Page 25

A edan and I stood in the middle of my ash-blackened room. I wanted to scan for anything that had escaped the fire. He…

I did not know what he was doing.

Instead of finding anything familiar, horrible memories started to lunge from every corner. The bed that had combusted at the same time as the walls. The walls that had turned into a death trap. The entrance to the washroom I’d had to leap over. The smoke that drowned me…

Suddenly, the smoke and the flames were all I could see, all I could feel. The heat and suffocation blocked my throat and attacked my skin again. Part of me whispered it was a memory, but it felt so real.

But then—

A warm hand on mine interrupted the attack. Another hand touched my shoulder and Aedan’s voice came from right in front of me. “Firehawk,” he whispered, “you are stronger than whatever your mind is telling you. Open your eyes. You’ve already beat this.”

When had I closed my eyes? I opened them, and saw Aedan bent in front of me, his bright green eyes level with mine and etched with concern. “Are you with me?”

I nodded. The fire had been hours ago.

Aedan held my eyes. “There are only a few people capable of the targeted destruction that was unleashed here. When I figure out who it was, there will be no mercy.”

Pounding boots thundered in the hall. Aedan slowly straightened up and we turned to see Mylo run into the room with far less decorum than normal.

“Aedan! Callista!” He caught his breath and settled into a stiffer pose, but his face still showed enormous relief. “You’re alive. I was so sure that—”

Aedan interrupted. “What happened here?” As he spoke, his fingertips brushed against the back of my hand. I flipped my hand around and gripped his, grateful he’d put it close enough for me to reach easily.

Mylo’s gaze flicked to our hands, then back up the Aedan. “Garven told me there was a crack in the fortress’s water reservoir and that a rupture was imminent. He said another messenger had already gone to get Corva, so I rushed to the reservoir to make sure the water stayed contained.”

“They took you to the opposite side of the fortress,” Aedan summarized.

Mylo nodded. “It turned out there was no crack. Garven had been misinformed by Porter who had been misinformed by someone else.” He waved his hand. “There was a chain of at least eight people, and the first was wearing a glamor. ”

Aedan’s brows wrinkled. “How did you figure that out?”

Mylo rolled his eyes. “Because he looked like me.”

“What?”

Mylo ran a hand through his hair. Very uncharacteristic. “The last person I interviewed was confused by my questions and finally explained that I’d told him to get help because the reservoir was about to burst.” He shook his head. “I was in this hall the entire time, until Garven came to get me.”

He turned to me. “When I realized what had happened… I’ve been sick it about all afternoon. I thought maybe you survived in the washroom or Aedan’s room, but the washroom had burned and Aedan’s door had melded with the wall—you could not have gotten into it if you’d tried. So then…”

He glanced away from both of us. “I searched outside under the balcony. When I couldn’t find you, I feared that…”

I felt bad for this sweet soldier who had spent a third of his days for months guarding my door or escorting me around the castle. “Mylo.”

He turned back to me.

Tightening my fingers around Aedan’s, I looked at the captain. “Mylo, I don’t blame you. You couldn’t have known.”

He bowed his head, and I squeezed Aedan’s hand. “I do not hold you responsible either,” the king said. “It was a well-calculated attack, and we will need to be just as precise as we hunt the perpetrator.”

Mylo bowed. “I’ve been lurking in the Dining Hall to see if I overheard anything useful, but when I realized the hour, I came up here to try to catch you before you discovered what I thought was… a horrible tragedy. I… What would you like me to do now?”

Aedan kept his fingers firmly wrapped around my hand, but his thumb traced the length of mine while he spoke slowly. “Listening for any loose tongues is a good idea, but do not spend the night there. Spend it with your wife. I think… I take you away from her too often.”

Mylo’s jaw fell, but he whipped it back into position and dipped his head. It was a lot more bowing than he normally did, but he probably wasn’t sure what else to do with such a generous king.

“I… Your Majesty, are you well?”

“No.” Aedan growled almost as low as his drekkan. “I will not be well until I remove this threat. But that is not a reason for you to be unwell also. I will guard Callista until we figure out who did this.” His tone softened. “Enjoy some time with Corva, as much as you can arrange. You’ve spent much more time here than normal lately.”

The king’s thoughtful instructions to Mylo mixed with the slow motion of his thumb on my hand and warmed my heart. These moments, where he did something for someone else that was not mandated by his honor or duty, made him seem vulnerable—like he was risking a new behavior. It was a chance for someone to consider him weak, to think that he cared, but he did it anyway. And that effort made me want to throw my arms around his neck and give him a hug so tight he’d actually feel it through his thick skin.

And maybe I should be a little less judgmental of his thick skin. He’d lost his parents close to when I lost mine. I took care of my brother; he’d taken care of his kingdom. And then he’d been cursed… but was it really so hard to imagine him worrying so much that he’d tried to protect hi mself from my mother?

It wasn’t.

At least, not anymore.

After Mylo left, Aedan led me out of my room, into the hall, and into his room.

We stopped just inside the door.

