EPILOGUE #4
“No. I don’t think you can. And I think you know why.”
As she held her breath, Finneas gently pulled down her glove so her right wrist was exposed.
There at the base of her hand was an intricate knot of swirls.
It was different from the mark that had appeared on Alex and Dani’s wrists, but even so, she’d known what it was the moment she’d seen it.
Sera’s pulse picked up speed as Finneas pushed up his sleeve, revealing a matching mating mark at the base of his hand.
“I… knew it was you. Some part of me just knew. When it appeared last week—”
“Yes, your text was very cryptic.” His eyes held hers. “Instructing me to come to your brother’s wedding and to come find you after the reception, but that we couldn’t be seen together for any reason.”
Cheeks heating, she pulled her glove back down.
“We’re not… mates.” She lowered her voice just in time, whispering it like a swear. “We can’t be. It would never work.”
A smile curved his lips. “Are you flustered, lovely Serafina, because you’re sure we would drive each other mad, or because you’re secretly afraid you would enjoy it?”
“I think you would set me off, and I would shove you into every punch bowl in Thornwood.”
“Yes, well.” He took her hand, leading her slowly around the terrace again. “We keep the crystal safely locked away for the most part. And as for the day we met, that was not my finest hour.”
“You were an insufferable ass.”
Finneas twirled her. “I overheard you and that bodyguard you were sleeping with talking about me.”
“Micah?” That stopped her short. “But when—?”
“I got lost in one of the hallways. You were ranting to your lover, making no secret of the fact that you thought I would be an incompetent king. I believe your exact words were, ‘He’s a spoiled manwhore prince. His parents know perfectly well he’ll never be able to rule half the fae kingdom, and they’re too embarrassed to just give the entire thing to his sister, Niamh. ’”
Her cheeks caught fire. Because of course, she had said that. She opened her mouth. “Finn, I’m sor—”
“Don’t bother apologizing. We both know you meant it.” He tilted his head. “I certainly don’t feel the least bit sorry about saying what I did later in order to get you to drop the fake niceties and admit your true feelings about our potential mating.”
“You said it to provoke me?”
Finneas shrugged. “I thought maybe if our parents saw how much you obviously loathed me out on full display, they would reconsider their terrible arranged marriage plan that was only going to make us both miserable. I knew you didn’t care for me in the slightest, that you didn’t want this.”
“So where do we go from here?” she asked quietly.
Now that she had to escape the sector.
Now that she needed his protection.
Her eyes strayed to their clasped hands.
Now that they were mates.
He sighed, staring down at her fingers twined in his, the curved scrolls of the mating mark just visible at the edge of his sleeve.
“The contract my parents put in place became legally binding before I took power as king. They’ve since returned to the immortal realm, but I can’t rescind it. I’m sorry.”
Sera nodded. She remembered reading over the paperwork at the time the contract was being set up.
The treaty Judas and Finneas’ parents had signed guaranteed a Visconti daughter in marriage in exchange for an extension of the peace accord between the fae kingdom and their sector for the next century.
The fae were an old race, one that believed in blood bonds. They knew that uniting their two kingdoms by marriage would strengthen the treaty more than any piece of paper ever could.
Despite none of this being news, Sera had a terrible feeling she knew where this conversation was headed. And still, she needed him to say it.
“Meaning?” she managed to croak out. There was suddenly a strange swooping sensation in her stomach.
Finneas looked at her intently.
“Meaning, I can offer you protection in the fae lands. And I will. No one will touch you there.” He held her eyes. “But only as my queen.”