Chapter 2
two
Dove
Seraph—the word whirls in my mind.
Luminescent bodies are bowed before me, tales swishing from side to side.
The way their scaled skin glows in the light of the two suns is utterly spellbinding.
I never knew such people could exist. There are a lot of creatures and places I have come across in the last several turns.
I never could have imagined all this living in the one Goddess’s temple back in Haven.
Here I am in a kingdom, truly not that far from my own, with glimmering sand covering the expanse as far as the eye can see and strange-looking but nonetheless enchanting people.
White-knuckling my cloak, I instinctively whisper in my mind to the one person I know is listening, “What does Seraph mean?”
A slow chuckle vibrates through my head, and I know he’s smirking, which only makes my anger towards him burn bright. “You’d like my help now, would you?”
Gritting my teeth, I scowl. I seriously don’t understand what it is about this male that sets me off.
If someone gave me a knife, I’d be tempted—no, I would definitely slit his throat.
However, the annoying tug in my heart reminds me that we are bonded, and I can’t harm a hair on his devilishly arrogant head even if I want to.
“Now, now, Pet. I can feel all of that unrequited fire for me, and I must say, it is doing things to me I’m not sure you’re ready for.”
I unintentionally huff loudly at the bastard in my head.
Slitted eyes of varying shades look right at me.
A sliver of fear works its way up my throat.
I gulp it back, pushing into the wolf shifter behind me.
Gideon’s hand holds firm around my waist. I lean on him for a smidge of his comfort as we are assessed by the creatures before us.
“A Seraph is an angel of the Gods, and technically, you are my angel.” I roll my eyes at Fury’s statement but let him continue. “However, to the people of the Silver Sands, they believe you are an angel brought to them from Osear. A bringer of an ancient prophecy.”
I want to ask more, but Rivern is moving from his place on the dais, his violet eyes never leaving mine. His tall frame and lithe movements weave around the people surrounding us until he is by Saff, no fear for the ruby-red beast. Just his hand outstretched. Our gazes locked.
Nothing else exists except him, the bond an eternal pull towards one another.
Everything from our short time together comes flooding back. Rivern’s smell of sunshine and pine. His soft but firm touches. The way his lips tickle across my jaw…
“Dove?” The question brings me out of my daze.
Without a thought or a care, I lean down to grasp Rivern’s hand, flinging myself off Saff and falling helplessly into his arms. He catches me effortlessly.
My breath leaves my lungs on impact—utter relief that my heart has found him again.
My legs wrap around his waist, bringing our chests together.
“I’m sorry. I never meant to leave,” the words tumble out without thought—just a need for him to know I truly never meant to leave without a word.
I may have planned it in the beginning, but after what we shared by the lake—how he gave me space to choose—I could never let the fae go, even if I wanted to.
Rivern solidified himself in my heart that day.
It just took me bonding with a God to fully realise it.
“Hey, it’s okay. I know.” With his sure words, I melt into him.
If Fury is the thread of my heart that sets me on fire, Rivern is the thread of my heart that calms my storm.
I bury my face into his taut neck, watching my favourite show of golden lines dancing over his skin.
His fingertips run up and down my back in a soothing pattern.
I suck all the deliciousness of him down.
After finding myself at Fury’s isle and realising bond connections do not make one like someone as I’d feared, my heart softened to Rivern’s claim on it. I know now my feelings for him are more than a Goddess’s will. We fit together, different sides of the same coin.
Thud.
“I think you have some explaining to do, fae,” Gideon growls from beside us.
No love seems to be lost between these two as I feel an intense gaze sear through the side of my face, the dyre shifter watching our interaction.
From his perspective, this is a rather different situation from the last time we were all together.
I have spent time with them both, and a lot has changed since we came together in that warm den under the king’s manor.
Rivern and I share a bond that feels unbreakable. Even if the Goddess decided to strip us of our thread, we would still feel connected in our hearts, fated to always come back to each other.
My pulse thrums at the idea of this everlasting connection with Rivern, and a swell of bees consumes my lower stomach, flitting up towards my throat. The feeling is so foreign to me I almost want to choke. Rivern continues to trace patterns along my cloaked back. It soothes the buzzing sensation.
“I don’t know what you expect of me, wolf, but I guess thanks are in order for bringing my bonded safety back to me.” Rivern surprises me by not rising to Gideon’s gruff words, instead going for a more composed response.
“What are you doing among the silvers?” Gideon continues, ignoring Rivern’s offering of thanks.
Even though my body protests, I make a move to stretch my legs down Rivern’s long form.
He, however, does not allow my total disentanglement as he grips my hips firmly to his torso, giving me his smouldering violet gaze before acknowledging Gideon.
“I am here to protect my people from further invasion.” His eyes do not leave mine.
“I want you to know that is the only reason I am here. To keep my people safe.”
His heart and eyes are saying more than his words can translate. I don’t understand the whole picture. There’s more he wants to communicate, to express. Right now, however, surrounded by strange new people, is not the time.
The threads that bind us—that I witnessed dancing before my eyes when Fury exposed them—are at the forefront of my mind.
In fact, they remind me of the intricate golden web that encases Rivern’s form.
So fine and delicate, one would think it would snap from minimal force.
Instead, it flourishes under the pressure of our connection.
