Chapter 48
Elorie
The hallway is empty. The only other footsteps are those of the red-haired guard who summoned me to dinner. I step out of my room, expecting him to hover like the guards usually do, but he walks away as a familiar figure turns the corner, dressed all in black, walking straight toward me.
Wilder’s golden eyes glow. A heart-stopping grin stretches his face as he drinks me in.
I’m frozen in place. Unable to move to meet him halfway. It’s only been a few days, but my magic stretches out at the sight of him. It tangles with his at the edges of the hallway. I might still be figuring out how my magic works, but it dances with Wilder’s like it has a mind of its own.
The back of my neck prickles with that thought. After what Callum said about Cyan, that might not be a good thing.
Wilder’s magic reaches for me before his hands do, pulling me forward a step. “You’re more beautiful every time I see you.”
I crane my neck back to look at him. One of his hands slips around me, and the other wraps the back of my head. He dips down, and I arch into the kiss. His tunic is smooth as butter on my fingers. Slightly open, so my thumbs graze his bare skin.
His lips are soft, even if there’s nothing but fury in the kiss. Pure passion. Magic. Tongues and teeth.
Wilder grins against my mouth, finally breaking the kiss as his golden eyes shimmer. “You got my present.”
“It’s gorgeous.” The fabric is so smooth and thin that it flutters over every curve.
“It’s nothing compared to you.” He doesn’t bother focusing on the dress, opting to stare into my eyes instead.
“I love it.” I love you, my insides scream, but I clench the thread so he can’t hear me. “This is the most stunning Tempest silk I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s not Tempest silk.” He straightens, holding out my hands to look down at me. “This is starlight silk from Quietus. My home.”
I glance down at the fabric, and it shimmers with my movement. With a depth that extends like the night. Deeper the longer you stare into it. If Wilder’s home created something more stunning than the tallest peaks in Tempest, I can only imagine what other incredible things can be found there.
There are many rumors spread about Vaelier. That it’s a beautiful realm, but deadly. That the leaves in the forests glow like phantoms in a breeze, and the beaches are lined with sirens calling out. I’ve read the sea is so many colors it melts with the sunrise. While the wind sings songs.
And this dress—this beautiful dress—came from Wilder’s home.
“How?”
“Lady Reah did me a favor. Seems she kept a few things in the basement over the last century when I was otherwise occupied.”
It was ordered that all objects of Vaelier be destroyed when the Realm War started. Yet, this silk, this beautiful piece of his home, survived. And he’s gifting it to me.
“You were meant to be draped in the most beautiful dresses, Elorie.” His magic caresses my chin, tipping it up when his hands don’t let mine go.
“I see they also found your crown.” My attention moves to the crown atop his head. Dark spikes make points of the black stones decorating it.
It’s breathtaking. Fitting for the king he’s meant to be but has yet to have the chance.
“What are those stones?” They hum almost like Alyssium did. But the void is greater. Familiar in a different way.
“Obsidian.”
My eyes widen. “You wear an obsidian crown?”
“It’s a tradition of the Quietus Court. One the queen started.” His expression is pained. “We bear the weight of our kingdom. Our people. We bear their pain, and our crowns should be a reminder of that weight so that we never fail it.”
“That’s a heavy burden.” My fingers graze one of the peaks, and I can’t imagine how it must press over him to wear it when the nearness of obsidian has my magic tugging me away.
“It is,” he agrees.
“I’m surprised her crown fits so perfectly. I’d have thought your mother’s crown would have been slightly different.”
“This isn’t her crown. The priestesses of Tempest made some adjustments for me.”
“You were quite demanding of them while we were in Tempest.” My eyebrow lifts.
Wilder chuckles. “I didn’t ask them to do it. Not everyone agrees with this war. In some places in each realm, they’re indifferent. The priestesses respect my title regardless of the king they serve. This was a gift.”
A gift.
A curse.
A thin line between the two.
“Why wear the crown tonight?” I ask, taking in the intricate stitching of his clothes. The black decorative designs woven through it. It’s not his usual outfit. This is the royal wardrobe of a king.
“Besides to impress you?” He winks.
“Yes, besides that, Great King Riven.”
Wilder growls, pulling me closer as he lowers his mouth to my ear. “Keep it up, Starfire, and we won’t make it to this dinner at all.”
“You say that like it should be a threat. But I’m failing to see the downside.” I arch into him, and it draws out the hardness between his legs.
Wilder steps back, making me grumble, and he simply chuckles in response.
“I’m serious. Why tonight? You look so… royal.” I run my fingers over the starlight silk, realizing he did the same for me.
Wilder clears his throat, his shoulders tense. “Vaelier deserves a king for what comes next. Whatever that may be.”
My smile slips as the truth of tonight sinks in. A final celebration before the destruction of his realm.
“I’m not saying that to upset you.” He pulls me close.
