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twenty-four

A fter we’d both freshened up, Galen came to my room, sun-kissed from our day at the beach.

He dazzled in a suit that matched the color of his eyes, while I wore a champagne gown that hugged my curves, spilling around my feet like liquid gold.

If he was the sun, then I was a garden that bloomed beneath his glow. Together , we were a force of nature.

Galen immediately closed the space between us, kissing my collar bone as he slipped off the thin strap holding my dress up. “I’m not going to make it through dinner,” he purred, running his hands down the exposed skin of my back.

I stepped back so I could give him my best attempt at bedroom eyes. My voice shook slightly as I asked, “Will you make love to me tonight?”

After spending such a perfect day with him, I’d decided I was ready. I wanted him to be my first, even if our two worlds ultimately tore us apart.

“Are you sure?” he asked, delicately kissing me where he’d bitten me yesterday, making me forget how to speak.

I wobbled, grabbing onto him to steady myself.

“Come sit down.” He led me to the bed. “No expectations. I’ll spend the night and we’ll just see where the evening leads.

” His words sent a warm caress down my spine.

“I like the sound of that.” I smiled, leaning my head on his shoulder, before releasing a heavy sigh and scowling. “So… dinner is going to be interesting. Any chance your mother will let me keep my head?”

Galen chuckled, cupping my cheeks as he kissed my nose. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t touch a single hair.”

I smiled weakly. “Will you be alright if Rafael is there? After yesterday… ”

A low sound rumbled from his throat—the guttural growl of a lion. “I doubt he’ll show his face so soon, but if he does, I’ll do my best to play nice. I’ve had my fill of entertaining the guests with my family drama.”

“Will Arnold be there?”

“Arnold is in time-out for the foreseeable future, if I have any say,” he said with a flash of temper.

“And Isla?” I couldn’t look him in the eyes.

“I’ll talk to her. But tonight, she doesn’t know about us.

And it’s important I keep up impressions—for now.

I made a mistake the other week, announcing I’d dance with you at the festival.

I was just so sick of being told what to do, who to love.

..” He gazed into my eyes and I broke the contact.

I wasn’t ready for words of love. “They’ll lose their minds if I fight them on this.

I don’t want the Elders to punish you for my actions.

” He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him.

“Do you trust that she means nothing to me?”

I nodded, feeling deflated after being so high in the clouds moments ago. “You’re okay… lying to her?”

“I don’t want to lie to her, but it’s preferable to Arnold’s wrath. Once you can access your gift, you’ll be untouchable. We just have to wait until then.” I knew what he said was meant to comfort me, but instead it reminded me of all the reasons we’d avoided getting involved in the first place.

I’d been trying to ignore the fact that Galen and I currently had drastically different opinions when it came to opening a portal.

He expected me to create a permanent doorway between the worlds, while I planned to leave him and take his brothers, along with the humans that supplied his world with magic.

Eventually, the plan would include him. It had to . Otherwise, we’d be on opposite sides of a war. The mere thought of it made me nauseous. It wasn’t his fault he’d been left in the dark. Soon, when the time was right, I’d tell him the truth. Until then, guilt would burn a hole through my gut.

I cleared my throat. “Speaking of my gift … there is something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about. I want to visit the Oracle in the mountains. I believe she might be the missing piece to the puzzle.”

Galen rubbed his temples and gave an exasperated sigh. “ The Oracle ? Marigold, she’s mad. She might claim your first born for all we know. It’s not worth the risk. We can keep researching. Maybe the Elders know something. They did cross over from Erador, after all.”

Claws that I didn’t know I had, dug in. “Your people are desperate, Galen. I’ve heard stories of farmers that aren’t able to feed their village, mothers that aren’t able to carry their children to term.

Every minute wasted is more blood on our hands.

” The words tasted like ash in my mouth, knowing that I couldn’t help most of them until we broke the curse.

“You don’t think I know that? I spend most of my waking hours dedicated to serving them, however I can, at any cost.”

I’d offended him. It would’ve been wise to back down, but instead all of my pent-up rage began spilling out.

“And what of the humans being kidnapped? How are you serving them? And where exactly does the royal family get their blood? Since humans aren’t even allowed in your home.

” As the words tumbled out of me, it became clear to both of us that I’d been saving the hard-hitting questions for a rainy day.

It was a cloudless evening, but the storm had arrived.

He straightened his back and gave me a hard stare.

“Most of the royal supply that we drink day-to-day is stored in cellars beneath the castle. We trade with humans all over the continent in exchange for blood. It’s like any other kind of trade, just much more valuable than food, wine, or spices.