His room was monstrous—big enough for his drekkan to sprawl across the empty floor space like a dragon might in a throne room. On the far left, a bed big enough for four adults filled the center of the wall. That entire side of the room looked like its own room—the bed, a large chair, a long couch, a table, wardrobe, and a few other pieces of furniture were all arranged in such an ordered and structured format that I was sure it had been done by my monster king. It looked like it should have had a wall separating it from the rest of the space, but it did not.

On the right side of the room, a desk leaned against the wall that held a door to my room. Behind the desk was a large meeting table, a set of couches, and a window.

An entrance in the far corner led to what I assumed was a washroom.

The entire suite had been completely untouched by the flames, confirming without any doubt that it was a magical attack on me.

After I had time to silently survey Aedan’s personal chambers, he cleared his throat. “This used to be a sitting room. I had the walls removed after the curse because my drekkan fit better without them.” His voice tapered off. “Though it might make things awkward now.”

He swallowed loudly. “It doesn’t need to be awkward.” He hadn’t let go of my hand since I’d taken his in my room. Now, he turned toward me and wrapped it in both of his hands. “Callista.” His voice dropped into a hoarse, emotional tone. “I want to give you my room.”

He tipped his chin toward the bed. “My bed chambers are yours now.” He turned his head toward the desk. “I’ll live in the sitting room.” He met my eyes. “Pretend the walls are still up. I won’t cross into your space without permission. I’ll leave the entire room if you tell me to. But I cannot risk leaving you alone again.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond. Share a room with the king? That seemed wildly inappropriate. Strangely enough, though, the thought of being alone was far more terrifying.

He dropped his forehead down to meet mine. He had done this a few times now, and it erased all my anxious feelings with other… uncertain ones every time. The heat from his skin mixed with a fluttering in my heart that wanted to draw closer to him… to touch more than his forehead.

“If I could go back to that winter day when I first met you,” he whispered, “and face you knowing then what I know now, I would have dropped to my knees and begged for your forgiveness. I would have sent you home with your brother…” His voice caught and he swallowed. “But I did not. And now I have trapped you here with someone who is trying to kill you. I just want to keep you safe.”

I brought my free hand to hold on to his. “You don’t have any guest rooms?”

“I do, but the nobles use them for meals or other gatherings.” His breath warmed the air in front of my face. We were so close. If I twitched, our lips would touch.

As if hearing my thoughts, he tipped his chin down so our foreheads still touched, but his mouth was just a little farther from mine. It made my own breathing hitch. I had so many feelings for this elf, but he was a king. The King of the Elves should not kiss a forest-raised half-fae. He was probably supposed to marry a queen from one of the other elf kingdoms someday.

But he tightened his hold on my hands. “The guest rooms are not secure and can be accessed by multiple doors, windows, and corridors. I will take you there if you truly want me to, but I would rather give you this room. Nothing is more protected than this tower.”

I turned to look at his bed again, pulling my head away from his. I wanted to collapse on that bed. I would feel a thousand times safer here than anywhere else. But… “Where would you sleep?”

He pointed at the couches with his chin. “They are longer than I am tall, and they’re plenty comfortable. If you don’t mind, I might take one of the pillows off the bed.”

Piles of pillows covered half the bed. Maybe he saved them for his drekkan self. I nodded slowly. “All I really want right now is to sleep.”

He brought my hand to his mouth and kissed my wrist. Slowly. As if making a statement that incinerated all my earlier thoughts about how he couldn’t kiss me. I couldn’t guess what he wanted to say, but I heard sympathy and care, tenderness and power leashed on a tight chain, warmth and concern. I heard love, whispered on the silent breath of his lips against the sensitive skin on my wrist.

He straightened up and whispered, “I know.” Then he pointed at the bed and added, “Come.”

It felt like an invitation more than an order. How a few months can change so many things! I followed him to the far side of his room. My room. At least until whoever was attacking me was gone. He paced ahead of me, opened one of the wardrobes, and handed me two pieces of clothing.

I held them up and raised a brow to meet his mischievous smile. “A tunic and a jacket? For a king?”

The mischievous smile grew a little wilder. “They’ll cover you better than any nightdress and dressing gown. And I don’t like the idea of ashes in my bed.”

I threw the jacket at his face. The shock in his eyes was worth it—I nearly laughed out loud. “I thought you said it was my bed.”

His smile hit his eyes. “It is. And you can drown it in ashes if you choose. But just in case you change your mind—” He tossed the jacket back at me. I caught it and buried my face in the rich smells of his leather and cedar. I would probably sleep much better wrapped in the scents that reminded me of him than in the ashes of my near-death experience.

I pointed at the door to the hall. “You can’t be in here while I change.”

He dipped his head and left the room.

I peeled off my damaged dress and underclothes. Even the layers closest to my skin smelled like smoke. I stuffed them all in a trash bin.

When I lifted his tunic to my face, though, I couldn’t put it on—not while I smelled like a charred wrap of hay. I dropped the tunic on the bed and let my feet take over my mind. They insisted on a walk to the washroom.

I rinsed under the bath water as it fell—I didn’t want Aedan to decide I was taking too long and come check on me. When I lathered his soap, though, the spiced cedar slowed me down. All this time, I’d thought his cedar scent came from spending time in the forest as a drekkan. But no. It was his soap.

