Page 47 of Black Hearted (Cursed Fae #4)

Lorelei

I had the best time last night after destroying the curse.

I met Zane’s brothers and his staff, mingled with my parents and the other princesses, ate good food, had good conversations, and snuck glances at Zane whenever I wanted.

It was wonderful, and for the first time in months, everyone seemed excited and optimistic about the future.

Zane had offered to have a room made up for me in his castle when the festivities started to wrap up, but my mother reminded us sharply that we were not yet married and that I was a princess.

So I stayed the night at the Spring Palace while Zane slept at his castle.

He’d given me the sweetest kiss just before I went through the mirror portal back to Faerie that had put a silly smile on my face that lasted until I’d finally fallen asleep in my own bed.

Although the atmosphere was infinitely lighter with the curse destroyed and Queen Liliana was gone, Zane and I still had work to do. We needed to restore the lands using the daggers and our combined power, just as the Wise Ones had instructed.

This morning, I woke up early, changed into a pretty dress, put on some light makeup, and snuck over to Zane’s castle through the open mirror portal.

I found him alone in a small study, the same one from the first dream I’d visited him in.

He was sitting at a round table, holding a steaming cup of coffee when I approached.

The way he grinned at me made my insides flip.

I was glad to see him alone. There had been so much excitement the night before that we’d celebrated until a late hour, never finding a moment to ourselves.

When Zane had wished me goodnight last night—in front of my mother, who had been waiting to make sure I got safely to my bed, alone—he’d whispered in my ear to meet him for breakfast.

As he stood and pulled out a chair for me, I bypassed it and boldly stepped up to him, pressing against him and peering into his eyes. They flared to life with desire.

I’d been thinking about something all night, and I had to ask him about it before I burst.

“What does mates mean?” I asked. “I know it means a couple or that we’re supposed to be together, but in your world, what does it mean?”

Zane gave me a sweet smile, reaching up to trace a patch of freckles at my collarbone. The simple touch sent tendrils of heat down my spine.

“Mates means that when the fates made you, they made me, too,” he whispered. “It means I’ll never have another, even if you were to perish tomorrow. You are the only one for me, Lorelei. Mates means ‘the one whom my soul has chosen.’”

My heart melted. That was way more romantic than I’d expected.

Leaning down, his lips brushed mine softly, causing a heady longing to spark inside of me right before he pulled back.

“But I know that mates are not a part of your culture,” he said gently. “So I’m willing to take this as fast or as slow as you want.”

I relaxed a little, pleased to hear him address the one thing that had been heavy on my mind.

“I want you. I love you. I just … it’s a lot,” I told him.

He froze, his gaze widening.

“What?” I asked.

“You … love me?”

Oh, right. I’d told him when he was dead. He wouldn’t remember.

“Yes, I love you.” I grinned. “I just don’t know what I’m ready for yet.”

He nodded, giving me an understanding look. “We can slow down.”

He took a step back from me, but I stepped forward, closing the distance. “I don’t want to slow down. I just want to date for a little before we get engaged, then be engaged for a little before we get married. And then be married for a bit before we have babies.”

Zane smirked. “Dawn and her fast marriage with four babies put a little fear in you, didn’t it?”

It wasn’t just Dawn. All the girls seemed to have married within weeks of meeting their husbands.

I mean, I got it. We were mates, and everything was electric and wonderful, but I wanted to slow down and enjoy each season with Zane.

I thought I’d only have days with him, but now that I knew we’d have a lifetime together, I wanted to savor every stage, every experience, every moment with him. I didn’t want to skip anything.

I nodded playfully, and he laughed. “Date for a bit, then engaged, then married, then babies,” he said almost to himself.

I smiled. “But don’t take too long.”

He chuckled again, pulling me into his arms. “You just tell me when you’re ready for each phase of life, and I’ll happily walk through it with you.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Okay,” he agreed, gesturing for me to sit, and when I did, he pulled the silver dome off a plate to reveal poached eggs, hashed potatoes, and strips of bacon.

We tucked into our breakfast, my heart full and hopeful about the future.

“I got my dagger back last night, so we have all four faestones now,” I told him. Although my court and Zane’s kingdom hadn’t experienced the effects of the curse and so I didn’t think we would need my faestone to heal our lands, I wanted it with us just in case.

