Page 55

And she wasn’t even a Serpent, but she’d laid her life to protect her home. “How does one steal the sun?” I asked.

“Daylight quells can trap light. There are a lot of alliances between Serpents. Good and bad. I try to keep mutual with all the realms.”

“Are you and my father on good terms?”

His face stilled like he was about to get into a political ramble with me. “Your father is sitting on one of the wealthiest plots of land in the entire Continent. Whoever becomes his heir must make wise barters.”

Not with the Winter storms growing worse. Not with his wards breaking. I feared if no one claimed title… North Colindale would become another barren land.

“I wonder if Bridger hated me so much because he knew the people did not have to suffer. It felt as though there was never enough food to go around. My father chose to starve his people,” I hissed.

I didn’t blame Bridger—it wasn’t forgiveness I felt but understanding. I understood his hatred for my father.

“You love your father. The man you know is his truth.”

“I suppose he could have married me to a Serpent in exchange for seeds. ”

“As I said yesterday, you are priceless, Severyn. It would take much more than a rich man of title for your father to use you as a bribe.”

“Why are you not married?” I blurted out. Archer likely had a hundred women throwing themselves at him. I could only imagine those marriage offers he received from across the lands. Beautiful females who’d offer their bodies to him and birth him an heir.

“I spent the last two years understanding what a Serpent is, and most of that time, I was weak from Klaus’s death.

I believe in love, Severyn. My parents got married out of a barter.

I couldn’t accept that, knowing my mother had given her life over one.

Sometimes, I believe that there is more to this world than power.

You must fight for what is right, and sometimes that is your breath and your heart. ”

Our fingers touched.

I went to tuck them behind me, but Archer wound his within mine, eyes laced above. “Sometimes what we want will never make sense. Nor will we deserve it.”

I sucked a clipped breath in.

He had no idea how fast my heart was beating.

The quell show began. A dozen palms reached toward the milky sunset, and I’d never seen anything so beautiful, so unison.

Cheers sounded from all around as quells rippled into the sky.

It was a shatter of daylight breaking through, twisting, and curling with an illusionist’s dragons.

It was the blazing heat of a dozen Summer quells as the wind rushed around us.

I raised my palm, and a soft flame sparked from my fingertips, twirling in a snake-like slither through the golden sky. Archer cupped my cheek. We both stared up, and each one of those stars was cindered in flames .

I gasped slowly. Even the shadows below us were outlined with sparks. No ash littered my tongue, but a faint coal and mist taste sucked between my parted lips.

My right palm tingled.

“Archer—” A swirl of shadows broke through my skin, curling like smoke in the moonlight. It wasn’t flame, but something cooler, darker. A crescent-shaped mark etched itself into my palm. The sensation wasn’t searing like flame but a taut, almost chilling pressure.

“What is this?” I whispered, staring at the mark.

“Darkness,” Archer murmured. His voice was low, like a secret the world wasn’t meant to hear. “There are three types of quells. Ciaran chose you that day during Skyfall. I told her you weren’t ready for it, but the more I try to keep you from the shadows, the more they seem to claim you.”

My palms found his cheeks, the cool tendrils of shadow on one hand and the flicker of flame on the other, creating a strange and beautiful balance between us.

“Ciaran gave me a shadow quell?” I asked, my voice trembling.

“Have you ever quell shared?” he asked, his body close, his knee pressing just in front of my thighs. His gaze was heavy, searching. “I could teach you.”

“No, I’ve never… tried it,” I admitted, my voice unsteady.

“The easiest way to quell share is through touch,” he said, his breath brushing my skin. His pinky wound itself around a loose strand of my hair.

“I feel you,” I said, and only then did I realize how tightly I had been clutching his fingers. Red marks lingered on his skin where my grip had been. “I’m sorry.”

He pulled me closer, just enough for our chests to graze. His hand tilted my chin upward, and the heat in his gaze made my pulse stumble. “Stay still. ”

A silver sheen wove through the air, tracing our breaths like a whisper. My words stuttered as I struggled to find my composure. “I—I care about you. I know you said I shouldn’t, but—”

“Kissing you would be the easiest and most reckless way to quell share,” he murmured, his voice dropping to a husky whisper. “But I’ve lost all the will to deny that desire.”

