Chapter 46
Rummy
The sun heated my skin as I tilted my head back and soaked it all in. Hot days were rare in Scarlata, even in the summer, but we’d been blessed with the warmth for weeks now.
And damn I looked good with a tan.
Huntyr laid back on the riverbank beside me, her bare feet skimming the water’s surface as she dangled them over the rock. Her eyes were closed, too, and she had the faintest smile on her lips that made my stomach flip.
“Don’t you have important queen shit to do?” I asked. “Or are you ignoring all your responsibilities so you can get some color on that pale skin of yours?”
Without opening her eyes, she replied, “Shut up, or you’ll ruin the peace.”
“Oh, please. This peace is too powerful to be ruined.” I pushed myself up on my elbows. The leaves danced above us as a subtle gust of warm wind flowed through them. Birds sang in the distance. I never realized how many birds lived here.
“Mmm,” she hummed, “you’re right. I’ve been on edge, waiting for more havoc to take over the kingdom, but it finally feels like we can breathe.”
We both sucked in a long breath of the fresh air.
She rolled to her side so she faced me. “That’s because of you. You know that, right?”
“Whatever,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “You’ve sacrificed a lot more for Scarlata. Any of you would have done the same damn thing.”
“Still. I don’t take you for granted, Rummy. Not before this mess with Pericius, and certainly not after.”
My throat tightened. “These last few weeks have been different here. After using my magic, people are finally treating me like I actually belong.”
“That’s because you’re treating yourself like you belong here, Rum. That has nothing to do with your magic.”
Hunt repeated those words over and over again these last few weeks, but I still found them hard to believe. I hadn’t used my magic since that day—not because I was afraid of it, but because I didn’t feel the need to. It was still there deep in my soul—an egg waiting to hatch if I ever needed it.
But I prayed to the gods that I never would.
A tickle sparked in my chest. “We’ve got incoming,” I said.
Hunt hid her smile and the two of us waited for a few seconds as those bonds grew stronger and stronger.
Then—in the middle of our peaceful sunbathing—the two winged angels came spiraling out of the sky in a clash of white and gold. They landed on the grass a few feet away with a loud thud, sending a poof of dirt and leaves into the air.
I couldn’t have stopped my heart from flipping if I wanted to, and I quit trying to keep my emotions hidden through the bond a long time ago.
“Hey!” Hunt yelled. “Careful! We’re relaxing here!”
Wolf and Jessiah half-wrestled themselves to their feet as their laughter died off. “Apologies, ladies,” Jessiah started. “We were just coming to find you.” His eyes met mine and an excited rush charged through our bond.
“What’s so important that you have to interrupt our very important activities?” Hunt asked.
Wolf smirked in that annoyingly arrogant way he always did. His wings reflected the rays that filtered through the canopy above us, and he sauntered toward his wife.
“Ew, ew!” I squirmed away as Wolf knelt beside her and practically drowned her in wet kisses.
Hunt protested, but the sound of her playful laughter echoed off the trees around us.
“You know, if you want to get away from that, I can give you a lift.” Jessiah raised an eyebrow and flexed his wings. They’d recovered quickly since we left Pericius, and not a single feather laid out of place.
“You know I hate flying,” I answered.
“Really?” He glanced to where Wolf was trying to drag Huntyr into the river a few feet away. “You hate it so much, you’d rather stay here and watch whatever’s about to unfold in that river?”
Goddess above.
“Fine.” I took a tentative step toward Jessiah, but he was already grinning from ear to ear and holding his arms out for me. “But if you drop me, I’ll kill you.”
His biceps flexed as he picked me up with no effort at all. “As long as you promise to bring me back.”
I punched him lightly in the chest before wrapping both arms around his neck. A light gleam of sweat covered him, and my frame buzzed with energy everywhere our skin touched. He jumped into the sky with his powerful wings soaring around us, and we were off.
Yeah, I did hate flying.
But I squealed as we broke through the tree canopy above and entered the open sky.
Jessiah’s laughter vibrated his chest, and I held on tighter as the entire kingdom of Scarlata came into view.
Fae and vampyres gathered everywhere, enjoying the warmth, reveling in each others’ company.
I even saw Xavier attempting to flirt with Soph in the courtyard.
This close to Jessiah, it was impossible to separate my emotions from his. The tingling sensation of love and pure devotion enveloped me. This was ours. I wasn’t afraid of losing it. I wasn’t afraid of accepting who I was anymore.
This was simply our home.
And lately, with Jessiah’s arms molded around me, flying didn’t seem so bad.