Chapter 49
Elorie
Dim bulbs hang overhead, guiding a path to the great hall. They’re muted tonight. No longer the bright suns the king usually creates to bathe his parties in light. Darkness swirls at their core, and when I look up at them, they remind me of the chorus to the song The Death of Stars.
Oh, did we go so far, the heart grew colder?
Did we lose such sleep, the night stopped shining?
Oh, to wander where the light went out,
or did she go into hiding?
Oh, the gods sang the song, but there was no mourning.
No morning.
Standard Guard armor has been replaced by the same dark armor Callum was wearing when he came to my room.
And while Fae in the palace always dress in the most beautiful clothes, tonight, the outfits are grander.
Shimmering gowns are dripping with gems. Tunics are strung with iridescent thread. It’s a display of opulence.
They celebrate like the kingdom isn’t dying.
I suppose to them it no longer is, as of tomorrow.
Wilder’s firm grip on my waist reminds me he’s at my side, and I’m not alone.
Fae part, whispering and gawking as they stare at his hand on the center of my bare back.
The crowd splits in a wave, leading a clean path to the king, who is perched atop his throne with Hazel seated beside him and Selia sitting on his lap in the most beautiful gown I’ve seen, apart from my own.
Blue silk cascades over her curves. Gold decorates her ears and paints her eyelids.
Her brown hair is swept up, showing off the thick golden collar at her neck.
While she wore a royal gem in Tempest, this is the first time I’ve seen her fully adorned in the colors of the king. It’s a statement that makes me feel less guilty about the one Wilder is making as he holds me at his side.
“You are not a statement to me, Elorie.” Wilder’s fingers ripple with a current of magic that travels my back.
I swallow hard as we approach the throne, making sure to dip low in my curtsy, even as Wilder continues to keep his hand on my skin.
His fingertips slide along my spine as I lower, skating back down when I stand tall again.
Wilder remains upright, not so much as dipping his chin.
The true picture of a king beside me. And while I curtsy for my king, it feels wrong for the first time. Like I’m bowing to the wrong mission.
King Malachi’s expression is still cold when I meet his gaze. Dark circles cast shadows around his eyes. His golden hair has dulled. But the streaming flicker of light continues to pour from his fingers, as if he wants to display a swell of his magic to his audience.
“Starlight silk.” The king’s gaze moves to my gown.
“It was a present,” I say.
He glances up at Selia. His fingers brush her jaw, tugging a smile up in the corners of her mouth.
“I suppose I do understand the beauty that comes from Vaelier.” The king grabs Selia by the throat, pulling her closer. “Quite difficult to capture, but when you do, easily moldable.”
He holds Selia’s lips near his, but his eyes cut to Wilder. They’re taunting each other, using us to irritate the other. I should mind, but I find myself leaning closer to Wilder, offering him whatever comfort I can as the king claims Selia in a kiss.
When they break apart, her eyes are hazy, but she’s smiling, not the least bit bothered by the king’s display. She juts her chin triumphantly at her brother, ignoring me entirely.
“Are you ready to fulfill your promise to me, Elorie Vale?” King Malachi asks, glancing at where Wilder’s hand remains on my back.
My mouth turns to sand. “I am.”
At the edge of my mind, I feel Wilder’s thoughts scattering around. He’s thinking so many different things that it’s difficult to make sense of them. While he reads my thoughts so easily, I can never understand what he doesn’t send to me directly.
“Very well.” King Malachi waves a dismissive hand. “Enjoy your evening.”
It’s more of a threat than well-wishes. Music filters back into the room, and dancing resumes. It’s utterly pretentious.
Callum and Greer stand in the line of guards at the wall, making them unapproachable. Maybe that’s for the best when I’m already losing my nerve to be here.
“Wine, Ms. Vale?” A female stops in front of me, holding out a glass, and I shake my head.
She doesn’t offer it to Wilder, setting the tone.
Around us, Fae laugh and drink like their existence doesn’t rely on my survival tomorrow.
“Your survival is not in question.” Wilder glances at me.
“Just because my magic is awake doesn’t mean it’s strong enough to get me through the Rite in one piece.”
“Your doubt does nothing but reinforce that. You need to believe in yourself.”
