Page 38 of Heir of Broken Souls (HOBF #3)

Chapter 38

Delilah

I guzzle from my waterskin until it’s empty. It was my suggestion to make the time pass with sparring. Although no one knows my suggestion has more to do with seeing what Elysia is capable of, which I’m stunned to find is not much at all.

I guess I had a preconceived notion that all Fae were trained fighters, or knew how to wield a blade, at the very least.

Elysia broke that stereotype this morning—tenfold.

I knew she said she wasn’t trained with a sword but…it’s like watching a newborn calf wobble on unsteady legs.

The headache that bloomed shortly after watching her fumble with daggers grew insurmountable once Axel joined her. The pair wouldn’t stop bickering, so much so Knox sent them away—sent them all away—to spar downstairs.

Gods knows why they’re still bickering. You’d think they would have accepted the pairing after Axel was clinging to her during the storm, not to mention his reaction to her while she received a vision. But whatever happened between them after Elysia’s slumber—when they had disappeared for a time—has raised their hackles once more.

Axel probably said something foolish.

If I thought Lenox and Harlow’s bickering was once dreadful, the spiteful mates are on another level entirely. It’s as if they’ve fallen into something they can’t climb out of. With everything that’s on the horizon, though, I wish they would hurry up and sort out their differences.

“Ready for another round, Angel? Or are you ready to admit defeat?”

I roll my eyes at his challenge. “Cocky bastard,” I mutter.

“Perhaps you forgot a word in there. Here’s a couple to choose from: beautiful, exquisite, delightful, ravishing?—”

A bark of laughter explodes from my chest. “Oh, darling, you wish.”

“They aren’t words I plucked out at random, Angel.” His grin turns devilish. “They have fallen from your very lips.”

Unsheathing my dragon pommel sword I’m upon him in a flash, and by the way his eyes widen a fraction, it is a move he didn’t anticipate. I vanish in the blink of an eye, then reappear behind him with my blade to his throat and my wings unfurled, allowing me to hover at his tall height behind his back.

Knox sucks in a sharp breath.

Grazing my lips down the shell of his ear, I take immense pleasure in watching goosebumps line his tan arms.

“Dragon got your tongue, darling?”

He drops his head back on my shoulder and grins up at the sky. “On the contrary, I like it when you spill a little blood.”

At the dark chuckle rumbling from his chest, I scoff and shove him away. His eyes set their sights on me, ablaze with such heat I suddenly find the energy to spar again.

“How about this?” I drawl, pacing circles around him. “The next to win?—”

“Gets a night in bed with me.”

As much as the thought of that makes my toes curl, I also know that one word from me and he’ll be on his knees in a heartbeat.

I pretend to ponder the idea.

“How about something… dirtier ?”

His eyes shine. If I thought they were blazing before, I was so wrong. Now, they’re as bright as a glittering star.

“Name your price, Angel.”

“If I win…you have to take me for a little flight.” I let the last word trail off, allowing it to hang heavy in the air between our heaving chests. It doesn’t take him long to understand the glint in my eyes or the insinuation in my voice.

He clicks his tongue. “That can certainly be arranged.”

“And what do you want if you win?” I ask, quirking my brow.

He swallows thickly before stepping forward, so close I have to tip my head back. “Marry me,” he whispers gutturally.

I cease to exist.

The world slows on its turn.

Time simply stops as I stare at the man who holds my heart in the palm of his hand.

“I’m sorry, d-did you just?—”

“If I win, you have to marry me,” he breathes.

I would think he’s joking but his eyes hold a sense of vulnerability in them, his shoulders rigid, as if he’s…nervous?

My heart resumes its beat, picking up into an erratic thump as my eyes flick back and forth, searching his.

“Is that what you truly want?”

“More than anything in this world,” he says hoarsely.

The sincerity in his voice, the love pouring from his eyes—I cannot deny him.

Licking my suddenly dry lips, I breathe, “We have a deal, Mr. Holloway.”

