Chapter Nineteen #3
Rowan cleared his throat and turned his face away. It was half concealed by the leaves anyway. He didn’t say anything, but I could tell our wolf’s words touched him.
“But still.” I rested my cheek on my arm and looked over at Briar. “Nearly setting everyone on fire because I got angry doesn’t sound very saintlike. What if I’m a bad egg? Like a dark saint or something?”
“There is no darkness in you, sweetheart,” a deeper voice said, and a big body pulled me close. Maddox had sat down behind me in the grass, stretching his legs out on either side of me. “Of that I’m certain. Your heart is too pure.”
I relaxed against his broad chest. The air was chilly, and he was so freaking warm. He soothed the ice coursing through my veins too.
“Our captain speaks true, love.” Briar smiled at Maddox, then at me.
The tightness around his eyes made that smile apprehensive.
“The anger you feel toward Cedric comes from your deep love of Bremloc and all the people in it. From a place that repels the cruelty and injustices he’s perpetrated.
That doesn’t make you a bad person. Quite the opposite. ”
I mulled over his words, trying to find relief in them. And I did, to an extent. The anxiety in my chest refused to settle though. Too much was uncertain, like sailing out into open water without knowing where you were at or where you were going.
“What will happen now?” I burrowed deeper into Maddox and watched the colorful glows move beneath the surface of the pond. Frog-chomping, possibly murderous, chameleon fish aside, they were pretty to look at.
“That, I have no clear answer for,” Briar responded, a crease forming in his brow. “But if I were to guess, I’d say your powers will strengthen from this point on. Starting small for now but likely growing stronger with the passing of days.”
I examined my hands. The blue sparks had caused a hot tingling in my fingertips, as though charged with electricity. “Onyx knows. I saw it on his face. He witnessed the former saint’s power and recognized it in me.”
Maddox slowly drew in a breath. On the exhale, his arms tightened around me.
“I reckon it’s a good thing you have Lord Onyx wrapped around your pretty little finger then,” Rowan said from his perch in the tree.
He dangled one leg down and bent the other at the knee.
How he kept his balance, I had no clue. My clumsy butt would’ve fallen in a second flat. “He’ll help us keep you safe.”
“The former saint helped kill his dad, Ro.” Hot prickles spread over my collar bone, gathering at my sternum. “Not sure he’ll be too happy with me.”
Lupin had warned me that one of my fated mates would either love me or kill me. Revenge would be a good motive for the latter. Onyx was a doom flag waiting to happen. A smarter muffin would’ve stayed far away from him, but he was too damn important to me.
I couldn’t stay away from him even if I tried.
“You’re not to blame for his father’s death, Ev.” Callum scratched Oreo’s ears, tossing me one of his dimpled smiles. The puppy lay beside him in the grass, his little head resting on Callum’s thigh. “Bake him more honey cake and he’ll come around.”
Some of the guilt lifted from my chest. Once again, my cinnamon roll chased away the storm clouds. My ray of sunlight.
“Lord Onyx aside, I think what scares me most is not knowing what comes next. My powers. My destiny to turn the tide in a war.” I tipped my head to look at the night sky. The moon waned as thin clouds passed in front of it. “If only there was a Hallowed Saint guidebook.”
Maddox dropped a kiss to the top of my shoulder. “No matter what the future holds or where your path takes you, we’ll be by your side. Always.”
Callum petted Oreo’s belly. “You have this little beastie by your side too. He’ll bite anyone who dares try to harm you.”
Oreo nipped at him.
“Watch it!” Callum drew back from the puppy and shook out his fingers. There wasn’t a mark, proof that Oreo hadn’t been serious. “Feral beast. I need this hand.”
Rowan laughed so hard he nearly fell from the tree.
“What of the other saints?” Lake asked, and the laughter around the pond subsided. “Five others came before Evan. What happened to them after their destiny was fulfilled?”
“I only know what became of Saint Vera,” Briar answered. “After Lord Malachi’s defeat, she returned to Bremloc and became a consort for King Paris. The queen wasn’t happy about it, of course, but she had little say in the matter.”
“Seriously?” I asked. “That’s shitty.”
“King Paris refused to let Saint Vera slip from his grasp if her children could strengthen the royal bloodline,” Briar explained.
I frowned. “Strengthen it how?”
“There are theories on how a saint is born, such as them being a child of a light mage and dark mage. Their births would be unpredictable if this were the case. However, others believe the key lies in their blood and can be passed through their lineage. Therefore, royal families in the past tried to secure marriages with the saints in the hopes that any heirs will possess the same gift.”
“You’re saying someone may wanna make a baby with my little treasure?” Rowan straddled the branch and withdrew the dagger from his boot. He cut at the bark. “I’ll slit the throat of anyone who tries.”
“Easy, killer,” I said. “You have ownership of that part of me. No one else.”
He showed my favorite tooth. “Good. Better keep it that way.”
A little blip came from the water, followed by the glow of a bright orange tail. Tiny jingles sounded as the breeze around us picked up, coming from the patches of wildflowers. Magic existed in every part of the Shadow Realm. In the plants, trees, and even the grass.
“Do you think Draven and Reign will stay here?” I asked, leaning against Maddox. He pressed another kiss into my hair. “I don’t want them to go back.”
“Just bat your eyes at Reign and he’ll do anything you want,” Rowan said with amusement rich in his raspy voice.
Maddox grumbled something under his breath.
“Words, not cavemen sounds,” I reminded him.
“Draven can stay,” Maddox said. “But Reign can be fed to a pack of Fenrir.”
I laughed. “Be nice.”
Oreo nipped at Callum again before darting lower and attacking his boot. My eyes grew heavy as I watched the most adorable little attack ever.
“We should retire for the evening,” Briar said, lifting his hand to brush aside my bangs. “You’ve had a long day.”
“Are you sure y’all want to sleep with me tonight?” I asked. “I might sneeze and set the bed on fire.”
Briar laughed. “As I said, emotions and magic are closely intertwined. Your powers will take time to develop.”
“So you’re saying I won’t set the bed on fire?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Maddox murmured in my ear, his arms circling my waist firmer. “I fully intend for us to set the sheets ablaze.”
I was picked up from the grass and thrown over his shoulder in our familiar way.
A sack of potatoes once again. I giggled as he gently swatted my ass before adjusting me in his arms and carrying me like a new bride instead.
He carried me from the pond’s edge and back toward the castle.
My other men followed, each of them still with worry present in their eyes but love too.
So much love.
Movement caught my eye from an upstairs window.
Onyx stared down at us, his expression unreadable from the distance separating us.
Not that I could read him even when standing an inch from his face.
It looked as though he softly touched the glass before the curtain fell over the window, blocking him from view.
In his lonely tower once again.
A sad pang hit my heart. I was happy to have my men around me, but he was one of them too. And I wanted him with us.
Once reaching the castle, Maddox peppered kisses in my hair. For such a grump, he could be such a ham sometimes. I reveled in his playfulness, feeling some of that ache in my chest ease.
What the future had in store for me and my men, I couldn’t say. But one thing I knew for sure?
Our adventure was far from over.