Chapter 29
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
NISSA
“This is an unexpected turn of events.” Isolde’s chuckle comes from behind me. “And your energy!” She gives a hum.
My blood turns molten at her feigned surprise.
I’m not even turning to look at her or Kiel.
My whole life was altered, the entire Fae world assaulted, because they kept me from my mate.
They might have thought that it was Aiden, not Cillian, but the result was the same.
All because of the woman standing a branch away.
Cillian stiffens when I start to twist in his arms to confront his mother. I still as a voice— a voice I have heard sporadically throughout my life— echoes through my mind.
Wait, not yet.
My head jerks back as if I’ve been struck again. Confused, I look up at Cillian and he squeezes me. Not yet, Lila. Trust me.
All I can do is stand there, staring at my mate. My mate, who apparently can speak into my mind. And has been doing so for years!
Unaware of the internal turmoil happening in front of his eyes, Kiel claps his hands together. “Well… time to announce the new king and queen to the Fae.”
Cillian’s hands move to the tops of my arms. He slowly slides them down, taking one of my hands. His eyes search mine, questioning.
I’m unsure how I’m supposed to respond. Even if I knew what to say. How do I talk in his mind? All I can do is mentally scream, ‘Why? Why are we letting them have a say in anything? Tell them we know what they did!’
I don’t feel my thoughts reach him, but he gives me a small shake of his head.
“We’ll be introduced later,” he says to his parents. A dismissal. Then he tugs me towards the stairs of the sanctuary.
We aren’t even down the aged stairs before he mistwalks us away.
Moments later, we materialize in a bedroom, and I’m hit by a blast of humid air.
A liquid chandelier hangs from the ceiling, aglow with sparkling water drops.
The bed is suspended over a creek that winds through the space to the window.
Underneath, the water disappears to join the waterfall that plummets down the side of the castle.
It was always my favorite feature of Cillian’s room when I was a youngling.
His room is exactly as I remember. At the same time it feels completely different. The light, pastel blues have been exchanged for deeper, richer blues. The collection of sea glass and coral has been replaced with stacks of documents and tomes.
My attention pulls back to him when he releases my hand and turns to me.
“Why wouldn’t you let me—” The words die on my tongue. The feral look in his eyes has my mouth clamping shut. My heart hammers in my chest as he cups the side of my face with a gentleness that doesn’t match the intensity in his eyes. I can feel the power radiating off of him.
The power of a king.
“We have a lot to talk about…” He steps further into me so we are chest to chest. All I can do is nod, at a loss for words as he studies my face, his gaze lingering on my lips. “But all that matters right now is that you are mine. Lila… my Lila.”
Time stands still in that moment, and the wind catches in my throat. Looking down at me is the male that I’ve hated and resented for years. The male that I’ve also admired, desired, and loved for even longer—and he is also mine.
We do have a lot to talk about. We have so much to work out.
It feels like the whole world is bearing down on us and depending on us.
But for just a moment, we both realize that we need this.
That this moment is allowed, and not only allowed but is blessed by the Goddess herself.
That because we trusted Gaia and each other, we’re standing here together, not on the run but as one.
And together we’ll do everything we can to fix the damage that’s been done to our world.
In the next breath, his arms are wrapped around me, lifting me against him as our lips collide. I reach up, one hand at the nape of his neck and the other in his hair, pulling him harder into me. We’re frenzied, our chests rising and falling in unison as our magic ignites within us, urging us on.
Magic that feels more intense than I could have ever imagined. Stronger than I’ve ever experienced. My back bows as he kisses my neck, bringing me back to the floor.
He drops to his knees in front of me and looks up through dark lashes. His jaw flexes as his hands stroke my sides, finding a stopping spot at the sides of my breasts. “My queen,” he purrs, kissing my stomach.
Even through the fabric of my dress, his mouth sends a bewitching shiver through my entire being, the feeling settling at my core. He grazes his nose up and down me, adding to the intensity, and my stomach contracts. I am about to come apart from his touch and our magic alone.
A gasp escapes me when I feel the cool touch of water on my back.
A stream of water has lifted out of the creek.
Like delicate fingers, it strokes up my spine and slips the laced vines off my shoulders.
Wide-eyed, I catch the fabric at my breasts just as it begins to fall.
With a devilish smile, he slowly takes it from my clutches, lowering it equally slowly.
His eyes glow brighter as he watches my body be exposed to him. “I just wanted to put these new powers to good use.”
A shy smile breaks across my face—
A knock echoes through the room, and I instinctively raise my arms to cover myself. Cillian stops the fall of my dress, holding it against my hips.
“What?” he barks out. Impatient. His eyes still on me, he licks his lips.