“I’m trying.” I really am, but the more I consider what will be lost alongside what I save, the harder it is to hold faith.
“I know.” Wilder’s expression softens. “Are we done here now?”
“We just arrived.”
“Which means they’ve seen us, and we can go.”
My stomach somersaults at his smile. “We’re done.”
Wilder firms his grasp on my waist as he guides me through the room. We’re no longer in view of the king, but I manage to meet Callum’s stare one last time before we leave. The next time I see him will be at the Rite.
Guards don’t try to stop us, and they don’t follow.
Wilder guides me back down the hall in which we came, veering in the opposite direction when we reach the fork that leads to my room.
“Where are we going?”
“To get some air.” He guides me toward the courtyard.
A honeysuckle-scented breeze whispers in my ear as we step outside. And above, there are so many stars—I could lie here all night and never count them all.
Instead of walking into the ring, we take the path that surrounds it. A stony circle with small alcoves and benches. Trees line every edge, so there’s no way out without a Gate.
And no way in.
I look up at the stars, a never-ending path that glows like it calls out to me. Pausing, I point up at the archer’s bow Father used to show me as a child.
“Do you see that constellation?” I trace the line of the bow, which ends at the point of the arrow.
“Evaline’s hunt?”
“Is that the name of it?”
Wilder nods.
“Father didn’t know the names of many constellations. And since it was rare for us to see stars on Alyssium, we were better off making pictures with the clouds than the stars. But on the rare occasion the clouds parted, we would seek out the few mentioned in the books Callum brought Father.”
“Your father was close with Callum?”
“My whole family was close with him. My father… my grandfather… He guarded Alyssium for nearly a century. As long as—” I pause at that thought, realizing Callum and Wilder came to Alyssium around the same time for very different reasons.
“It’s fine, Starfire.” Wilder brushes my cheek. “I accepted where I was.”
He shouldn’t have had to. That prison—the nightmares within it—I don’t understand how any Fae leave with their mind intact.
Although, I suppose that’s the point since they’re not meant to leave at all.
Glancing up at the stars, I pinpoint the constellation again. One I sought whenever I could. A guide that made the rest of the realm feel less distant.
Wilder told me his favorite place in Vaelier was anywhere he could see the stars. Looking up now, I can understand why. He spent a hundred years without them.
“Might as well have been longer.” His gaze falls to my cheek.
I swallow hard as my heart starts to race. “Can you tell me the story of Evaline’s hunt?”
“So curious.” Wilder lifts my hand, kissing the back of it.
“I know.” I frown. “Too curious.”
“You can never be too curious, Starfire. Curiosity is the only real way to uncover the truth.”
My cheeks warm at Wilder’s compliment. I’ve spent my life being told my curiosity only gets me into trouble. That it’s dangerous to question things. But as with everything else, Wilder sees me.
He looks up at the stars, and I do the same.
“Some say that Evaline’s wisdom was an accident.
That the unspeakable gods didn’t offer it as a gift to her, but that she found it herself because of them.
Her mate was taken from her in the great war of gods, and she spent millennia seeking her out, searching for any knowledge of her whereabouts among the stars.
Evaline traveled to the edges of existence and peered beyond.
Fighting great beasts, learning their secrets, upturning entire constellations trying to find her mate. ”
“I didn’t know gods had mates.”
“They do. It’s usually how wars begin. Between gods and Fae.”
“Did Evaline find her mate?”
“No, but she found everything else. In her search, she learned all facets of existence. She discovered the secrets of the suns, stars, and constellations. Of all creatures within them. She found everything except for her mate. It was her blessing and her curse.”
“That’s heartbreaking. I can’t imagine finding your mate only to lose them. Seems better to not find them at all.”
Wilder watches me, not responding. His mouth holds a firm line as he glances up to the constellation overhead.
I follow his gaze. “Father used to point to that constellation because it shone the brightest, but he didn’t know the story behind it.
Do you see the tip of the arrow and the two stars just beyond it?
” I trace the line of the wide V. “He said they looked like my freckles. He said I was cut from the night sky as a blessing to him and this realm.” My chest pangs at the reminder, and I shake my head.
“Clearly, he didn’t know the real story. ”
“Or he did.” Wilder angles my chin until I’m looking up at him. “You are a star in her own right, Elorie.”