He nodded. “We’ll travel to each court in Faerie, healing it, and move on to the next. If the Wise Ones were right, the kingdoms here in Ethereum should start healing as well.”

“I hope that’s true.”

“We’ll see,” he said.

After breakfast, I had a quick visit with Aribella and Isolde again, along with their husbands, who I had to admit were amazing.

Then I went to check on Dawn. I’d learned last night how she was keeping the babies alive outside the womb at such a young age, and it was clearly taking a toll on her.

She looked exhausted and so I kept my visit with her brief.

Finally, Zane and I grabbed our packed bags and went to the throne room, easily slipping through the portal and into the Spring Court. Nellie, who’d stayed with my sisters last night, was waiting for us, her backpack slung over her shoulders and a traveling cloak wrapped around her.

Zane cast me a questioning look, as if asking whether I’d told her she could come. I shook my head lightly.

“Nellie, we’re only going to be gone a short time. A couple weeks at most,” Zane told her.

She pointed a finger at him. “You promised we’d be together now, and I can help you if anyone gets hurt.”

Zane looked at me. “Lorelei can heal me if I get hurt.”

Zane had told me about her magic and how, in order to heal someone, she took on their injury. I hoped to work with her on being able to heal without that awful side effect, but I felt we needed to build a better rapport first. In order to truly help her, she needed to trust me first.

“I think I will need an assistant,” I said.

Zane raised an eyebrow at me. “Are you two ganging up on me?”

Nellie ran to my side, folding her arms over her chest, and nodded. “I’m going. I’m Lorelei’s assistant.”

Zane broke into a grin. It was clear he had such a soft spot for her. She was already family to him, and I loved that about him.

“Fine,” he relented.

With that and my mother’s blessing, we grabbed mounted horses and headed for the Summer Court.

We reached the border between the Spring and Summer Courts sooner than I had expected.

From there, we could see the dry and cracked soil where the curse had tried, and failed, to bleed into the Spring Court.

A shiver ran down my spine when I remembered trying to escape Queen Liliana.

How the air had been filled with ash and the ground leeched completely of life.

We rode for another hour into the desolate lands before stopping. We wanted to make sure we were well enough into the Summer Court for the faestone to heal the land, but we were hesitant to travel any further considering the condition the curse had left it in. It didn’t feel safe.

Nellie scanned the surroundings with a frown and a touch of fear in her eyes.

“Nellie,” I called, drawing her attention. “I know Zane has offered you a room in his castle, but I would like to offer you a place to stay in the Spring Palace as well. My sisters and parents have already grown so fond of you. They wanted you to know you’ll always have a place there.”

She and my sister Octavia had become quite close, as my mother had told me. Nellie’s eyes grew misty. “I’d like that sometimes. Like having a sleepover?”

I nodded. “Yes, like that. Anytime you want.”

She swallowed hard and then rushed into my arms, hugging me. I met Zane’s gaze over her head to find him giving me an adoring look.

When she pulled away, Zane brought out the faestones from the daggers that had been melted down, along with the daggers that were still whole. He held them in front of us.

“All right,” he said, “the Wise Ones mentioned the dagger and our combined power. I’m guessing Dawn’s faestone would heal this land?”

“I think so, yes,” I agreed.

Zane handed me Dawn’s orange faestone before putting away the others.

“If anyone gets hurt, I’ll be right here, ready to help,” Nellie announced.

“No, you won’t,” Zane told her sternly. “You will never heal again because, in order to do that, you have to hurt yourself.”

His words were out of love, but I saw Nellie shrink into herself.

“Actually, Zane,” I interjected, “I think Nellie has a milder, untrained form of my power. With practice, I could teach her to transfer the illness to the plants and flowers instead.”

Nellie’s eyes grew wide. “Really? Cool!”

I winked at her. “But until then, I think you need to sit out any healings and let me handle them.”

She frowned but nodded. “Fine.”

“Here, hold this.” Zane handed her his bag, probably just to make her feel useful, and then got on his knees on a patch of blackened earth.

I did the same, letting my power fan out around me. It felt different.

“My magic feels different,” Zane said. “My brothers even said that I feel differently to them now.”

“My magic feels different as well,” I commented. “I think because when I saved you, it … meshed us.”

He reached out and grasped my hands. “That’s why we do this together.”

Nellie snickered beside us, and I grinned.