Page 259 of Never Kiss a Fae

I nodded. “Good. Claire and I wish to wed. Isn’t that the human term?”

She laughed. “It is, but I want to know what happened up there first. I’ve never felt emotions like that from you. You were… angry. Like someone had betrayed you.”

“I was,” I admitted, allowing my element to unravel and sweep around us. The distant melody of the Festivus celebration was a pleasant contrast to my father’s thunder.

I took Claire’s hand and wrapped it around the ring that hung about my neck. She’d created it after our Christmas celebration, stating she wanted me, Titus, and Sol to have one as a symbol of her commitment to us all. It served as her promise to mate each of us.

“My father threatened to take you away from me. To say he disapproves would be an understatement, but the thing is, I don’t approve of him. I don’t approve of anything he or my mother have done to try to regain power. They’re exactly what’s wrong with our family name.” I glanced at my grandfather. “No offense.”

“None taken,” he replied. “You’re right. They’ve not learned a damn thing from my mistakes, but I can see that you have.”

“Power is not something you acquire; it’s something you cherish, regardless of how much or how little you possess,” I said softly, thinking of Claire and her abundance of elements. “But this isn’t about status or ascending. This is about love. This is about devoting my future to my mate, no matter the consequences.” I palmed her cheek. “This is about me binding myself to you in an impenetrable connection.”

Because I had no doubt that if I returned to the Academy and resumed my life with my bond-circle without having stronger ties in place, my father would find a way to tear Claire and me apart, third-level bond or not.

Claire blinked up at me with both concern and wonder in her gaze. “I don’t want to force you into anything. If your family is pressuring you, perhaps I could go talk to them and—”

“No, Claire.” I fisted her hair, forcing her to hold my gaze. “You are my family; do you understand? I won’t deny what you mean to me any longer. Nor will I deny the power thriving inside me.”

Her eyes went wide, and then a smile broke out on her face. “Are you serious?”

I captured her mouth with mine, and she bent to me, opening for me and intertwining her elemental gifts with my own until my skin tingled with her never-ending power.

My grandfather cleared his throat. “Now, now. Can’t have you two mate-bonding right here on the spire’s doorstep.”

“Where, then?” Claire asked, breathless from my kiss.

I grinned. “I know just the place.”

Chapter17

Cyrus

“She’s happy,” I murmured, tapping my spritemead against Exos’s mug.

“You mean distracted,” my brother clarified.

“Mmm,” I agreed, sipping the seductive liquid and sighing. “Mating Vox is a good play. It’ll only strengthen her to have more of that royal blood in her.”

Exos nodded. “Sol should be next.”

I eyed the drunk Earth Fae, who sat several yards away with a laughing Titus at his side. “Either will do,” I said, considering their elemental affinities. “But yes, having a stronger tie to Sol’s bloodline would benefit her.”

And given what we both felt was coming, enhancing Claire’s abilities was more than needed.

“What did your dad say about Elana?” my brother asked softly, keeping his voice low and pitched for my ears alone.

We hadn’t been able to chat much today with all the festivities, and it’d been our top priority to keep Claire happy. She hadn’t slept well in my absence. Yet Ophelia never appeared. It was almost as if she kept trying to manifest but couldn’t.

“My father did not have kind things to say about Elana.” Which was an understatement. He pretty much cringed the second I brought up her name and didn’t stop huffing until we were done talking about her. “I guess it’s rumored that her mother had an affair, but no one knows with whom. But she didn’t look anything like her father. Some claimed Elana’s single spirit ability was a consequence of her mother’s infidelity. From what I gathered, our brethren were not kind to Elana.”

“Which could explain why she chose the path she did. She wants unity among the fae to bring us together and remove negativity and competition from our world.”

“Or, she’s full of shit and up to something,” I countered. “Which is what my father claims. He says he’s never trusted her, that he’s sensed her growing affinity for water for over a decade, and he feels strongly that she’s hiding something.”

“Sounds like you,” Exos drawled.

“He is my father, after all.” Something I’d denied most of my life, choosing to ally myself with the Spirit Kingdom first and foremost. I half expected my father to hold that against me, but he said he respected the loyalty because he knew the Spirit Fae needed my guidance more.