His eyes swirl brighter than the night above us. He makes their beauty pale in comparison. My hands grasp his tunic as he steals a kiss.
If we can’t have forever in this realm, then maybe we can have it in the stars.
In this endless night. We can write it in the constellations.
A secret between the two of us. Then, when I search the sky years from now, I’ll remember he did exist. That I had Wilder for a moment and that this was real, even if I couldn’t keep him.
My arms wrap around Wilder’s shoulders, and he lifts me from my feet, pulling my legs around him.
“Someone could come out here and catch us.” I tip my head back as he presses me to the wall inside a stone alcove at the edge of the training ring.
“No, they can’t.” His mischievous gaze meets mine as he peppers kisses along my jaw.
“You’re far too powerful for your own good, King Riven.”
He growls, pressing his hips at my core where the starlight silk parts.
I reach for the ties on his shirt, stripping it off as he easily holds me against the wall with one arm.
His strength is magic in its own right. My fingertips graze his shoulder, sliding down strong, lean muscle.
The hard lines of his bare chest make me weak in the knees. He’s a masterpiece carved by the gods.
“You’re good for my ego, Starfire.” He grins, kissing the hollow of my throat.
“As if your ego needs it.”
“I always need you.”
Those are dangerous words. They make me wish on stars I shouldn’t. His lips find mine, and this time, his kiss is urgent. Magic swells in my veins. It bursts at the seams, begging to get out.
I dip my hand between us and tug at the laces of his pants until they loosen and hang at his hips. His hard cock is velvety soft in my palm, deliciously firm, stealing my breath as he drives himself into me.
“Wilder.” I grip the back of his hair, my fingers grazing the obsidian crown.
I’d forgotten he was wearing it, and that bite of the stone nips at my flesh. He must sense it because he reaches up and tosses it to the side like it’s nothing. The crown of his kingdom, cast aside for me.
His teeth dig into my lower lip, nearly drawing blood. It has mine coursing in my veins. I angle my head back, and a surge of power tunnels through me with every thrust of his hips until I’m on the verge of erupting.
Only, my magic holds me there. I can’t let go because that means this will end. My fingertips burn, my heart pounds, and my teeth ache.
My teeth.
They’re sharper. Cutting through my gums and aching with hunger.
“Fae teeth.” Wilder presses his forehead to mine, looking down at me.
“How?” My fingertips brush the sharp peaks that I didn’t know I had.
“You forget half of who you are, Elorie. It’s a part of you if you listen to it.”
My tongue runs over the points of my teeth. I hadn’t summoned them, but drowning in passion, they descended, knowing what I need. And what I need is more.
“I know.” Wilder leans close, offering me his neck.
His pulse hammers just beneath the surface. I drag my tongue over his warm skin, not able to resist. I need to taste him like he tasted me. I need to claim him as he claimed me. The pulse that beats in his heart sings for me to take it.
My teeth break flesh, and my lips press firmly to his skin. Blood fills my mouth, and I’m flooded with pleasure. It’s almost too much. The sensation of him flowing through me as his thrusts deepen makes everything blurry. I swallow, and I’m warmed through.
“Gods, Elorie.” Wilder grabs the back of my hair and holds me to him, impossibly hard as he drives deeper, begging me to drink more.
So I do.
His blood fills my mouth while his memories flood my heart.
I see the inside of his mind. Flashes of the prison.
Of before. A constellation of memories that all blend to the point that it’s impossible to make sense of them.
But at the center, I see Wilder, holding out his hand for me.
Wishing on a star for me. Watching my freckles glow in the depths of obsidian darkness.
With a final swallow, I take him in. Panting as I break away. And when he presses his lips to mine, he must taste the blood in the kiss, but it only makes him more feral. His teeth nip at my lower lip. The smallest cut that he sucks on.
Blood for blood.
Kiss for kiss.
He takes me under the stars, and I feel myself reaching in my chest for my heart so I can hand it to him.
Wilder presses his forehead to mine, looking into my eyes as I reach the precipice of my release. Something new swells inside me. A bind that snaps tight. Permanent in a way we can never be.
It courses a chant in my heart as we both come undone.
“Mine. Mine. Mine.”
“Yours. Yours. Yours.” His sings in return.
Or maybe I just wish it.