Knox steps forward so fast a gasp escapes me and his hand cups my jaw, his thumb brushing over my lower lip. “Hopefully when I’m done with you, you’ll be Mrs. Holloway,” he whispers.

Heat blossoms across my cheeks. I’m stunned speechless, and then Knox exhales sharply as he smiles, truly smiles, his heart written stark across his face. It’s the most radiant smile I’ve ever seen, one that pulls the corner of my own lips upwards, greeting his adorable dimples.

Pure happiness dances across every inch of him as he forces himself to take a step back and lift his sword. “Careful, Angel, I’ve never lost a fight I wanted to win.”

“You want to win every sparring match.”

His eyes shine. “Exactly.”

“You’re on, Holloway.”

My words are only half-hearted though. Why would I try to fight for a measly one time with him when I can fight for eternity?

Knox will always be mine and I will always be his.

We are two souls that are intertwined, our fates etched in the stars so thoroughly nothing but death could tear us apart. It’s why I’m so afraid of it, why I fear what it will do to us.

Marriage has never been something on my mind. Purely because I had never met anyone with true love in their heart for another. Not like the love that I have for him.

Maybe it’s preposterous to marry someone you haven’t proclaimed your love to.

But that’s the beauty of us.

Knox, this beautiful, kind, and gentle soul of a man, knows me so thoroughly that he dances around our proclamations because he knows the fear that lies within my heart.

But that’s the thing about true soul pairs.

It doesn’t join two souls. It reunites a love that has existed for eternity within the stars. You don’t have to say I love you to each other because it is so painfully present in every interaction that you’d only be pointing out the obvious.

I don’t have to whisper those words—not yet—because Knox is the only person on this planet who truly knows me. He knows every intricate detail there is to me. He could draw every wrinkle, scar, and freckle on my body blindfolded. He could name all my greatest fears, those on the surface and those buried so deep I don’t even know they exist.

We are not just lovers; we aren’t even just mates.

We are each other’s best friend.

And that is how I know he knows something is wrong.

He might not have seen the vision I received above the clouds—the vision that I’ve been sworn to secrecy to, even against my mate—but he wants me to know just how deeply he cares for me.

Because something must tell him we may not make it out alive tomorrow.

“Ready, Angel?”

Putting it all to the wayside, I grin. “Of course. Are we fighting dirty?”

A cunning smirk dances across his lips. “I have too much to lose not to.”

And then he moves.

I see it coming from a mile away. Knox spins on his heel and throws a dagger, bolstered by his air magic. Lifting my sword, I swipe the dagger to the side in the nick of time and lunge with my right foot, not at all surprised when Knox dodges my attack.

This is the problem with fighting a mate.

You know how they operate, how they think, and how they move.

Knox circles me, flipping the daggers in his hands and smirking coyly. Then he’s gone, teleporting, and before he can get the upper hand on me, I spin, my blade meeting his own. My steel meets his hit for hit as we both grunt and groan at the weight of our power.

On the next strike I kick out and hook my foot behind his knee and pull. I detangle myself a second before he stumbles and get behind him, but I gasp, shocked, as his hand latches onto my wrist and pulls me up and over the top of his shoulder.

He breaks my fall with a pocket of air before the wind gets knocked from me.

Golden tendrils fly for his arms and I pull, sending him spiraling across the top deck. I rise again and meet his sword as he teleports in front of my face.

“Clever little thing, aren’t you?”

A smirk dances across my lips as I lunge again, going for his open side, only for my hand to be slapped away by his own. My blade hitting the deck wipes the smile off my face.

I lunge for it. But that is exactly what he wanted me to do.

A knee grinds into my lower back and with a grunt, I go sprawling on my stomach until Knox’s large, tan hands wrap around my waist and spin me onto my back.

He’s on top of me in an instant.

Knox’s sword falls to my heaving chest, directly over where my heart beats furiously for him. In one fluid motion, he drops the sword and moves into my space, cupping my face with his palms.

“You were never going to let me win, were you?”

“Never,” he growls, seconds before smashing his lips to mine.