Chapter 30 #3
She didn’t look at all convinced.
“Wolves seem to lack a natural aptitude for flight,” he muttered and furled his wings.
I was about to ask him which wolf he had tried to fly with and then I remembered. “How is Everlee?”
His expression changed in an instant, softening a degree, and his deep voice was gentler as he said, “She is well. She has settled into the cottage, and the wolves are taking good care of her.”
Warmth surfaced in his dark eyes as he almost smiled.
“She enjoys reading and has borrowed several books from the library. She seems to like sitting on the bench outside the cottage most of all. I often see her there reading. When she is not there, she comes to the pack encampment, where she helps with the chores and speaks with the others before returning to the cottage.”
Malachi seemed to know a great deal about my friend’s movements.
I laid my hand on his upper arm. “Thank you for taking care of her when I can’t.”
He gruffly shook his head. “It is Chase and Morden you should be thanking. They are the ones taking care of her.”
I didn’t push him when he absently gripped his torc again, a symbol of the fact he had lost his fated mate, an action he seemed unaware of as he turned his focus to Danica as she came forwards.
“Morden is really at this other fae court?” Her eyes were the brightest I had seen them in the time we had been here, as if she finally believed I had been telling the truth when I had told her all those times that she would see her brother soon.
“The beta calls the Shadow Court his home, along with the alpha of the pack and many others. Kaeleron has welcomed them to the court and they are to remain for as long as they wish.” Malachi looked from her to me, an edge to his gaze that revealed his concern.
“How has Kael been? He seemed… tired… when I saw him in that fae town. Exhausted, even.” My words were soft, searching in a way, a subtle pleading for him to tell me Kaeleron was fine and that I had imagined that fatigue I had felt in him and seen in his eyes.
“Truthfully?”
I nodded. “Don’t sugarcoat it.”
He heaved a sigh that had his broad chest expanding so much I thought his leather armour might tear. “The Shadow Court survived, but for a time there, I thought it might not. We were thankful when he went to the Wastes the day they broke your bond.”
Gods.
He had gone there to unleash on it, aware that the remnants of the cataclysm would dampen his magic, using them to stop himself from destroying this realm.
It made me want to see him even more.
“He has been busy making preparations,” Malachi continued.
“Preparations?” My brows pinched. “For what?”
“For you,” he said bluntly.
“For me?” I lowered my gaze to his chest, staring straight through it as I pondered that, the small fragment of me that had been so loud these past weeks, that had constantly rung in my ears, telling me Kaeleron would never want me now, growing fainter.
I lifted my eyes back to his, wanting to banish it entirely.
Tears stung my eyes, making me feel stupid, and weak, and like the wolf in love that I was, as I said, “Mal… Tell me that he still loves me… that this hasn’t changed his feelings for me. ”
His rough features slowly softened again. “My master does not care about your blood, Saphira. He only cares that you are safe. He only desires that you return to him. Everything he does is so you can be together again. It is all he thinks about.”
“Gods, I want to believe that,” I admitted and pivoted away from him, pacing a short distance to work off some energy before I bravely returned to him. “I want to believe that.”
“I am not lying.” He frowned at me, that affronted look edging his expression again, and I wanted to apologise for our constantly doubting him but he knocked me on my ass by saying, “Kaeleron has told his council that you will be his queen.”
My ears rang.
My heart stuttered.
I blinked at him. “But my seelie blood—”
“He told them about that too,” he interjected, “and then he made an example of anyone who opposed him.”
“Oh.” My eyebrows lifted as I let that sink in, and then I pulled a face, scrunching my nose up. “Not the… not the courtyard again.”
Mal nodded, more solemn than he had ever been, which was a feat. “Anyone who speaks out against you is given what they deserve.”
It wasn’t like Malachi to be so openly bloodthirsty or protective, and it melted me a little. We hadn’t started off on the right foot, but I was glad that we were becoming friends now. Family even.
I appreciated it. I appreciated the fact he cared about me, and that Kaeleron cared about me, and that my place was still in the Shadow Court in their eyes. It was waiting for me there. For when I came home.
I knew it was risky to stay, and that Lorien would come after me again and the longer I remained here, the more danger I was in, but I couldn’t leave yet. I wanted to give Kael the closure he needed.
And maybe I wanted something else too.
I wanted to ensure this court was left in a position where it wouldn’t come after us, where it wouldn’t come after the Shadow Court and everyone I loved.
I would find a way to eliminate Lorien, and deal with Sylvan, and maybe even convince Meiryn that she would make a fine queen. She would be good, and gracious, and kind, and she would help me end this feud between our courts.
“Go.” I looked to the lightening sky and then Malachi, taking hold of Danica and pushing her towards the demon. “Before I change my mind and go with you. But if you could do something for me, I would really appreciate it.”
He gently scooped Danica up into his arms, and she yelped and hastily wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing him so tightly I was sure only his torc was stopping her from strangling him.
“Anything, my lady.” He dipped his head. “It would be my honour.”
I smiled at his formality and how he called me that, as if I was already his mistress—his queen.
“Let Kaeleron know my feelings for him haven’t changed and neither have I. I’m still just a wolf. His little wolf.”
He smiled back at me.
“You can tell him that when you see each other again, and you will see each other again.”
He kicked off, beating his wings and lifting into the air, his voice growing faint as he began to fly away.
“Because nothing—not even this—can keep Kaeleron from you.”