It’s magic— humans have our magic. The majority of them live comfortable lives selling something to us that once was ours.

Do you think we keep them in the dungeons and drain them at our leisure?

That I have something to do with the humans being kidnapped?

Do you think so little of me?” Flames flickered behind narrowed eyes.

I backed away from him as my magic surged in response, even as I stamped it down. He was not my enemy. What was I doing ?

I let out a deep breath and gentled my tone. “If that’s true, then why isn’t the royal family also experiencing a shortage?”

His eyes softened when he heard my shaking voice and noticed my frost-covered hands. “Do you think my mother would ever allow the Kingdom to become vulnerable? Magic is everything to Fae, and power is everything to her. Naturally, she’s hoarded enough blood to never worry about running out.”

I nodded, not meeting his eyes. “What would you say if I told you the Elders were behind the kidnappings?” I whispered .

Galen went owl-eyed before all the blood drained from his face. He reached me in two strides and gripped me by the shoulders. “Don’t ever repeat those words. What you just suggested, it’s treason—towards my mother, towards the Elders, towards me.”

My mouth bobbed open and then closed. Heat traveled up my neck before burning into my cheeks. Tears began to gather in the corners of my eyes. I knew he was loyal to the Crown, but blindly loyal? When people like me were disappearing?

He wasn’t the man I thought he was. “I… I think you should go,” I choked out.

His hand caressed my face. “Look at me,” he said. I shook my head. “Look at me, damn it ,” he said more assertively. I flashed him a hard stare.

“There are things about the Elders that you don’t know.

They’re too strong to be challenged. Otherwise, I would’ve fought them long ago.

Rising up against them… against my mother—it would only lead to death.

And I’ve been dead for so long in here—” He put a fist over his heart, “—that I thought eventually I’d just go out in a blaze of fire when I couldn’t take it anymore.

But you… you’ve given me purpose. You’re my hope.

You get us to Erador and it throws a wrench in their plans, especially if we can break the curse. ”

I blinked in disbelief. He wasn’t mindlessly obedient—he wasn’t on their side. It’s exactly what I needed to hear. My heart felt like it had just doubled in size to accommodate the emotions bursting inside me, knocking over any remaining barriers between us. “What makes them so strong?” I asked.

“I… I can’t say. You’ll just have to trust me,” he said with a haunted expression. “Just please, don’t do anything stupid… or brave. Don’t make them your enemy.”

I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head over his heart. He and his brothers needed to talk. Lion-hearted Galen was scared of the Elders. What did Rafael and Louis not know? I had to get Meli out of this world. Quickly.

“We need to go to the Oracle. It’s our best chance of getting to Erador. Has anyone asked her outright how to break the curse?” My voice sounded muffled as I talked into his broad chest.

“Yes, but her knowledge is limited to the world she’s on.”

I chewed at my cheek, feeling disappointed .

He cleared his throat and said, “Long ago, when our people still lived in Erador, my Uncle Aides received a prophecy—a riddle, really—instructions on how to break the curse. It proved unfruitful, but we still have it written down somewhere — in my mother’s library, I believe. I can try to retrieve it.”

I looked up at him with astonishment. Why hadn’t he mentioned this earlier?

My question must've been written on my face, because he continued, “We’ve all been stuck here for so long that we’d lost hope of ever breaking the curse. We grew complacent, but you’re quickly changing everything. Not just for me, but for my people.”

And what about my people? No. I had to stop blaming him for things out of his control.

He was on my side. It wasn't his fault that their curse demanded human blood—that his mother and her council were sick in the head.

I let my frustration melt away and gave him a tight hug, clinging to the fabric of his shirt.

He leaned down, fisting my loose waves as he cradled my head, before kissing me with a ferocity that left me reeling.

I was breathless when he pulled away and murmured, “I’ll set up a meeting between you, the Elders, and my mother—even though I hate it, even though I don’t want them near you.

We’ll need their permission to seek out the Witch of the Woods. ”

I nodded my agreement and thanked him with a smile. “It’ll be alright. I have a fire wielder to protect me.”

His eyes flashed as he said, “Your fire wielder might catch fire if this dinner lasts too long. I hope you know that I’ll be having completely indecent thoughts the entire time.”

I gave him a playful grin, nipped at his earlobe, and whispered, “I suppose it would be cruel to mention that I’m not wearing any underwear…”

His eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets as I pushed him out the door before he could investigate the situation any further.