metal. She turned to us, wiping her hands on her apron before bracing them on the table. “The iron was imbued before the tips were dipped.”
Vaelor released a deep sigh and glanced at Drak. “Think it’ll work?”
He took the arrow and inspected it before collecting the other twelve. “As long as they aren’t pulled out, it should keep him down until I can get the chains on him.” He looked at the blacksmith. “Thank you, Edana.”
She nodded once. “Your other commissions will be done by the end of the day, too. Do you have the gemstones?”
Vaelor reached into his pocket and pulled out three blue stones, two larger ones and one dainty. He placed them on the table, and where two stones touched, a faint light emanated.
I leaned over for a closer look. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Storm’s eye.” Edana scooped them up and tucked them in a satchel.
“They harbor energy from those who can give it,” Vaelor explained. He slipped his hand into mine and bid farewell to Drak and the blacksmith.
“Harbor energy? For what?” I asked as he tugged me down the crowded alley.
“My magic’s well is nearly limitless if I want it to be, but I don’t like taking, which is why I use Iaso’s tonic. Storm bringers can pull energy from other things, other people, but it doesn’t feel right to me. The energy just feels wrong inside my body, foreign.”
“Okay…” I nodded, not understanding where he was going with this.
“I can do that. I can refill my own well if need be, but others can’t. Iaso, Ewan, Drak, Adon… None of them.” He sighed, placing a hand on my lower back to guide me. “If I channel enough into them, they can be used to refill a magic well—mine or another’s. I commissioned three because those were the only stones I could find for now.”
We exited through Canyon’s spell boundary, and I did a double take when I found Drakyth standing there. How did he beat us?
I didn’t have a second to ask before he ran forward and scooped me up. My first instinct was to kick and fight because Vaelor was absolutely about to strike him down.
“Calm down, love,” Vaelor shouted from way too far below.
My eyes snapped open, and my chest seized. I latched onto Drakyth, my body frozen against him. “I’m not on the ground.”
Drakyth shook with laughter. “No, you’re not.”
When he finally set me on my feet, I sucked in a deep breath and staggered away from him, bracing a hand on my abdomen. My stomach curdled, and my eyes glued to Drak’s face, afraid that if I looked away, nausea would force dinner back up.
I hadn’t realized I had a fear of heights until now, but I most certainly did as I finally looked away from Drakyth. My breath left me in a harsh whoosh. The desert surrounding Canyon was visible in every direction, all the way to the shimmering horizon.
High.
We’re high.
I could see for miles from atop this plateau. “Why would?—”
My head whipped left and right before I spun, looking for Drakyth, which set off a wave of dizziness. I stepped over to a nearby crystal tower and clung to it.
Gone. He’s gone.
Great.
The stone was cool beneath my palms, despite the desert heat, and I closed my eyes for a moment, taking slow, deep breaths.
Wait.
I opened my eyes.
This is a damned crystal tower?
Curiosity piqued enough to dampen the fear, and I finally took in my surroundings. My jaw fell slack, and I stood straighter, releasing my death grip on the stone.
Crystals were everywhere, large and silver, sparkling beneath the setting sun, all touching or protruding from a pool of water.
Arms wrapped around my midsection, and I relaxed at his scent. It soothed me to my very soul; it always had, and I knew it always would.
Vaelor hummed and placed his chin on top of my head. “The two larger stones are for daggers while the small one… That one is for a ring.”
My heart skipped a beat, my chest rising and falling quicker.
“For you.” He spun me in his hold so I faced him.
“For me?” I whispered.
He tipped my face to him and glided his lips along mine. “For you.”
“I don’t have a magic well to be refilled.”
“Maybe not, but it would make me feel better if you wore it. I want to be able to give to you if you ever need it.”
A soft chuckle escaped my tightening throat, my eyes burning. My damned eyes always burned, always cried. Why did every emotion have to come through in tears?