“You don’t want to kiss me, Archer,” I managed, though the tremor in my voice betrayed me.

His lips quirked into a sly grin, and he leaned closer, his breath brushing against mine.

“And why wouldn’t I? Because I’m a Serpent?

Or do you finally see me as your brother’s friend?

” His voice dropped, rich and intoxicating, as he whispered against my lips, “Kissing you is the most tameable thing I desire to do with you.”

My breath caught as my gaze flicked to his lips. “You’re a Serpent. What if someone sees?”

But even as I spoke, a voice echoed within the bond between us, soft yet commanding: “Fucking kiss me. Now.”

Before I could close the space between us, his lips claimed mine.

They were cool, soft as silk, and careful—too careful.

The kiss was simple, but I felt the restraint in every movement, like a storm held at bay.

And still, it set fire to every nerve, the shadows around us shuddering as if they, too, felt the pull of this moment.

“Like this?” I answered back.

“More.”

“You want more of me?”

“I want all of you.”

I nodded, and at that moment, I was a wick floating down the river, caught in the pull of the current, as I kissed him back harder. Chaos and shadows swirled around us. I kissed him like it was my last breath.

Maybe it always had been his to claim. Maybe he was right when he said my breaths were owed to him .

His hands tightened around my waist, pulling me closer, anchoring me to him even as I became acutely aware of the hundreds of eyes surrounding us, including the apparent journalist staring wide-eyed.

Thunder cracked above—a jagged sound that echoed in my chest as lightning streaked across the sky. The world seemed to hold its breath.

I tasted the wine lingering on his tongue, dark and rich.

His shadows seeped into me, coiling in my lungs and stealing the air until a silent moan slipped between our parted lips.

He claimed every curve of my mouth, every inch of me, as though he were imprinting himself onto my soul.

His hands tangled in my hair, the grip firm and possessive, deepening that forbidden touch.

Every essence of Archer felt forbidden—and I craved it.

I needed him.

He pulled away just enough to lift my chin, his thumb brushing against my jawline as his eyes burned into mine. “I didn’t think a flame could cast a shadow.”

My lips trembled as I answered, my voice barely audible. “I didn’t either.”

We both turned to watch Kian as he raised his palm into the sky, and shattering starlight broke through. He fisted the air, smothering whatever dark quell had broken through. Archer grinned silently. He grinned as if his heir stood feet away.

“Kian—” I breathed.

Archer shook his head, tightening his fingers under my jaw. “Knowing you’ve let down your entire country is not a great feeling.”

There was a moment of silence as the quells began to simmer, and our smoking shadows blew away in the wind. Archer dropped his hand, clearing his throat. “My father is here.”

The skin on my back crawled. “Is everything okay? ”

A tall, darker-skinned male appeared out of thin air in the center of the dancing. A teal suit framed his slender figure as white gloves covered his outstretched hands. I pulled away as if the pounding realization struck that Archer had kissed me, and I’d gotten a shadow quell.

Siphoning the seawater in a spiral, the Serpent of Summer raised his hands.

Cheers sounded as every lantern sputtered once the water fell, simmering even me.

A few civilians gawked and bowed while others curtsied.

Archer’s father was even more intimidating than in his portrait as pounding drums welcomed his grand entrance.

His eyes tightened on Kian with a quick nod. Archer gripped my elbow—portaling us back to the house through the shadows.

As dusk broke, he slung his bow over his shoulder, dragging me down to the entrance. “I’m not in the mood to converse with my father tonight. We’ll make our way to Ravensla. I’m sure Lynwood has room unless you are up to fly throughout the night?”

“Is it because I am here?” I asked nervously.

He shut his mouth, no doubt contemplating his words. “As I said, some Serpents have good alliances. I don’t have the best political relationship with my father.”

I gripped his arm, forcing him to face me. “You are his son? Is that not enough of a bind to forgive the past Serpent of Night?”

“Not when that man was my grandfather,” said Archer in a rush. He pulled me toward the black stallion as a single drop of water fell onto my forehead.

“Your grandfather was the past Shadow Serpent?”

My breath caught as Kian and Victor stood before us, and it was silent as if all the noise was stripped from the world, even my voice as Archer’s father opened his arms for an embrace, the crawling serpent trailing his arm and neck hissed with a clench of his spread shoulders .