28. The Promise
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
THE PROMISE
Faint rays of dawn filtering into the room signaled that it was morning.
At first, I didn’t remember where I was, but that didn’t bother me. The bed was soft, and I was warm. Too warm, actually. I kicked my feet until they met air.
Much better.
Then I remembered. I shot up, the blankets falling away to reveal my naked body. Next to me lay Riel, the sight of his sleeping form making my heart melt. I softened as I took in his peaceful face, captivated by the way the sunlight through the curtains transformed his sleep-ruffled hair into strands of gold. The scent of his bath oil tickled my nose. Would I always associate that sunny, lemon-grassy smell with sex now?
“Like what you see?”
Riel’s sleep-roughened voice brought me out of my daydream. His eyes were now open. “I know I do,” he murmured, his eyes raking shamelessly over my exposed front.
Clicking my tongue in reproach, I settled back against his side and pulled the sheets up over my chest. His heartbeat thrummed under my cheek, a reminder that despite coming from two different worlds, we weren’t all that different .
“Did I hurt you?” Riel frowned down at the junction of my shoulder and neck. Confused at first, I raised a hand to feel the spot he was looking at and realized that he was talking about the bites. Is there a bruise? I couldn’t even feel them anymore.
“Oh, no,” I assured him. “It was hot.”
Riel responded with a stunning smile, which I returned. I snuggled up to him once more, tracing the line of his pectoral muscle with one finger. God, he was just so firm . I tried to think if I’d ever felt a man’s chest before. Is everyone built like that under their clothes? Certainly not . Then again, I hadn’t had much experience with the male form in real life.
After a moment, I ventured to ask, “Is… is it always like that?”
“Is what?”
“You know.” For some ridiculous reason, I still hesitated to say it aloud. “Sex.”
“Oh, no. I’m particularly talented.”
I rolled my eyes with a soft snort. “Yeah, okay.”
Riel was quiet. Then… “You… haven’t had sex before? Hadn’t, before last night?”
“Don’t make it weird,” I warned him. “No, I hadn’t. But it’s not a big deal.”
“Perhaps not,” he agreed. He fell silent for another moment before adding, “Thank you.”
“Huh?” I blinked up at him. “For what, my virginity?”
“For you,” he said simply, sliding an arm under my neck. I squeaked as he pulled me close. “You took a chance in crossing The Rift. You treated me with respect from the beginning. You worked hard during your training and never complained. Well, not that much.”
The amendment made me frown.
“Now, you’ve opened your heart to me,” he continued, his thumb stroking back and forth over my shoulder blade. “I’m honored by your trust. More than you know.”
It was my turn to fall silent. My sinuses burned, and I blinked back tears. This is relief I’m feeling . Relief and joy . I was where I belonged. Here, beyond The Rift, where not only were there no expectations put upon me, but there was someone who cared about me.
Is it okay to feel this way? Do I deserve to be this happy?
When I sniffled, Riel glanced down in alarm.
“I’m okay,” I said before he could inquire. “I’m just happy. And scared,” I admitted as a horrifying thought occurred to me. I burrowed into his chest to hide my face, and his arms tightened around me to provide reassurance.
“I don’t want to go back,” I whispered, my voice wavering with emotion. “They expect me to go back, but… I don’t want to leave. I can’t.” While I didn’t specify, I knew that he knew what I meant—it was him I couldn’t bear to leave. How could I? They’d expect me to return to the White House and go back to work like nothing changed… when everything had changed. I couldn’t live like that anymore, not the person I was now. And not without him.
Riel’s stoic silence only made my fear intensify. My hands trembled. What am I doing, getting caught up in these feelings? He had a responsibility to his people too. Even more than I did, since he was one of their leaders. What if he told me I had to leave? Could I bear it? What if I misunderstood his speech at the ball, and he only ever intended for this to be a fling? Oh, God. Did I just mess everything up?
“Before you say anything,” I blurted, pulling away from him. “I-I think we should just be open with each other. Communication is always best, right? Whether between friends or between l-lovers. Even if something might be hard to say, or hard to hear, it’s better not to keep secrets. A-and I have to tell you something. I mean, I want to tell you something.”
