Chapter 34
Chapter
Thirty-Four
LYRA
The sky was a velvety blanket of stars by the time we reached the safe house on the outskirts of Bijult. The cold, salty air had seeped through my leathers after our flight across the Drathen Sea, and yet hope warmed my insides.
The Dark King was gone, as was the sire bond that had kept Kaden tied to his father. The innumerable souls that had been tethered to Semphrys were free, and we hoped that Anvalyn would recover now that the demon king was no longer siphoning the source of its magic.
True, Dorthus was now without a ruler, and Alfrigg’s troops were likely still sweeping across the continent. But as Kaden landed in front of the safe house tucked into the jutting white stones at the base of the Oranthan Mountains, a sense of peace settled in my soul.
A light snow had begun to fall, dusting the sharp rooflines that dotted the mountainside.
Adriel and Sorsha landed behind us, and I flashed Kaden a soft smile before tugging my hand out of his grip.
His gaze flicked toward his sister, and he nodded before magicking away his wings and continuing up the creaking wooden stairs.
I hung back to wait for the princess, who seemed to be looking anywhere but at Adriel. A single question still nagged at me, and there was only one person who could answer it.
Sorsha’s movements were stiff as she walked the path that led to the safe house. Her wings sagged with fatigue, her eyes were red and puffy, and though she’d scrubbed the blood from her face, her braid was still caked in the stuff.
“How are you doing?” I asked once Adriel reached the steps and followed Kaden inside. Dozens of Drathens had fallen during the battle — males she’d lived among and trained with for years.
Sorsha cracked a watery smile. “I’m all right. My heart hurts for everyone we lost today, but the Drathens will stand with us against Alfrigg.” She yawned, and for the first time, I noticed the dark circles that lined her eyes. “Despite everything, the realm feels lighter with Semphrys gone.”
“It does,” I agreed.
“Still, I don’t know what my brother is going to do. Dorthus must always have a king, and Kaden . . .” She sighed. “He shouldn’t have to give up his dream of ruling Anvalyn.”
“What about Semphrys’s idea to unite the realm under one crown?”
Never mind that the Drathen army had followed her — not Kaden — to Dorthus.
The princess shook her head. “The people of Anvalyn would never accept the king of Dorthus as their ruler. And I can’t imagine the demons would be thrilled about a fae monarch, even if he is Semphrys’s son.”
My body sagged. There didn’t seem to be any way around it. Kaden would have to take his father’s throne. “Can I ask you something?”
Sorsha raised a brow. “Of course.”
“How did you know that Xadorsch was impersonating Adriel? I figured they captured him when Semphrys’s demons attacked us at the Great Oak. That was the only time he was out of our sight. But Xadorsch was using the apokropos stone to conceal his true powers. How did you know it was him?”
Sorsha’s eyes widened, and then she brushed past me and darted inside. The wooden door snicked shut, and I stared at the spot where she’d disappeared, stunned that the princess had fled to avoid my question. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her back down from anything.
But then the door opened again, and Sorsha reappeared with a bottle of wine under her arm.
An amused grin tugged at my lips as she plunged the tip of her dagger into the cork, twisting until it popped free.
She took a hearty swig of the wine and wiped her mouth with a grimace before passing the bottle to me.
“It was when I kissed him,” she confessed. “On the tower in the north wing.”
I raised my eyebrows. I’d seen that kiss. A shudder rippled down my spine at the realization that she’d been kissing the demon courtier instead of the royal guard.
Oddly, the real Adriel probably had no idea it had ever happened, thanks to Xadorsch.
“You knew from one kiss that it wasn’t him?” I asked, unable to keep the amusement out of my voice.
Sorsha nodded and snatched the wine back, taking another healthy gulp.
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. “That means you must know how the real Adriel kisses.”
Her flush deepened, and she bit down on her bottom lip as she passed me the bottle. “I might. Not that he would even remember,” she mumbled, covering her face with her hands.
I sipped the wine, waiting for her to elaborate. Thick flakes of snow were falling, but the alcohol left me feeling pleasantly warm.
“It happened when I was practically still a youngling,” said Sorsha quietly. “At the masquerade ball celebrating Kaden’s twentieth turn.”
My jaw dropped. Somehow, I couldn’t imagine the stiff royal guard stealing a kiss at a ball — especially not from Sorsha, considering the two of them were constantly at each other’s throats.
“Honestly, it’s better this way,” she sighed. “Better he doesn’t know, I mean. Please don’t say anything to him. Or to Kaden, gods forbid.”