The fresh smells filled the air, bathing my senses as much as my skin. I lathered another round of soap, and then a third. When I could not detect a trace of smoke, I turned off the water, dried myself, and changed into his tunic and jacket.

The jacket wrapped around me as easily as a blanket. I snuggled inside it and leaned my head against the door. “Aedan? Can you hear me?”

His voice came immediately, also next to the door. “Yes. Are you done?”

The image of him leaning against the door in the hall during my entire bath made me chuckle. “Have you been standing there this whole time?”

“Yes.”

The jacket’s warm folds hid my arms, and I did not want to take them out. “You can come in.”

He opened the door, scanned me from top to bottom, and then settled his gaze on my face while my favorite half-crazed smile scrawled over his features. “You look a hundred times better.”

I huffed. “Because I’m wearing your clothes?”

“Because you look refreshed. I hope you enjoyed the bath.”

“You knew I was bathing?”

He nodded. “The magic that pipes water into the washrooms is easy to feel.” I should have known. He gestured to the bed. “Would you like me to stay in the hall until you fall asleep?”

I shook my head as images of my bed combusting flashed through my mind. “Is there anything you can do to make my bed, your bed, the bed I’m sleeping on…” I trailed off. Nobody would attack me while I was in the king’s room , right?

His hand raised, like he was going to touch my cheek, but he stopped just before I felt his fingers. He shifted his hand to wave at his bed. “I can put a barrier around it that will block any magic.” His voice lowered. “And should anyone be foolish enough to attempt an attack while I am here, they will not survive the event.”

His threatening growl should have made my skin crawl, but instead it eased the fears that had been hanging on me since we’d visited my razed room. I felt safer with him in sight.

I tightened his jacket around my arms and climbed into the bed. Maybe I’d crawl out of the jacket when I was under the blankets. Maybe not.

He put a hand on a corner bedpost and wrapped his bright, fiery magic around the bed. A dark red layer of magic surrounded us like a gappy fence. Then thick cords of yellow, rope-like power wove through the red, filling in the gaps and securing both colors in a wall around us. I thought he was done, but streaks of orange burst to life and flowed through any remaining cracks in the other colors. And then an even darker red sparkled across all the other colors, like evening sunlight glistening across a lake.

A satisfied gleam lit his eyes as he turned to me. “What do you see, Firehawk?”

I nestled deeper in the sheets. “You’ve made a barrier that looks completely impenetrable, with at least four different sets of magic.”

“That is an incredible gift.” He settled his hands on the top of the footboard’s rail. “I know you don’t feel like it is powerful, but I am glad you can see the protections I have layered here.” He cast a pointed look across the room and then back to me. “And should anything happen, I will be in the sitting room.”

I nudged a blanket up to my chin. He had set everything up perfectly, and a deep exhaustion pushed me toward sleep faster than I’d expected. I muttered a deliberate, “Thank you,” before closing my eyes. The last thing I saw before slipping into a blissful unconsciousness was him standing at the foot of my bed with his hands on the rail, guarding like a soldier who cared more than he allowed himself to admit.

A thick forest fire ignited the trees around me. I spun, unsure of my location and frightened by the flames. There was no escape path.

Just as I started to panic, the flames all dissolved and a bridge appeared with flowers wrapped around a railing. I knew it was a safe bridge, so I ran across it and arrived in the gardens behind the castle. The snow had melted, and beautiful flowers lined the paths to the fountains. My mother stood in front of the three-tiered fountain.

I ran to her and threw my arms around her waist. “Motab!” I whispered into her dress. “I’ve missed you so much!”

She wrapped me in such a tight hug I laughed.

And then I realized the truth. “You… you don’t exist anymore. This must be a dream.”

She squeezed me tighter. “Oh, Callista. To be fae is to exist. We do not stop existing simply because our essence leaves the mortal realm.”

I leaned into her. “What do you mean?”

She stroked the back of my head. “I am with you in every fire, every blanket that warms you, and each ray of heat from the sun. They should all remind you of me—they are silent messages of my love for you. Fotab is with you in every book, every text you lovingly read, every note you hear on a lute, even every song. People you love never really leave you. They are with you every time you remember them.”

My eyes filled with tears. “But I still miss you. I want to hold you in real life and hear you celebrate all the good things with me… or tell me the bad and confusing will work out…” I hiccupped.

She kissed the top of my head. “I know, sweetie. It is the tragically beautiful nature of our existence.”

I leaned back and looked at her. “Tragically beautiful?”

She patted my arm. “Every wonderful moment we experience is overshadowed by the threat of loss. Every loss we experience is tempered by the joyful memories we hold.” She squeezed my hand. “Take care in your grief to both give yourself time to heal and still make room for new happy moments. Let them fill your life with meaning even while you save space to feel the loss.”

“I’m trying,” I told her. “I’m trying so hard.”

She patted my arm and looked over her shoulder. “I need to go now. Fotab has prepared a treat for us. We both love you.”

“But—”

The dream faded, and I opened my eyes to a dark, unfamiliar room.

Aedan’s room.