Page 3 of Between These Broken Hearts (Cursed Stars #2)

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

The words take me by surprise, pulling me into my body as if my thoughts had taken me elsewhere. I turn my attention to the

voice behind me to find my brother, standing in the palace’s moonlit garden and smirking at me. Konner’s pale blue eyes and

white-blond hair are a match to mine, but he spends most of his time wearing the fierce expression of a fighter. Not tonight,

though, and the sight of his smile fills my chest with warmth.

“You’re back!” I hop off the stone ledge and run to him.

Konner pulls me against his chest and squeezes me hard. “It’s only been two weeks. I promised I wouldn’t be gone forever.”

I frown as I pull away. He’s right, of course. It hasn’t been that long, but part of me feels like I’ve spent my whole life

with this gaping hole in my chest where my twin brother should be. I shake away the thought and squeeze his hands. “And I’m

glad for it. I’ve been a little lost without you.”

He chucks me on the chin and smirks. “Really? Because I believe the last thing you said to me was to pull my head out of my

ass before I lost my chance to marry the sweetest girl in all of Elora.”

“I mean, that advice clearly came from a place of love and adoration.”

“Sure it did.” He tips his head toward the palace, and it’s natural to head down the path by his side.

The stars are so bright tonight, as if the clouds from earlier in the day scattered at the approach of the moon.

“Do you want to tell me what has you wandering the gardens when the moon is so high in the sky?”

“Nightmares,” I admit. “I came out to clear my head before going back to sleep.”

His eyes are solemn when he glances toward me. “Want to talk about it?”

I bite my bottom lip. I hate to take myself back there, back to the loneliness and heartache that haunts my dreams, but this

is Konner. I can tell him anything, and usually feel better once I do. “I have these recurring dreams that I’m...”

He waits a beat, then arches a brow. “Go on.”

I cringe. Is there any way to say it that doesn’t make me sound and feel pathetic? “That I’m all alone in the world.”

“Felicity,” he murmurs. “You know you’re not.”

I shake my head. “Maybe it’s because you’ve been gone and Aster hasn’t visited from Elora in an age. I don’t know. But the

dreams are so real. I’m living in Faerie. On the run and hiding. I don’t have any family or friends, and I can’t even take

my true form because it’s too dangerous.” I sneak a look at him, just to see if he thinks I’m crazy, but he’s looking up at

the same stars that have been giving me comfort tonight and nodding.

“It makes sense.”

My chest squeezes tight. I didn’t realize I needed him to take my silly dreams seriously. “It does?”

“Well, yes. The only thing that matters to you more than Elora, more than home , is family. Your love is your motivation for all you do—whether it’s preparing to join the Seven or giving guidance to your

friends. Your truest nightmare would be to have all that taken away from you.” His eyes, so much like mine, are tender when

they scan my face. “What would the point of any of this be if you didn’t have your family?”

That fist around my heart loosens. “They make me feel raw. The dreams. Raw and terrified that I could’ve been there instead

of here.” I swallow. “They just feel so real. What do you suppose it means?”

“Perhaps that you feel powerless against these unknown enemies that have been trying to find a way into our palace.” His lips

curve into a facsimile of a smile, but I see the pity in his eyes. “Or perhaps it just means you have the best twin brother

in all the realms.”

I cough out a laugh and swat his arm with the back of my hand. “Oh. I’m sure that’s it.”

He cocks his head to the side. “I am sorry, for what it’s worth, that you’re having nightmares. If it were up to me, there

would be no bad guys and we would never have to leave the palace.”

“I don’t understand how they can hate us so much.” I wave a hand toward the palace. “This is all for the good of the realm.

To protect those weaker than us. Why would anyone be against that?”

His gaze shifts back to the stars and he sighs. “Sometimes I think we’ve done you a disservice by keeping you here. We’ve done such a good job protecting you from the evils of the world that you can’t even comprehend their existence.”

“I’m not that na?ve.”

He shakes his head. “No. You’re full of hope and belief. And that is just what Elora needs.” He flicks my nose, then slides

his arm through mine. “Don’t change yourself, sister. Change the realm.”

He leads me through the heavy servants’ door and into the late-night quiet of the palace corridors. The halls are lined with

paintings from the finest artists in Elora and lit by the glow of flickering sconces that line the halls.

He stops at my chamber door. “What if I told you someone gave me something for you before I left Faerie?”

My stomach pitches. “Did he?”