“I won’t,” I promised, though I wasn’t sure I agreed with her decision not to tell Adriel.
Maybe he would be less of a grump if he had a female in his life. Then again, it was hard to picture the joyless, austere royal guard with the warm, bubbly princess.
“Anyway, I think we will both find somewhere else to spend the night,” she added with a smirk. “I have no desire to be stuck in that tiny safe house with you two again.”
My face heated as I choked out a laugh. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She nodded toward the cottage, where Kaden and Adriel were likely hunched in front of the fire, deep in conversation. “I’m glad he has you, Lyra. He needs someone to call him on his bullshit, especially if he intends to go to war with Alfrigg.”
I opened my mouth but then hesitated, wondering how much of her brother’s plan she’d guessed. “He may intend to steal your uncle’s throne,” I said, “but I don’t think he intends to steal it for himself.”
Sorsha’s face went slack with shock or maybe panic, but I just passed her the bottle again and started up the stairs.
True to her word, Sorsha made sure that Kaden and I had the house to ourselves for the night. After a quiet meal and two bottles of wine, she and Adriel left to find lodgings at the inn down the street.
Kaden heated a pot of water over the fire, and we took our time helping each other out of our filthy clothes and depositing them in a heap with our weapons.
Tugging me down onto the rug beside him, Kaden dipped a clean cloth into the water to wash the blood and grime from my face. I held his silver gaze as he swabbed away the flecks caked along my nose and jaw before moving down my neck and over the swells of my breasts.
His shadows unfurled around me like dusk itself, caressing my legs as his magic hummed over my wet skin.
My breath caught as he brushed the cloth over my peaked nipples, and my gaze drifted down the hard lines of his body, mesmerized by the swaths of tanned, inked skin straining over muscle and sinew.
He was so beautiful.
Semphrys was dead, which meant no one was invading his mind tonight.
He belonged only to me.
“Say that again, little huntress,” Kaden rumbled, his gaze heating as it fell to my lips.
“Say what?” I breathed, momentarily forgetting that he could sometimes hear my thoughts.
His expression softened, and I hurriedly checked my mental defenses. In the aftermath of the battle and my ensuing relief and exhaustion, I’d left the pathway to him completely open, though my wall of brambles remained intact.
You belong to me, I purred down the bond, reaching out to press my hand to his chest. His heart thundered against my palm in response, and more shadows billowed around me.
It was hard to believe I’d once thought Kaden a heartless monster.
The male before me led with his heart. He’d become the Taker of Souls to protect his only family. He’d given me the protection of his shadows outside the Great Oak and left himself defenseless. And he would have died today to save the kingdom he loved.
Leaning in, I pressed a kiss over the crest tattooed on his pectoral, feeling his breath hitch at the contact. His muscles quivered as I began to wash him, kissing a trail down his chest as I went and skimming my fingers along his ribs.
Gods, I could spend a lifetime memorizing my prince’s body, and it still wouldn’t be enough.
Kaden groaned as I reached his chiseled abdominals, and my loose hair skimmed the tops of his thighs.
“Lyra,” he moaned as I wrapped my hands around his length and swirled my tongue over his glistening tip.
Gods, I loved the sound of my name on his lips. He said it like a prayer and an oath — as if I were his salvation and the cause of his damnation.
“You’re going to be the death of me,” he whispered.
“You’re immortal,” I argued, licking him again.
Kaden hissed as his body went taut, and I grinned as his cock twitched in response. “You have a witchwood blade and a wicked, wicked tongue.”
“Funny, I used to think the same about your tongue.” Slowly, I drew his length into my mouth, savoring the slightly briny taste of him and the way he trembled at my touch.
A low chuckle rumbled through him, and I pulled off for a moment to look up at my mate. Shadows had nearly snuffed out the glow of the fire, but there was just enough light to make out his face. Kaden’s eyes were closed, his brow creased. His expression looked almost pained.
In his haze of pleasure, he’d summoned his wings. They unfurled behind him like dark velvet, the firelight illuminating the thin membranes, which had already begun to heal from the damage the demons had inflicted.
I ached to reach out and run my fingers along the edge of one wing, to make him come apart with slow, languid strokes, but there was something I needed to know.
“Did you ever intend to take the throne?” I asked softly.
Kaden’s eyelids twitched.
“You knew the Drathen army would not support you. You wanted them to rally behind Sorsha.”