“If I could—”
Wilder dips down for a kiss, cutting me off. His fingers bury themselves in my hair as his tongue grazes mine. But this kiss isn’t rushed. It’s deep and soft. It’s everything I wish we could be if we could just hold onto this moment.
I wrap my arms around him, pulling him tight to me when he breaks the kiss and buries his face in my neck.
“Tonight, we don’t wish,” he whispers, kissing the side of my throat. “Tonight, we simply do, and tomorrow, we’ll deal with the consequences.”
“And you say I’m the one who causes trouble.”
He hums, kissing me again. “You are nothing but trouble, and I love every bit of it.”
Love.
If he weren’t Fae, I’d almost think that means more. But as Wilder told me once, love is small in comparison to their feelings when they meet their mate. Someday, Wilder will have something so much greater than love, if his kingdom lives long enough for him to see it.
He presses his palm to my heart, and it occurs to me I’ve left the thread open between us, my insecurity spilling through. Maybe yesterday I would’ve cared that he heard it. Maybe tomorrow I will. But like he said, tonight, we will just simply do.
I nestle against him, and he kisses my neck again, weakening my knees. His teeth graze my throat, and I remember what it was like to have them pierce through. For him to drink me down. It’s so easy to become lost in this male.
“Keep thinking like that, and I’ll drag you back to your room before dinner.”
His hand slips up the slit in my dress as he puts pressure where I’m aching. Wilder drives two fingers deep, and I lose my breath.
“We can’t do this right now.” My fingers make a mess of his hair, tilting his crown when he shoves me against the wall, kissing the center of my throat. “We’ll be surrounded by Fae, with all your Fae senses making it impossible to be discreet.”
“Who says I’m trying to be discreet?” He pulls his fingers out, holding them between us and licking me off slowly.
“Wilder.” My cheeks burn up as he grabs the back of my neck and presses his lips to mine.
I’m drowning in what he does to me. There is no comparison. No hope. Simply my heart on this altar, and I want him to take it before it is no longer mine to do with as I wish.
Instead, he pulls back, keeping his hands at my hips with a grip that says he doesn’t want to let me go.
“Maybe we should just go back to the room,” I offer.
But he shakes his head. “No. You’re so pretty in this dress; I’m going to show you off. And then, when you can’t stand it anymore, I’m going to spend the rest of the night messing you up.”
“Can’t stand what?”
My toes begin to buzz. A warm brush of magic caresses my calves. It winds up my legs, kissing my skin with every inch. Wilder doesn’t take his eyes off me. He doesn’t move his hands. He stares into my eyes while his magic sends a vibration over my body.
I’m buzzing with need as his magic cascades through me.
Pleasure only he can give.
But instead of easing my ache, he takes a step away, kissing the back of my hand. “Wouldn’t want to be late.”
“Of course not,” I grumble, frustrated as I lift off the wall. At least my braids are still somewhat in place, even if I feel like a mess now.
Wilder grins, enjoying every bit of my irritation. He leads me down the hallway hand in hand. There’s not a guard in sight when they usually line the doorways.
“Callum wasn’t lying. You made it so no one could enter this wing of the palace?”
“Not no one. Just no one that shouldn’t be here.”
“A little overprotective, don’t you think?”
He smirks, his eyes cutting to me. “If that’s what you want to call it.”
“What else would I call it?” I tap my lip with my finger, and it pulls his attention to my mouth. “Possessive?”
“Hmm, I think I like that better.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“Wasn’t it?” His magic pulls me to his side. “I’m possessed by you; it’s only fair if it goes both ways.”
Silence falls between us as that settles in. I’d sacrifice anything to be possessed by him.
Except my home.
It’s possible the people on Alyssium are already gone. I could be fighting for an island that has been swallowed by the sea and the monsters that surround it. Or I could be the only person left who cares about the last humans in Lyrichia. Either way, I refuse to leave them defenseless.
The hall widens the farther we walk, and I cling to Wilder’s side. Leaning my head on his arm and focusing on his heartbeat. The steady pulse is haunting. Mortality thrums in both of us. All the magic in both realms can’t prevent some things.
Wilder leans over, kissing the top of my head and pausing there. I close my eyes and memorize the moment so I never forget how warm he is. So I never stop smelling that forest kissed by lightning.
Voices come from around the corner, which means we’re nearing the end of Wilder’s boundary. Reluctantly, I start to pull away, but Wilder doesn’t release his hold.
“We can’t walk in together. What will they think?” My fingers tense on his shirt as I look up at him.
“I don’t care what they think so long as they know you’re mine.” He holds out his hand.
In offering.
In hope.
We both know this is it. Our last chance to cling to what can never be. So I do what he asked for this evening. I do what I want, and I choose him one last time.
My fingers slip through his with the kiss of a promise.
A dream.
A bond we forged on a frozen island when we both needed someone.
I take Wilder’s hand, and for tonight, I’m his and he’s mine.