He pulls a pale green velvet pouch from his pocket and hands it to me.

I loosen the strings, dump the contents in my hand, and my breath catches as I find myself staring down at the most beautiful

pair of earrings I’ve ever seen. They’re bloodred rubies wrapped in fine gold vines with tiny emeralds as leaves. “Why in

the world did he think to send me such a lovely gift?”

“I believe they’re a sign of his affection. Not that anyone needs reminding.”

I study the earrings again. “Did he send a message with them?”

“A message?” He shakes his head and my stomach sinks.

I shouldn’t expect so much. He’s very busy, with more demands on his time than I can wrap my head around. I should accept

the gift and be grateful.

Konner’s lips twitch and he nods to the doorway behind me. “I’m pretty sure anything he has to tell you he’d like to tell you himself.” Before his words sink in, he takes me by the shoulders, turns me around, and nudges me into my chambers. The door closes behind me with a soft click.

Just inside the door, the breathtakingly handsome king of the Wild Fae waits with a finger to his lips, and it almost doesn’t

stop me from squealing.

His grin slowly grows as he looks me over. “Felicity.” My name is an exhale. A discovery. A relief. The dark waves of his

hair are mussed, as if he couldn’t keep his hands out of it while he waited, and his skin is deeper golden than the last time

I saw him, a testament to hours spent in the sun during our time apart, but those russet eyes I love so much are the same.

“I missed you,” I whisper, and the ache in my chest slowly drains away.

His gaze flicks to the door and then I’m in his arms, spun until my back is to the wall and my face is cupped in his big hand.

“Not as much as I missed you.”

I tug my bottom lip between my teeth.

“You didn’t have to do this. I don’t need any gifts.”

His callus-roughened fingers tickle my palm as he lifts one earring, then brings it to my ear. “That’s too bad because I want

to give you them all.” He slides it into place before taking the other. His fingertips scrape across my earlobe, and I shiver.

“Have you thought any more about what we discussed?”

My stomach flutters at the memory of our last conversation. “I thought maybe that was the faerie wine talking. If my brother has been pressuring you to think this way, and you don’t want—”

He presses a finger to my lips. “I am in love with you, Felicity. I have been since the first time I laid eyes on you.”

My cheeks flame hot and I drop my gaze. “I don’t know why.”

“Because you’re beautiful. And kind. And loyal. You’re more than I ever dreamed I would find in a partner, and I am prepared

to do whatever your mother asks to have you as my wife. But only if that’s what you want.”

He dips his head and sweeps his lips across mine. They’re so soft and the kiss is so gentle, and I arch my back, pressing

onto my toes as I part my lips beneath his. I want more. Our time together has been full of stolen moments and fleeting kisses,

and never enough time alone.

Felicity, you have to wake up.

The words have me pulling away and looking around. “Did you say something?”

He arches a brow, amused. “While I was kissing you?”

“I mean, in my mind?”

I think I hear my name again, but this time it’s little more than a distant echo. More like a memory than a sound.

Misha cocks his head. “Are you okay?”

I focus and hear nothing. Feel nothing but the presence of the male before me. I shake my head. “I’m fine. Just a little tired, I think.”

“You aren’t sleeping,” he says. “More nightmares.”

I shrug, as if it’s nothing. “Can you stay? The maids always keep the guest room ready.” Not that I wouldn’t prefer he stay

in my room, but Mother would never hear of it.

His throat bobs and regret shines in his eyes. “There have been developments in Faerie and threats against my court. I’ve spent too much time away, and it’s weakening the magic of the throne.”

Something twists in my chest, hard and tight. “Of course you need to be home. I can come to you sometimes.”

He slowly shakes his head. “Not until it’s safe. I won’t put you in danger.”

“I’ll be fine.”

He steps back. “Felicity...”

I see the resolve in his eyes, and it guts me. “I am not some delicate thing you need to protect. I love you. I don’t want to lose you.”

“Then wait for me.” His expression is so patient, even though I’m asking something I have no right to ask. I knew who Misha

was when we first began our relationship, even before the rumors of a court takeover came to light. I knew what his responsibilities

were and what his priorities had to be.

“The people who want to steal your court while it’s weak—they will do anything to spread their lies across your kingdom and

remove you from that throne. Good is at a disadvantage against evil because we have morals. We have lines that we will not

cross. They do not.”

“They don’t have this, though,” he says, stroking the side of my face with his thumb. “Because they will never know a love