Page 32 of Beyond the Winter Kingdom (Faeted Seasons #2)

I knew my sister’s answer. She only ever took a dare, and this time I was going big.

It was a calculated risk, but it was dangerous all the same.

For days on end, I had been listening to Sadie and Damon make snide remarks and snap at each other.

Yes, it was getting out of hand, but I truly thought that was the realm just amplifying bad behavior.

An outsider wouldn’t realize it, but my sister had a crush on this man.

She didn’t know how to act on it, so instead, she was scared shitless and decided the best course of action was to be obnoxiously mean.

He was everything she wasn’t, and the antithesis of everyone she had ever dated.

Damon was cultured, had clean fingernails, chewed with his mouth closed, didn’t beat people’s faces in for a living, and he didn’t own a motorcycle.

What she didn’t see was the way he looked at her too.

The way he held her eye contact even when she was bitching at him.

Or how he watched her when he thought no one was looking.

There was a subtle curl to his lips when she said something flirtatious, albeit still a little mean.

She smirked, tearing the seal off her food pouch. “Dare, of course.”

I took a breath, then exhaled through my nose slowly. “Kiss Damon for thirty seconds.”

Sadie choked on air while Damon paused in the middle of opening his food parcel.

“I’m sorry, what now?” he asked, and somehow, he still made it sound polite. My sister, not so much.

She stood up, throwing her arms out, incensed. “What the fuck, Meera? What are we? Thirteen?”

I grinned, showing off a toothy smile. I wiggled where I was seated. I knew what I was doing. Waving my hand around, I said, “You can forfeit if you want to. It’s okay. I won’t tell Cadoc.”

Sadie’s nostrils flared, incensed. “Never.”

“Glad to hear it. Go on and kiss. Thirty seconds.”

Vareck leaned in closely, turning his head slightly so he could barely be heard. “Is this a good idea?”

Sadie tapped her wrist and tutted. “You know, we don’t have a watch, so ...”

“I’m pretty sure Meera knows how to count,” Damon said as he stood up, and Sadie whipped her head around to glare at him. But there it was. A split second of heat between them. A tiny glimmer in his eye. A fire in hers.

“He’s right!” I said, clapping my hands in excitement. “I do. So, kiss!”

Sadie was about to protest again, but she didn’t get her chance.

Damon stepped forward, reaching his hand behind her neck and pulling her face to his.

Their lips met and Sadie’s sharp inhale echoed in the silence.

For a brief moment, it was just shock that it’d happened, but an electric current charged the air quickly, and I wondered if I was the only one who felt the literal change in the energy around us.

They went from a stiff kiss to something far more urgent.

I noticed the moment her body melted against his, the tension easing.

Their mouths opened, and they devoured each other passionately.

I almost felt bad about watching. Wind whipped around all of us, fanning the flames of the campfire.

Sadie’s nails racked his back, and his hand tightened in her hair as he growled against her lips.

She pressed her body into his, trying to get closer as his other hand pressed into her lower back.

“Thirty,” Vareck said, and I elbowed him and mouthed “what are you doing?”

The buzzing sensation in the air fizzled suddenly, and Sadie and Damon stood in front of each other for several seconds, their chests heaving with labored breaths, their hands still tangled in hair or holding the other closely.

And then they weren’t. He dropped his hands away from her, stepping back, looking down to where he had sat earlier. She did the same, blinking rapidly to process what had just happened.

I sat in awe. I had never, not once, seen Sadie kiss a man like that. I fanned myself theatrically. “That was some intense chemistry. You two have a lot to figure out.”

Sadie flushed but shook her head trying to rid herself of what I assume were emotions. She cleared her throat, but her voice still wobbled slightly when she spoke. “Chemistry isn’t the same as feelings.”

Damon smirked, and he whispered, “So you are saying we do have chemistry?”

My sister scoffed, but she refused to meet his gaze as she ate from the food pouch. “I have chemistry with everyone. You aren’t special.”

Damon pursed his lips, knowing he had the upper hand for once. “Something tells me you're lying.”

Sadie ignored him, then turned to Vareck. She was pissed at me, but she’d also forgive me. “Truth or dare.”

“I don’t want to kiss Damon, so I’ll go with truth,” he said. I snickered, and somewhere in another realm, I knew Corvo would have appreciated that moment of Vareck’s humor.