I risked a glance in Riel’s direction. His expression remained impassive, but his hand fell to my arm to give it an encouraging squeeze. I reached around and held on, using his touch to ground myself as I thought back to memories that I’d buried long ago. My eyes closed.
“I had a friend once. When I was fourteen, they brought another girl to live with me at the White House. Marcia. She was another Golden Child—one of the kids born with magic. She didn’t like to talk about what she went through before they rescued her, so I’m not sure what her story was like… but anyway, we were really different. Like, total opposites. She was outgoing, brave, confident, independent… everything I wasn’t.”
I pictured her behind my eyelids—a girl a little shorter than me, with long dark hair and bronze skin. There was a huge smile on her face, the way I always remembered her. The memory made my heart compress painfully in my chest.
“She didn’t give a shit what anybody else thought,” I said, my voice quivering. “Just was herself. I loved that. I was shy and a pushover. She taught me to stand up for myself and use my voice. I wanted to be like her. Even her powers were cool. She could change her features however she wanted, even things like growing fur or changing the length of her limbs. Turn herself into someone or something else with a single thought.”
“Changing magic,” Riel mused.
“Yeah… I guess so. I just envied that… that it was really hers, whereas mine felt like it belonged to everybody but me.” Shame made my eyes fill with tears. “I shouldn’t have been jealous; we were treated so well. We had basically anything we wanted—clothes, makeup, games, books, everything. We had private tutors, so we didn’t have to go to school. All that, and there were just a few rules we were supposed to follow. It should have been easy.
“But… we were kids.” Through the tears, I implored him to understand. “Just dumb kids. They told us we couldn’t leave the White House grounds, no matter what. We had to stay behind the fence. They just didn’t want anything to happen to us, I know that now. But at the time, we thought it was a stupid ru le that they made up to keep us under their thumbs, you know? So, one day, we decided to sneak out.”
I steeled myself with a deep breath and forged on. “We were sixteen. Marcia disguised herself as George, which got us past the guards. She had grand plans to hitch a ride to the Capital One Arena to see some pop star in concert… I forget who, but it doesn’t matter. It could have been fine. The only problem was, I couldn’t change my face like she could.”
The words came out bitter. My hand tightened around Riel’s.
“I remember following her through a crowd and losing sight of her. Before I could find her again, someone grabbed me from behind. They knew who I was. I was so startled that I didn’t even fight, just let myself be pulled into some sketchy store. I don’t remember their faces, I was just so confused. When I finally found my voice, I begged them to let me go. I told them I had a friend who was looking for me, but they just laughed at me. And then…
“Then they tossed me in the storage cellar, and they left me there.” As I said it, my imagination kicked in with a vengeance, like it always did when I thought back to that place. It was dark, the air was musty, and the walls and ground were cold and hard. The only light I had came through the gap underneath the door at the top of the rickety, old stairs. Blinking rapidly to chase away the memories, I forced myself to continue.
“They posted that they were holding me for ransom on fucking dark web Craigslist. The Secret Service found me in four days. I was down there just four days, but it felt like a lifetime. I was afraid to even leave my room for a while after that. I thought everyone was out to get me—the servants, the sick people outside the gates, even my bodyguard at the time.”
Unsurprisingly, silence followed my admission.
When Riel still didn’t say anything, my gut churned in discomfort. I tried to ease the tension with an awkward laugh. “All this is to say… well, you can see why there hasn’t been mu ch opportunity to date before now. Not that that’s relevant. But… since coming here, I feel like I can breathe again. I don’t feel trapped or afraid every second. I don’t feel like… like I have to be good, or the bogeyman will get me. It’s stupid, I know, but this place… and you, it’s changed everything. I can’t go back and lose this. I won’t .” I won’t lose another person who’s important to me , I added quietly, not yet ready to say that part aloud.
I fell silent again. My hand still gripped Riel’s. I let it go limp so that he could pull away if he wanted. If this is more than what he wants from me—if he’d rather leave things here, I’ll ? —
“Avery.”