It seems utterly, inextricably crazy to think that I would not do anything to keep our threads whole. In the span of only turns, my feelings for this male have changed so drastically that I’m giving myself whiplash.
“Rithern?” a slippery voice questions beyond the fae prince’s broad chest, obstructing my view. Rivern’s muscles tense at the sound.
My coals ignite in a crackle at the strange tone—a slithered rolling sound. The big, all-encompassing voice in my head soothes my worries.“Calm, Pet. She is Princess Moyrie, blood heir of the Silver Sands people. We need her.”
“You mean you need her,” I reply inwardly to the fallen God rattling around my mind.
“No, I mean we. Because as much as you might like to ignore it, we are bonded for all of rhythm and movement. Until the stars fall and the Gods cease to hold dominion.” My skin shivers at his words. “You will never be rid of me because where you go, I will follow, long beyond the veil.”
“Okay, okay, that’s enough.” I cannot handle the words Fury is throwing my way.
They are a hammer to my heart. POUND. POUND.
POUND. Each blow tightens the strings weaving us together, making my body sing—the making of us.
As much as I don’t want to admit it to Fury or myself, I can acknowledge the pull.
It does not mean it will go beyond that—beyond a kiss in a forgotten tower.
There will be no fucking or making love. The bond is sealed.
I have Rivern—
His fingers weave through my hair, slightly tugging my face towards his.
“Where did you go?” The lines between his eyes show concern—an emotion I am not used to.
It’s bizarre to have someone who cares without wanting something in return.
Old feelings of suffocation weave their way up my throat. Argus makes an appearance, perking up.
I push at Rivern’s hold, moving sideways, only to bump into Gideon. “Argh. Can I have some space?” I give the wolf shifter a death glare. Gideon gives just as good as he gets, not moving a muscle, amber eyes slitted and upper lip rising.
Ignoring the fight in his eyes, I move to walk away from the two men. If only I could walk away from the one in my head, too.
I don’t get far before a hand stops me from behind. Sandalwood and a completely overwhelming spicy male scent encase me as I feel the small hairs of Gideon’s beard tickle my ear. “Watch who you try to pick a fight with, Songbird. Some of us bite.”
With my heart racing a million beats per movement, I gasp at the wolf’s words, preparing to whirl on him. Rivern interrupts us, saying, “Dove, we need to talk.”
Looking up, I realise our little threesome is now a fivesome, with two luminescent-scaled people standing beside Rivern. Silvers? Rivern does not seem concerned by their appearance, so I take his lead, going for his outstretched hand.
When I’m out of Gideon’s grip, my heart slows, and a sense of forlornness washes over me. I frown and grip Rivern’s hand tighter.
The female before us, wearing nothing but a thin slip dress that ends at her upper thighs, moves to grasp Rivern’s remaining hand. My eyes involuntarily go wide at the sight, and an aggressive sound emanates from my throat—an almost growl, strange to my ears.
“I do not wish you harm, Seraph,” the female says.
Up until now, I have been so transfixed on Rivern I have not noticed that the whispered voices around me are making sense to my ears.
The words are a slithered glide over my skin.
For the first time, I look at this woman properly.
She stands a few inches shorter than me.
Behind her scales are toned muscles, and as she blinks, her eyelids slide behind her skin, revealing blue irises that peer out at me.
In an ethereal, beastly way, she is beautiful. The thought hits deep.
“My name is Dove,” I respond. “Why are you calling me Seraph?” Maybe if I can understand her, she can understand me?
The silver’s face splits into a wide grin. “You speak our language?” She exudes excitement.
I speak her language?
A God answers my question. “Remember, my power is now your power, Pet. This is one of the ways my power is showing through you.”
Fury’s news leaves me struck. I can speak other languages?
Well, the Silver Sands language, at least. Truthfully, I can’t think of anything that would serve me better on this endeavour.
It took me rotations to learn Ancient Fae for the Goddess’s song, and now, in a heartbeat, I can just talk to a completely different species.
It’s crazy how suddenly life can change.
One day, you’re living in fear of the unknown world.
The next, you’re speaking a language you never knew existed.
“Dove?” A concerned note spills from Rivern as he questions me. I squeeze his hand reassuringly, focusing on the female who seems way too familiar with my bonded.
“Yes, I can speak your tongue.”
Moyrie’s face is utterly glued to mine, eyes wide. The whispers around us grow louder and louder.
“She has come.”
“The Seraph.”
“She rode on the red dragon’s back. She is the one.”
“She speaks our language.”
The female in front of me takes my hand.
“I knew you would come one day. He said you would, and I just knew it would be in my life cycle.” I let her take my hand—better mine than Rivern’s—and she wrenches me forward.
With Moyrie’s hand now firmly in mine, I feel the softness of her scales.
How they cool my clammy palm, making me want to grip onto her tighter.
Pulling Rivern behind us, we are soon forming a parade around Saff, leaving my intimate in the circular, open-air space surrounded by silvers.
I pause, looking into red eyes. “Go. I will be safe,” she answers my unsaid question within my mind.
The worry about leaving her behind gradually recedes at her words.
I nod swiftly before Moyrie tugs my hand, pulling me and Rivern through the white curtains of a creamy-toned building by the dais.
A stern-faced Gideon follows closely behind.