Sadie swallowed another mouthful of the survival gruel. “Tell us a secret you’ve never told anyone else.”

I stiffened. That was the same truth she gave me when I had finally told her about dreaming of Vareck. My heart raced at the memory, and I wondered what he was going to say.

Vareck tilted his head to the side, pensive.

He scratched his chin while he thought, and he shifted as though his spot on the ground was no longer comfortable.

Sadie was eating it up. She loved making people squirm, and right now, she would be out for blood after I’d just made her kiss Damon and face some of her feelings about him.

“This is a tough one,” he said softly. “I’ve never said it out loud. ”

“Thems the rules, Your Majesty. Or forfeit.”

“Fair enough. No one can repeat this, understand?” He looked at each of us, pointing at us individually as we nodded. Damon leaned forward, completely taken in. Vareck sighed. “I hate peas. Not all peas. Green peas, specifically.”

I snorted, and Damon laughed. Sadie chose to shout as her medium. “What? That’s not a secret!”

Vareck sat up straight. “It is too. Who are you to decide what is a secret and what isn’t?”

Sadie looked to Damon for help but he just laughed again.

“I actually think it’s a secret. I didn’t know it, and the chef makes a ham hock and pea soup once a fortnight.

” Damon leaned back, tilting his head back as he cackled.

“Because the stewardess thinks you love it! That’s why she has the chef make it. ”

Vareck nodded. “And that is why you can’t say anything. Imelda is the kindest, most gentle, hardworking woman. The castle runs smoothly because of her. She’d be crushed if she knew how much I hated it. I won’t do that to her.”

I rubbed his arm. “That’s really nice of you.”

Sadie grumbled, crossing her arms. “That’s a bullshit secret.”

“That secret would hurt feelings, Sadie. Feelings of someone I care about. That’s not bullshit. But is it what you were looking for? No. Because you weren’t specific.” Sadie narrowed her eyes at him.

“Well played, Your Majesty.” She inclined her chin.

Vareck dipped his chin in return. “It’s my turn, yes? Damon, truth or dare.”

Damon shrugged. “I’ve already been a party to a dare, so I guess I’ll go with truth.”

“Good. I’ve been wondering about something for a while now.

” His nephew gestured for him to carry on.

“I know you’ve snuck in my chambers and fucked in my bed.

I don’t need that answered.” Damon paled, his eyes darting over to my sister quickly before looking back to Vareck.

He shook his head slightly, but Vareck either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“How many women did you bring into my room?”

Damon closed his eyes, breathing out. He was miserable.

This was the same man I had kidnapped by enticing him while he was already on the way to sleep with another woman.

Everyone knew he was a playboy. He didn’t hide it.

The only reason he would want that swept under the rug now was because he caught feelings for my sister, and now he would either have to back down and forfeit or give away the answer.

Both of which would cause my sister to lose respect for him, if she had any to begin with.

Vareck groaned. “Fucking hell. How many?”

“Sixteen,” he answered softly, opening his eyes and looking at Sadie. She held his gaze for what felt like an eternity before she sniffed once and looked away, taking a drink from the canteen.

“For fuck’s sake, Damon!” Vareck started, but I put my hand on his leg and tried to subtly show him that now wasn’t the time to bring it up. I angled my head over toward my sister and looked again at Vareck with wide eyes, just hoping he could read my mind.

“Vareck, it’s not–”

He held up a hand, cutting Damon off. “That’s enough. I don’t want to hear details.”

Damon’s jaw clenched and cleared his throat. “You’re up, Meera. Truth or dare.”

“Truth.”

“You sure about that?” he asked.

“Oh yeah. I’m not much of a dare kind of girl when I’m playing a game. My job is daring enough.” I thought for a moment before adding, “And I usually play this while drinking, so my uncoordinated ass doesn’t fare well in the dare department.”

“Are you going to accept the mate bond with my uncle?”

Time stopped.

The sound of white noise filled my ears as I tried to swallow the thick lump in my throat.

I should say yes. I should know the answer, and it should be yes.

Right ... right? I wanted to say yes. Why couldn’t I say it with confidence?

Why couldn’t I say it with certainty? I tried to speak, but no words came out.

