Chapter 20
“Open your eyes.”
Myone had no idea what to expect. When Xev had “kidnapped” her, she’d been washing blood from her hair and wings, trying to scrub the stigma of war from her skin. He’d dressed her in her best gown and blindfolded her, then taken her through his shadowed lands to…
She’d never seen anything like this. It was a darkened cavern where everything around them glowed brightly. “Where are we?”
“It has no name. It’s a land in between nothing and everything.” His teeth flashed white while he spoke.
The colors here were so vibrant. Her golden skin glowed, as did her white dress and wings. Laughing, she spun about. “Why are we here?”
“You wanted to get married.” He handed her a bouquet of bright pink and white flowers.
Her heart pounded at the sight. No wonder he was dressed in something other than armor and had shaved his whiskers clean. He normally never did that—something she’d teased him over almost every time they were together.
“Seriously?”
He nodded. “Sadly, there’s no one to perform a ceremony for us, but I don’t think we need anyone.” He stood in front of her and held his hand up. “Give me your hand, fair Myone, and I promise that I shall give you my eternity. So long as you walk by my side, I will need nothing else. No one else. I am your darkness, and I swear that I will keep you forever in the light. You are my air. My heart. My soul. There will never be another for me.”
Tears choked her as she stared at those beautiful blue eyes that had captured her heart the first day she’d seen them. She took his hand and held it tight. “I promise to always be here to catch you should you stumble, and fall in love with you every single day for eternity. I take you as mine, Xevikan Daraxerxes, knowing all of your faults, and loving you because of them. Never fear that I’ll leave you. Because you are everything in all universes to me. Without you, I have nothing. I am nothing.” She kissed his hand.
“You are my wife.”
“You are my husband.”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
Myone laughed as she held on to him for everything she was worth. How she wished she could scream this out to everyone. But they could never breathe a word of it.
It didn’t matter. They knew they belonged to each other. No one could take this from them.
And one day, once this awful war was over, they would be able to have a life together. To have a family. Then they’d never be separated again.
Xev pulled a necklace from his pocket and placed it over her heart.
Lifting her hair while he fastened it around her neck, she frowned at the beautiful black wing. “What’s this?”
“It’s my wing.” He pulled a similar gold one from his chest to show it to her. “I have one of yours that I’ll wear.”
Happiness warmed her. “I love it.” She dropped the charm and kissed him again. “And I love you.”
“Love you too.”
Daraxerxes!
That screech was so loud that even Myone heard it in the aether.
Cringing, she sighed in sympathy for him. “What in the name of the Source does your mother want now?”
He let out a disgusted growl. “Who knows? But I better go see before she sends one of her pets after me.” Sadness darkened his eyes as he cupped her cheek. “Meet me at our house?”
“I’ll be waiting. Don’t take too long.”
“I won’t.” He kissed her one more time then vanished.
Myone took a moment to smell the bouquet he’d made for her as she let everything sink in. She now belonged to him…not that she hadn’t before. But it was more real now.
He was officially her husband.
Husband. She’d never even thought about having one before. All that had mattered was her position.
Now…
She was absolutely giddy.
Clutching her necklace, she prayed for her husband and their uncertain future. There was so much against them. So many who’d want to kill them if they learned of this.
It didn’t matter. They had each other. Somehow they’d find a way to defy the gods.
No one would ever divide them.