“And…” He dropped to one knee, and my breath hitched. “Fae may not have traditional marriages, but you’re not Fae, are you, dear, sweet Elora?”
I shook my head, covering my mouth.
“Then please, do me the highest of honors and marry me, because I’m nothing if not yours.”
I dropped to my knees and nodded fervently when words eluded me.
“Is that a yes, love?” He cupped the back of my head to tilt my face to his as he pressed his lips to my cheeks, kissing away the tears.
“Y-yes.” I wound my arms around his neck. “Did you ever doubt that?”
“No.” He chuckled, but my laugh came out choked and broken. “But if we’re to be married, I…”
At his hesitation, I pulled back to meet his eyes. “What?”
He sighed and sank back to sit on the ground, pulling me into his lap as he did so. “I asked Augustus to speak with the souls, and we’ve found a way to…to connect our lifespans.”
I shoved myself out of his hold and sat on my knees to stare at him, to see if those words had truly come from his mouth, or if I’d imagined them, but he held my gaze with suppressed hope.
I sucked in a deep breath against the tension in my chest, excitement filling it too viciously to allow air too. “So, you wouldn’t…I wouldn’t…”
“No, sun ray, you wouldn’t.” His grin was brilliant, breath-stealing, putting the sunset to shame. “You would live with me, as long as me.”
I launched myself at him, and his rich laughter filled my heart with warmth. I wrapped my arms around his neck, my breaths coming out shaky, my body torn between laughing and crying. “How?”
“Well, that part is more difficult.”
My heart sank. Of course, the other shoe had to drop at some point.
“It’s an ancient soul binding spell, a marriage ceremony of sorts, forgotten to time. It has to happen here, actually.” He motioned to the pool, and I looked over my shoulder at it. The sinking sun cast the pool in burning red, steam rising from it in soft waves. “We prick our fingers on one of these crystals, drop the blood into the pool, and if the Goddess deems our love true, she’ll link our fates, even more than they already are.”
“That doesn’t seem so bad.”
His throat bobbed. “If one person’s love isn’t true, they both die.”
That should’ve scared me, but it didn’t, not at all.
I crawled back into his lap, straddling his legs. “Is that what you’re worried about?”
“Elora…”
“Because I’m not. I want to marry you in every way, human and Fae. I want my heart and soul and life all tied to you, because I fear my world no longer revolves around the sun. I have no doubts, not a single one, Vaelor. We are true.”
His smile grew at my words, his heart thundering beneath my palms on his chest, strong and steady and alive.
“I don’t have any reservations, except…” I bit my lip and glanced down as I lifted his hand and placed it on my lower belly. “One.”
His brows furrowed before understanding dawned on him, his silver eyes widening. He wrapped his other arm around my waist as he sat up straighter, holding me against him.
“Are you… Elora, you’re…”
My cheeks flushed. “I’m pregnant, Vaelor. I don’t know how. I’ve taken the tonics, but I guess they’re not infallible.”
“We’ll wait.” He nuzzled his nose against mine before pressing a gentle kiss to my lips and lifting me by my waist to set me on my feet, leaving him at eye level with my womb. His hands rested on my hips as he pulled me forward and kissed my belly. “We’ll wait for our babe to be born, and then, you’ll be mine for the rest of our very long lives.”
He stilled suddenly. His head cocked to the side, brows furrowed.
My smile faltered. “Vaelor?”
He pressed his hand a little firmer onto my belly, but he didn’t answer.
“Are you okay?”
His eyes snapped up to meet mine, and Goddess help me, they brimmed with tears. “A girl.”
“W-what?”
“She’s a girl. I can feel her in there, her tiny little heartbeat enough energy for me to pick up.”
I closed my eyes as another tear fell, my smile so wide my cheeks ached. “A girl.”
“A girl,” he repeated. Holding my hand, he tugged me down to his lap and wrapped his arms around me, enveloping me in him, his warmth, his scent, his love. “My girls.”