Instead, I just floundered, my lips moving, but no sounds forming a coherent answer.

I may as well have been a fish out of water, gasping for air.

“Are you serious right now?” Vareck growled under his breath as he turned his head to look at me. The pain in his eyes was barely masked by pure rage. “This is how you answer? With nothing? No words at all?”

“Vareck, I—” My voice broke as I tried to hold back tears. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to say. I ...”

“You said you were trying. But I guess that was a lie?”

I felt like I had been slapped, but then my own anger surged forward. “What? You’re accusing me of lying? Are you high? I am trying! I thought we were on the same page! Or did you just pretend like we were so we could fuck around in our dreams?”

“I would think you know me better than that.”

“Right now I’m not sure I know you at all.”

“Are you going to accept the mate bond or not, Meera?”

“Why are you pressuring me?”

“Answer the question.”

“I don’t know,” I blurted out, but somehow it didn’t even feel like the truth.

It just felt like words that needed to be said by someone, even if they weren’t my own.

Teardrops fell fast, coating my cheeks as I tried to breathe.

I wanted to take the words back and stuff them into a place where no one could hear them.

“I need some air.” He got up and started to walk away.

“We are literally outside, but sure, walk away. It’s what you’re good at!” I shouted as I got up to follow him, but Damon held my arm gently. There was a look of concern in his eye, and it gave me pause when I remembered the story of Vareck’s mom losing control.

“Let him rage for a minute,” he said softly while watching Vareck storm off. “He’ll be okay.”

“We can’t split up.” I crossed my arms, not out of annoyance, but self-soothing and comfort. Everything felt wrong. “It’s not safe.”

Sadie gave my shoulder a squeeze before she jogged off in the direction he’d gone. “I’ll go get him.”

“I’m sorry, Meera, I know you two haven’t completed it, but I really thought you were just waiting to be out of this.

I don’t know why I asked that,” Damon said, motioning all around us.

I believed him. He had no idea what Vareck and I had been going through.

“Guess you have some things to figure out as well.”

I sighed. “We were doing better. We talked in the cave, and I thought we were okay. I just need time. I thought he understood that.”

“He will.” Damon turned when he heard a noise in the distance.

A soft rumble miles away. “I didn’t mean to get him riled up like this.

He doesn’t usually lose his temper so fast. It’s like the place just puts us all on edge.

I don’t know, maybe it’s the food.” He kicked one of the empty food pouches into the fire.

“Sadie had a better disposition when the tiny monsters were feeding her.”

I snapped my head up. “What’d you just say?”

He frowned. “About Sadie being better when she’s fed?”

I shook my head. “No ... this place ... we’re all on edge. It wasn’t just you and Sadie, but me and Vareck too ...”

Damon narrowed his eyes, searching for more information. “I don’t know what you’re getting at.”

“The realm is sentient. And it’s almost like .

..” I swallowed, barely able to get the words out from the dread coiling tight in my throat.

“It wants to split us apart.” My whispered revelation seemed to click with Damon immediately.

“I told Vareck I was suspicious, and he said maybe it was trying to break you and Sadie apart because there is strength in numbers. What if...?”

“‘ Like calls to like,’ ” Damon repeated, his eyes widening as he spoke. “I don’t think it’s us the realm wants. I think it’s trying to separate you,” he muttered in horror, checking our surroundings just as a thundering crack rent the air.

The land shifted hard, and I nearly toppled over.

His strong arms wrapped around me protectively, and he held me tight.

In panic, I held him in return. “Do not let go of me,” he ordered, placing a hand over my head as he pressed me closer.

“Do you hear me?” I nodded harshly, closing my eyes and curling my face into Damon’s side as my body was rocked by the twisting and turning of the landscape.

Wind whipped around us, cocooning us in a tiny vortex as the ground trembled then broke apart.

Through all the noise, I heard Vareck scream my name.

I saw him in the distance with my sister, running toward us, one arm outstretched.

Every second counted. He was almost to us when the violent haze of a mirage clouded my vision.

He wasn’t going to make it. As I called out to him, the roar of the land shift swallowed my voice, and he was gone.

The realm got what it wanted. As the land split, so were we, and the last words I said to Vareck came from a place of anger that may not have been my own.

The twin hells played their games just as we played ours.

And we just lost.