Page 83 of A Fate of Ice and Lies (Fated #1)

I turned an apologetic gaze toward Alastor, who hadn’t said much since we came back to Niev. Not that he ever had much to say.

I wondered if one of the elder Guardians had been the one to punish us with our endless winter.

Another way for them to manipulate us and keep us in line.

If that was the case, what would it take to break that spell?

While I didn’t mind the cold, it’d be nice to have a break from it.

It’d be even better if that break followed into the human realm so they could go back to their normal way of life.

Alastor pressed his lips together to form a thin line. “It wasn’t the mages who cursed the realm with this endless winter.” He gazed toward the lake. “Maybe whoever did it, still isn’t appeased. Or maybe it’s a curse that cannot be broken.”

When we reached the lake, a fire already roared at a small campsite with five tents, freshly fallen snow on their roofs. I sent my magic to melt the snow before the weight made the tents collapse. Then I turned to my friends in question.

George shrugged. “We thought you’d want to sleep outside tonight.”

Outside, where I could sleep beneath my father’s star.

Emotions swelled in my throat, and I coughed to clear it.

I nodded at George while I clasped the hand Brenton still had gripped on my shoulder.

As Donnie and Nate set up the folding camp chairs, Brenton pulled out long, wooden skewers and a bag of marshmallows. He slid a marshmallow onto one end before he handed me the skewer.

I lifted my brows in confusion. “What do I do with this?”

Teddy bumped her hip against me. “Of course you don’t know about roasted marshmallows. Do you fae have anything good in your realm?”

She guided my hand toward the fire so that the marshmallow was in the flames, several inches above the coals.

When one side of the marshmallow browned, she had me rotate the skewer to roast the other side.

At her prompt, I pulled the skewer out of the fire, and Teddy slid the marshmallow off it.

Hissing at the heat, she pulled the outer layer off, and after blowing on it, she lifted it to my lips.

I took the offered piece, savoring the warm sweetness before she pulled off another piece and gave it to me.

When she finished, she drew her fingers to her mouth, but before she could lick off the sweet goo coating her fingers, I guided her fingers to my lips.

Kissing the tip of each finger, I swirled my tongue around them, licking what was left of the marshmallow on her. She hummed in satisfaction.

I guided her to the closest chair, and when I sat down, she settled on my lap, her arm encircling my neck.

“That was a beautiful ceremony,” Teddy said, turning so that her lips were close to my ear. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Her warm breath tickled my ear. With my arms around her waist, I slid my hand beneath the hem of her shirt to trace circles over her stomach. I leaned forward and moved her hair to the side to kiss her neck.

“Thank you for being with me,” I breathed against her skin.

Having her there, unwavering in the past eight days, meant everything to me. The way she knew what I needed. Whether a hug or silence, it undid me and made me fall deeper and deeper in love with her.

Guardians help me, I loved my mate. Deeply, irrevocably, completely.

When Ryenne laughed, Teddy turned to her. Again, I moved her hair to the side to trail kisses from the back of her neck to her shoulder and down her arm. She squirmed on top of me, looking over her shoulder with a soft smile. I leaned up to kiss her lips.

Our friends laughed again, and when I turned to them, I found Alastor solemn and staring at the flames. He’d been a vital part in helping the injured and sick, in cleaning up the mess and helping us start a new harvest of fruits and vegetables.

He did it all without anyone asking him to. He didn’t complain or ask for anything in return.

Not knowing how else to get his attention without drawing everyone else's attention, I poked his shoulder with my skewer. He turned to me slowly.

“Try one,” Teddy urged him.

She stood to grab a marshmallow for him, and after sliding it onto my skewer, she handed it to him. He stuck his marshmallow into the fire, but when he pulled it out, his marshmallow was engulfed in flames. When he simply stared at it, Teddy rushed to her feet and blew it out.

“What did I do wrong?” he asked.

“Not a damn thing,” Ryenne answered. “Tastes better that way.”

He looked at his marshmallow skeptically.

“When it cools down, peel the outer layer off,” Teddy told him. “The inside will be amazing. ”

“Or just bite into it,” Ryenne said.

“How can I be in love with such a Neanderthal?” Nate questioned.

My lips twitched with a smile I didn’t fight to hold back. It felt right to smile, to enjoy this moment with the family I’d found, and my father looking down on me.

Alastor was slow and careful in how he peeled back the first layer.

Ryenne snorted. “Wuss.”

Teddy stood again, but this time when she took a marshmallow from the bag, she threw it at Ryenne’s face.

Ryenne gasped. “Who’s the Neanderthal now, wasting good marshmallows?”

“Where did you even find these?” Teddy asked.

“The magician, warlock, miracle worker, whatever, who gave Elias the coffee plants gave them to me when he first got to Colina to help us with everything,” Ryenne answered.

When he finished eating, Alastor turned to me, seeming to wait for me.

In my chair, I shifted uncomfortably but stopped when Teddy ran her fingers through my hair.

“What do you think of Niev?” I asked him. “Do you think it could be your home?”

“I don’t think I have much of a home anywhere,” he said. “I don’t belong in the human realm, and while I appreciate you making sure your people were polite to me, I don’t belong with the fae either.”

“I think you belong with us just fine,” Teddy told him.

The smile he gave her was thoughtful “You all have been kind to me, but I don’t belong in your world, Teddy.”

“Would you want to use the orb to see if there are mages in other realms?” I asked .

While I didn’t like keeping the orb in the inner pocket of my magic, I didn’t have anywhere else to hide it.

“No.” He looked down and shook his head.

“I’m not sure I could look another mage in the eye, knowing I helped kill my sister.

” He was silent for a few beats. “I think maybe I’d like to try living outside the boundaries of Niev, where the hydras, lirio, and nyxx reside.

You know, the hydras decided not to fight.

My sister killed many of them for their defiance, but a few are still outside your borders.

In her death, my sister's hold on all those fae and the hydras transferred to me. I could ensure they stay within their boundaries and not cause any more harm to your people.”

“Will you visit us?” Teddy asked.

When he peered up, a look of peace crossed his features. “I think I’d like that.” He turned to me. “If you approve.”

“You are free to live wherever you wish and visit as often as you’d like,” I replied, hoping he heard the sincerity in my voice.

Teddy had been right in wanting him to have a second chance at life, and I only hoped life would be kinder to him this time around.

He nodded, and this time it was he who rose to grab another marshmallow, roasting it with that same quietness.

“What do you say we entertain your father with his favorite song?” Brenton asked.

I barked out a laugh, remembering the many times we’d played for him and my mother when we were younger. The way my father cringed when we learned a tavern song about harlots and bastard lords. He always threatened us when we’d play it, but the amusement that lit his eyes said otherwise.

“I don’t think the ladies’ fair ears would mind,” George said with his own grin .

“Oh, I hope it’s all sorts of risqué,” Ryenne said.

“Worse,” Everly said.

Teddy patted my leg before she stood. “Let’s hear it, then.”

When I stood, I took a moment to kiss her and press her body against me. She was breathless by the time I pulled away. I took her hand that she’d used to grip my shirt and kissed the palm.

I pulled out my guitar while Brenton pulled out his bongos and George his harmonica. With a glance at the sky, where I found my father’s star beaming, I started to play my guitar. And when George sang the first verse, I could’ve sworn I heard my father laugh.