A Debt Repaid
B ryson was glad her hair was pleated because the rushing wind of the sky as she sat atop a beast was brutal. When they circled and then landed in the forest, her entire body was on alert until she caught sight of Weylyn.
He was waiting for her, and she let out a breath of relief as she jumped from the creature’s back and rushed to her mate.
Her neck throbbed from the marks of his canines. So did the inside of her wrist and thigh, but it was a burn in the most delicious of ways. She hadn’t known what mating would be like. What it would feel like. It was like a part of her was tied within his soul. She could feel his absence and closeness in equal measure.
And she ached for his tongue to trail against those burning, healing marks. She needed that reassurance. She needed to be close to him.
It took nothing for her to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him close. Their hearts beat in tandem. When they pulled away, he pressed his forehead to hers in a quiet intimate moment before Cassimir interrupted.
“Your mate made a mess for me to clean up.”
Weylyn’s mischievous smile warmed her from the inside. “Did she now?” Though he asked the question, his eyes shone as though he already knew what she’d done. She would not apologize for it. And he looked as though he didn’t expect it of her either.
“Mother will be furious.” Cassimir slid a hand down his beast’s neck.
Weylyn reached for Bryson’s hand. “Fortunately, the two of us will be gone before she reaches us.”
Bryson’s heart thundered and her gaze snapped up to her mate, questioning with no words. “You did it?”
“Did you doubt me, little mate?” his voice purred in her head, causing her cheeks to flush.
“Remember your vows to me, little brother,” Cassimir interrupted.
“As if I could ever forget them.”
Weylyn turned to Bryson then and nodded. She took a breath and reached into the pocket of her pants for the mirror she’d stolen. She held it up before them and Weylyn squeezed her hand in encouragement.
“Home,” Bryson whispered.
The black reflection changed. The surface of the mirror rippled and changed, distorted. They couldn’t see anything on the other side, but a bright light shone through the relic and enveloped them in its embrace. Bryson looked up one last time at the eldest Prince of Unseelie and found him smiling. Not angrily, mischievously. But genuinely. And she smiled back at him, right before the light sucked both her and Weylyn inside.
Out of Unseelie.
And back to the humanlands.