Page 27

I climbed out of my blanket, slid off the bed, and sat on the edge of the chair by Aedan. He straightened and shifted so we could both fit easily.

I set one of my hands on his while it still held the lute’s body. He thought he was so broken and beastly that he didn’t see all the good things he did. “I have just as many issues as you. We've already discussed how disasters follow me everywhere I go. If you want to risk loving me, then you should let me risk loving you too.”

He dropped the lute and let it balance on his lap while raising a hand to my head. I closed my eyes and leaned my cheek into his palm. He traced my cheekbone with his thumb. “Firehawk. You can’t imagine what those words are doing to my soul.”

“Probably something very similar to what your song did to mine,” I whispered.

His other hand cradled the back of my head while he pressed a kiss into my forehead. Heat erupted from the contact with his skin and spread like the sun over my entire face.

His lips grazed my forehead as he asked, “Do you trust me?”

I reached across the lute to hold his neck. “More than anyone I’ve ever known.”

He kissed the corner of my mouth and whispered across my cheek. “I’ve loved you for weeks.”

I turned my head the smallest degree to meet his lips. He kissed with a slow and gentle caution, but the heat from his touch ran from my lips to my heart. I’d loved him for weeks too, but I’d never thought he’d actually return those feelings, not with the way he’d kept such a tight rein on his emotions recently.

As the moments deepened, his caution dissolved and the kiss grew into a thrilling expression of trust and passion. His power erupted around us, dancing across my skin, lighting my magic sensors in a fiery display, and wrapping me in a cocoon of safety that permeated deep in my soul. His love called to me, and my heart embraced it. I never wanted to leave him again.

But eventually, he pulled back, kissed my cheek, and rested his against it. “I love you,” he whispered. “I feel it in my bones and sinews. The very blood in my veins wants you. If you were an elf who lived in my kingdom, I would ask you to marry me, and I would ask your parents to bless our union. As it is, I don’t know what—”

A loud crashing sound from my incinerated room interrupted him, along with a voice yelling. “No! That monster! I thought he’d changed. I’ll kill him, Jolter. So help me, if he can do this…”

Koan trailed off, probably listening to something Jolter said. A few seconds later, a violent banging shook the bedroom door. The bedroom we were in.

I chuckled. “I think Koan wants to talk to you.”

Aedan smirked, kissed my forehead again, and left me with his lute. As he walked to the door, he unfurled his power and smoke rose from his body.

The elf had a sick sense of humor.

He threw the door open, and used his magic to make his deadly whisper fill the entire hall and room. “Nobody pounds on my door like that.”

Koan shoved him—actually pushed against his chest hard enough to knock him into the bedroom. “How could you kill her! She only ever did what you wanted her to. Complied with every ridiculous order—”

He cut off abruptly and froze—literally—midstep with his hands raised. Yellow magic surrounded him, freezing him midair. It was easy to forget the power Aedan wielded when he smiled at me nervously or bared his soul in a song, but then he did something like this—like freezing Koan with a thought—and I remembered. My cursed king had the powers of a fae prince and an elf king. His strength filled the entire room.

Aedan dusted invisible dirt off his chest and glanced at Jolter, who still stood in the doorway, shock and horror drawn across his face. Then the king shifted his gaze to Koan and released all his magic. “Peace, Koan. Callista is fine.” He pointed one hand at me.

Koan bent over, with hands on his knees, and blew out a breath. When he stood, he nodded at Aedan. “I’m sorry. I saw the ashes and assumed—”

Aedan waved the apology away. “It is fine. I am glad to know you are more fond of Callista than me.”

Jolter slipped around their conversation and gave me a massive hug. “We thought you were dead. ”

I patted his back. “Not yet, though someone is clearly trying harder.”

Koan wrapped his arms around both of us, squeezing tighter than Jolter had, before turning back to the king. “The people I would have pegged as most likely to attempt a murder do not have fire magic.”

Aedan nodded. “I can only think of three elves besides myself who are capable of this kind of an attack.” His scan took in all three of us. “Acantha, Forten, and Shancy. It is possible there are others in Bridgetown or the other hamlets as well.”

Koan looked at Jolter before answering. “I can’t imagine Forten or Shancy doing it.” He glanced at me. “Forten loves you, and Shancy hasn’t ever said anything negative about fae or humans.”

“She is very deliberate in what she does, though,” Jolter said. “If she thought she might ever attack, she would be careful not to ever say something that would incriminate herself.”

“True,” Koan agreed, turning to Aedan. “What about your aunt? She doesn’t talk to anyone besides you, Mylo, and Fagan.”

“She is my primary suspect,” Aedan said, “though Callista has convinced me not to act until I am certain beyond any doubt. And you have just confirmed the small doubts I had about Shancy.”

“Typical,” Koan muttered, throwing me a false glare. “I expect she won’t let you do much once your doubts are removed.” I grinned at him, and he turned back to Aedan. “Does your aunt know she survived or are you hiding her?”

“I do not think she knows yet, though—” He turned to me. “She will learn within a few days. She comes here for meetings at least once or twice a week.”

Jolter and Koan shared a look, and Koan said, “We’ll take you for the meetings. Just tell us when they are, and we’ll have our own meetings.” Koan’s classic humor-filled smirk scrawled across his face as he spoke, almost like he was threatening Aedan with his generous offer.

Jolter rolled his eyes, and Aedan muttered, “Flames help me. I’m plotting with villains.”

Koan laughed out loud. “Admit it, you love our villainy. But we’ll need to plan our guest list carefully. How many people know you’re alive?”

“Just us and Mylo,” I said.

Koan clicked his tongue. “Well, the secret’s out, then. Mylo will tell Corva, and she’ll tell someone in the greatest of confidences, who will pass on the secret. By the end of the day, the entire fortress will be talking about it.”

Aedan sighed. “It’s probably just as well. I think I’d rather flaunt their failed attempt in their faces and reiterate that I will be with you constantly now. Anyone who tries anything again can expect to die in the attempt.”

Koan and Jolter grinned, and then Koan bowed to Aedan. “Your Majesty, I do want to apologize for assuming you killed my friend. I should have known better, and I’m sorry.”

Aedan smiled slowly and extended his hand. Koan returned the gesture, and they gripped arms. “Koan. I am fortunate to have you in the castle.” He glanced at Jolter. “You and Jolter both. It is good to know we have a few people here we can trust.”

I sidled up next to Aedan’s side and slipped an arm around his waist as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “You two are my best friends,” I told Jolter and Koan. “I’m really glad you’re here. ”

“Just call us the Fellowship of Fun.” Koan grinned like he’d discovered a new secret and then gestured between Aedan and I. “Does anyone else know about this?”

I grinned and shook my head. Koan elbowed Jolter. “Did you see that? Now we’re in the royal inner circle.”

Heat radiating off of Aedan filtered through my clothes and warmed my shoulders. He was hotter than usual. I glanced at the window. How had I missed the rising sun?

Koan and Jolter followed my gaze to the window and shared another look with each other. “We can wait in the hall.” Koan turned a raised brow to me. “Do you want to come with us?”

I turned to Aedan, easily spotting his clenched jaw and fire-like colors running along the blood vessels under his skin. “Don’t leave the hall,” he ground out. “Please.”

I squeezed his hand. “We’ll wait right outside the door.”

He drew my hand up to his lips and kissed the inside of my wrist, sending a burning heat into my skin and a fluttering thrill to my heart. “Thank you.”