Page 53

I get having bridges when there are rivers and chasms that make walking impossible, but the forest floor looks perfectly fine to walk on. “I mean, if my feet touch the ground, is the earth going to rip apart and swallow me whole?”

“If it has any taste in women, then yes, that woulddefinitelyhappen.”

“Des,” I say, trying not to laugh.

He vanishes, reappearing farther away than before.

“Where are you going? I thought you were supposed to be this amazing conversationalist,” I complain as I run my hands over the knotted vine railing.

He smirks at me from where he stands five million miles away.

“Or maybe,” I say, my skin beginning to glow, “I should just make you walk alongside me—or carry me the entire way.”

He raises an eyebrow, his glee obvious. “Is that an order?”

“It depends.”

Even with the distance between us, I see him smother a smile. “My, my, you’re awfully bossy for a woman who doesn’t want to be queen.”

“Walk with me, Des,” I say, my voice melodic.

Immediately, the Bargainer appears in front of me, his hands braced on the rope.

I begin to saunter forward, my body swaying. My scales ripple to life along my forearms, my claws sharpen.

Des begins to back up, his gaze never leaving mine. “So is this what we’re going to do? You glamour me until I submit to you?” His silver eyes gleam, his white hair hanging loose around his face. He looks like the kind of rouge I want to defile and be defiled by.

I catch his shirt before he can back up any more, my claws inadvertently shredding it in the process. I reel him in, pressing a kiss to his lips. “Yes,” I whisper against him.

With that, I release him, my skin gradually fading back to its normal color.

The two of us begin to walk, making our way across the suspended walkway.

I touch my lips, the taste of Des still sharp on my tongue. “Is this feeling between us ever going to go away?” I ask. “In three thousand years or whatever—”

“Cherub,” Des interrupts, “where are you getting your information from? Fairies don’t livethatlong.”

“—is this thing we’ve got between us one day going to fade?”

The King of Night stops to take my hand, cupping it between his own. Then he begins to back up, pulling me along with him. “There are certain things in life that fade with time,” he says, his gaze locked on mine. “What we have, Callie, isn’t one of those things. Our bond will only strengthen over the years.”

He pulls me along, the muted sunlight dappling across his skin. “I will always be here for you—when you turn thirty and when you turn three hundred.”

“Don’t forget three thousand,” I say.

“If you defy the odds and live until then, then so will I.” He gives my hand a squeeze, his face getting serious. “I will be with you on your best day and I will be with you on your worst day. I will be there to hold our children—”

I raise an eyebrow at that.

“We’re going to havemanychildren,” he informs me.

“Oh are we now?”

“And I will be there for them all. I will be there when the last of your mortal friends draws their last breath. I will be there through it all, and I will tease you and infuriate you, and lavish you with whatever it is your heart desires because the only thing mine desires is you.”

I give him a shaky smile, trying not to show him just how deeply his words have moved me. “Yay,” I say.

Lamest response ever.