I hadn’t realized that I’d closed my eyes. When I opened them, it was to see that Riel’s expression had taken on a brutal intensity, all traces of his usual humor gone.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he swore, his fingers tightening around mine. “And I don’t plan on letting you go either. As long as you want to stay, you are welcome here.”
My heart thundered in my chest. Hesitant to get my hopes up, I gave him a sad smile.
“I appreciate it, but… there’s only so much you can do. I mean, even if everything goes well, and I stay here, and we’re together… I only have, what, another seventy years to live? I know it’s a weird thing to think about, but… you are going to live a lot longer than me, even though you’re old enough to be my father.”
“Do I feel like your father?” Riel retorted, pinning me with a look that had me clenching my hands as I recalled every single detail of the night before.
I felt my cheeks warm and averted my gaze. Feeling bold, I glanced back, looking at him from underneath my lashes. “Maybe not… but with a few tweaks, you could feel like a Daddy. With that oral fixation of yours, you’re well on your way.”
Riel flashed me a bemused grin before sobering .
“I should have mentioned this earlier.” He sounded apologetic. “We don’t always live long lives. Those who cannot use mana are lucky to live to a hundred years. It’s the mana flowing through our bodies that changes us, makes us stronger and allows us to live longer. Now that you can use it freely, you will likely experience the same benefits.”
“No,” I breathed, thinking I must have understood him wrong. Hope soared like a songbird taking off in my chest. “So…” I didn’t dare verbalize what I was thinking.
Luckily, Riel took pity on me. He sat up, reaching out to draw me closer.
“The choice is yours,” he murmured against my face, nuzzling my tear-streaked cheek. “But know that if you choose to stay, I will look after you all the rest of our days.”
“Riel… I…” At a loss for words, I let my forehead fall into the crook of his neck. “I don’t know what to say,” I admitted. Everything in me was raw and open in a way it had never been before. “Thank you. I know that’s not enough, but… thank you.”
Riel pressed a soft kiss to my head. “As soon as we get back, I will set up a meeting with your leaders. I’ll speak to Vivian on your behalf, and we’ll take it from there.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Drawing back and giving him a watery smile, I wiped away what remained of my tears. Somehow, I felt ten pounds lighter compared to half an hour ago. “Well, I guess I should start packing, then. Or is there anything else we should do while we’re here?”
Tilting his head, Riel pondered my question. “I can’t think of anything. We can visit the market again before we leave if you’d like to make any more purchases. More souvenirs for your bodyguards, perhaps?” he suggested.
“I’m not even sure they’ll be allowed to keep the stuff I already got. George might have them confiscated to test the materials or something.” I thought back to the knife I’d picked out for Devon and the vest that Riel had helped me select for Chris. It had only occurred to me afterward that anything I brought back might be considered restricted, including the bracelet he’d gotten me the first day.
“Tsk.” Riel slipped out of bed and collected his book from where it sat on the bedside table. “No need to worry about that until it happens, I should think.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” I agreed. “No use stressing over it now.”
Satisfied with that, I threw aside the covers and went to gather my things. As I knelt by my suitcase to pick out clothes for the day, I was startled by a light touch on my lower back. I whipped around to find Riel crouched next to me, a frown on his face.
“Geez, you surprised me,” I exclaimed, putting a hand to my hammering heart. He could move like a ghost if he wanted to. A naked ghost , I revised, adjusting my line of sight.
“I was too rough with you,” he lamented, grazing his fingers against my hip. I craned my neck to see what he was referring to. I could barely make out a few spots of shadow against my skin.
“Is it that bad? Let me see.”
I got up and made for the bathroom, pausing along the way to collect the clothes I’d discarded the night before. With the bundle in my arms, I maneuvered in front of the large mirror to survey the damage. Sure enough, there were light reddish-purple marks along my sides where he had gripped me. The side of my neck also bore evidence of our passion.
“I guess we were a little rougher than we thought,” I called out with a grin.
“I’m sorry,” Riel said from the doorway. I could see that he was bothered by what he’d done, his brows knitted together in distress.
“Don’t be.” I crossed the room to him and got up on my tiptoes to give him a kiss. “It doesn’t really hurt, and I had a great time. No harm done.”