I can feel the look down to my toes.
“Your Majesties, we need you,” a muffled voice responds from the other side of the door.
He stands, his throat bobbing as if it’s physically painful to help me pull my dress back into place over my shoulders. He gives me one more kiss, his shoulder muscles flexing beneath my palms. Then he eases the door open just enough for him to see who’s outside.
I peek around his bicep to find a smirking Halcya in the hallway. Jealousy flashes through me in a violent rush. I know it’s from the mating bond, but that doesn’t dampen my instinct to scratch out her eyes.
Her smirk falters momentarily when neither of us says anything. “King and Queen Vaylor,” she says, her smile returning. “I was asked to come find the two of you and bring you to the celebration. I hope I’m not—” her tone is tinged with amusement—"interrupting anything.”
The mocking tone in her voice makes me sneer. She is acting like a friend, not the manipulator that she is. The priestess that came in to destroy lives and prevent prophecies from coming to fruition.
Does she even have the gift of communicating with the Goddess? I can’t imagine Gaia would want to communicate with a High Priestess who is conspiring to stop what she wants.
“Halcya”—Cillian’s voice has turned to ice—“we will be there momentarily.” He begins to forcefully close the door.
“Wait,” she says.
He slowly releases the wind in his chest, and pulls the door back open.
“The Heart Stone.” She holds out a wooden box .
He takes the box and shuts the door in her face.
Cillian hands me the smooth box, beautifully carved and engraved with an N.
I run my finger over the initial before slowly folding the top back, exposing the symbol of my birthright.
An emerald stone shines brightly in a golden setting.
I watch as the flower encased in the elemental jewel constantly shifts, cycling through an array of blossoms.
Cillian lifts the heart stone free. He walks to my back, pulls my hair to one side, and gently slips the pendant on my neck. “We can’t tell them we know yet,” he whispers into my ear as the energy of the gem settles between my breasts.
I lean into him as he nuzzles my neck. “And why is that?”
He pulls back, hearing the need for answers in my voice.
He leads me to the driftwood chairs in the corner, and we face one another.
“I know, it will be hard. I almost called my mother out then and there, but we can’t.
We have to figure out who knows what. My father is probably in on all of it, but I can’t be sure yet.
Aiden—if he knew, it could explain why he would want Nova dead.
If they find out that we know, anyone that was part of it will try to hide their part.
Do whatever they can to make us believe they weren’t part of it. ”
He's right. I know he is, but I still don’t like it.
I would throw both Kiel and Isolde into the castle’s prison without hesitation if it were up to me.
But Aiden… I still need to know if he was the one who killed my sister.
If he didn’t, someone else did. It could all still be connected to the lunacy around the prophecy.
And our mate bond!
I smack my hand into the center of his chest. “And when did you plan on telling me that you could speak into my mind?” I almost screech the accusation.
The corner of his lip twitches.
The amusement makes me even angrier. “Seriously, Cillian! Didn’t you think that could mean we were mates?
Didn’t you think that was important information?
” I feel hysterical from so much information to take in, so many new emotions swirling through me with the mate bond.
Plus, coming into my magic. It’s too much.
He cups both sides of my face and kisses my forehead gently. Leaning back just enough to look into my eyes, he pops a shoulder up. “I never knew if you heard me,” he says mildly. “How could it be possible anyway? No king and queen have ever felt the mate bond until the coronation ceremony.”
“Why us? Why are we different?”
“I don’t know. Yet. But when you wanted to confront my mother at the altar, I knew I had to try to stop you. You were my mate. Maybe I could speak to you in your mind.”
“Well, it worked.”
“There were other signs. I always just chalked them up to my desire for you. Did you ever feel the connection we had?” He swallows hard, gaze intent on my lips.
“Yes.” I try to nod, my face still held in his hands. “My magic. It reacts to you.” I swallow too as those beautiful blue eyes darken. Screw the reception. We can save the world later.
He gives me a seductive smile, like he heard my thoughts. And maybe he did. I still don’t know how this works.
“We need to get the reception over with. But soon, I plan on acting out every fantasy I have ever had about you. It’ll take a while to get through all of them.” Heat fills me as he licks his lips, eyes traveling down to my mouth. “But we will definitely start tonight.”
Looking up at him through my lashes, I have to clear my throat. “Fantasies. Tonight,” I manage in a rough grumble.
“Yes, Lila, fantasies.” He tilts my head and leans down, running his tongue along my lower lip.
My lips open, and he eagerly accepts the invitation, slipping his tongue inside. He kisses me in a way that leaves my body reeling, waiting on the promise he’s just made.
The coronation celebration can’t be over soon enough.