My eyes went wide as a thought occurred to me. I barely refrained from facepalming. “Oh my God,” I exclaimed. “I’m a frickin’ healer. Hold on to these one sec.”
I shoved the bundle of clothes into his arms and returned to the mirror. Since I’d never tried to heal myself before, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I imagined it wouldn’t be difficult. Staring down at the bite mark on my neck didn’t give me any magical clues, so I just… gave it a go, reaching for the magic in the same way I did when healing others.
Thinking it might help, I raised a hand to touch the mark and closed my eyes. While it didn’t hurt, there was a whisper of soreness. If I thought of that as I tried to draw mana , perhaps I could rely on it to find its own way. I emptied my mind of every thought but those related to the task at hand and focused on where my magic was housed.
It took some effort, but warmth began to bloom in my chest and spread outward, tunneling through my body to find where it was needed. The sensation made me shiver. I opened my eyes just in time to see the bruises vanishing as though they were never there.
“Ha!” I made a show of dusting my hands off as I turned back around. “You be as rough as you like in the future, baby,” I said with a smug smile. “Mama’s got things handled.”
“I think I’ll still make an effort not to hurt you in the future,” Riel responded, though he appeared relieved. He opened his mouth again and hesitated. “The… er, the references to parents in a sexual context, is that a usual thing where you’re from?”
“Oh, God.” I pulled a face and went to get my clothes from him. “It’s just a phrase. Daddy… Well, that one’s complicated, but it’s not about parents. Are we going or what?”
Chuckling to himself, Riel followed me back into the bedroom .
We didn’t have much with us, so it didn’t take long to get everything together. I performed one final sweep, and we headed downstairs, Riel grabbing Oyanni’s harness on the way out. While he returned the key to the proprietress, I waited by the door.
“Good?” I asked as he approached, bags in hand.
“Good,” he answered, smiling down at me. I linked my arm in his and returned the smile.
“All right. Let’s go home.”
As we trotted into the courtyard, I found that I was glad to be back. It was a strange feeling to be looking to the future with optimism for once. Although I worried about sorting out my living here, those concerns weren’t enough to bring down my mood. Even the weather was gorgeous; late summer in the fae world was a far cry from the unpleasant mugginess we got in D.C. this time of year. I was on top of the world.
Then something caught my eye. The gardens and sheds passed by on our left, as usual, but to the right, just in front of the field of grazing avida , was a tall post that had been hammered into the ground. I didn’t remember that being there before, and that in and of itself was odd. The post wasn’t what had snagged my attention, though. It was the person tied to the post—Neyes the seer, breathing shallowly, their strange, pale eyes open and fixed on the ground before them.
Alarmed, I tapped Riel’s leg to get his attention. “Riel, what’s that? Are they okay?”
“Hm?”
I felt his body stiffen behind me as he spotted what I had. “I don’t know,” he answered, his tone carefully controlled. “Let’s find out.”
He urged Oyanni to go a little faster, and we practically flew up to the castle entrance. Riel hopped down almost before we’d come to a complete stop. I went to help him with the bags, unable to tear my eyes away from Neyes until the front door flew open.
“Where have you been?” Solois demanded in English, descending the steps menacingly. Riel moved to intercept him, putting his body none-too-subtly between us. Solois drew to a halt, his eyes flaring with anger. I wasn’t certain, but I could have sworn I saw him sniff the air. He shot me a look, then switched to the fae language and said something that didn’t sound particularly kind. Going by context clues, it was something along the lines of “We need to talk—without that human whore of yours.”
“Avery, leave the bags. Go inside, straight to your room.”
Riel spoke in an even tone, without taking his eyes off the first prince. When I didn’t move to obey him, he looked at me. His gaze softened at whatever he saw on my face. “I will come to you soon,” he promised gently. “I just need to speak with my brother for a moment.”
I took a hesitant step. I didn’t want to leave him alone here—it didn’t take a genius to know that something was wrong. Solois had never been pleasant, but to be this hostile…
“Please, Avery.”
Riel’s whispered request finally urged my feet into motion. I darted toward the steps, giving Solois a wide berth. He watched me go with narrowed eyes but didn’t move.
Once I was safely inside, I fled to my room without looking back.