Page 90 of Night Meets the Elf Queen (The Elf Queen #4)

VALEEN

I n the privacy of her rooms, Hel pressed a crystal on a golden chain into her hand. Standing close enough she felt the warmth of him, his beautiful blue-green eyes flicked back and forth between hers. His energy was electric, it waved off of him making her body tingle.

This was a triumphant male who had lived up to his promise, who’d gone through more than any sane person would to make certain his love wouldn’t die yet again. “For you, love, as I promised. All you have to do is twist off the lid and you are a full goddess again.”

The crystal pulsed with a silver luminescence. “Thank you, Zaurahel. You’re an amazing person. Have I ever told you that?” she smiled, although this moment felt surreal. It had been so long since she died the first time, and all that happened in between.

He chuckled and rubbed his chin. “Am I?”

“No one would have gone through the lengths to make this happen but you. Not only this fight against the council but going through everything, dealing with me hating you and wanting you dead while I didn’t understand, watching and fighting through while I was with…

Thane. Helping me remember you,” she smiled, “making me fall in love with you again.”

“It’s partly madness,” he smiled and licked his lower lip, “but there was no other choice for me. You are everything. Without you my life is only madness.”

She smiled and kissed him softly. “I love your madness.” She clutched the immortality to her chest and just let the power pulsing inside fill her with gratitude for a moment. “Did you give Thane his?”

Hel tore his gaze away and he quietly walked to the window to peer out. “I couldn’t get his.”

Every muscle in her body froze and a cold chill ran through her. “But you have it?”

With his arms crossed, he leaned against the window’s ledge. “No. It was destroyed.”

“You’re certain of this?”

“No, but Pricilla said I destroyed it when I killed her heir.”

“Is it possible to give him mine?”

He stalked across the room and pushed his finger under her chin. That madness he spoke of swirled at the edges of his eyes. His presence was all-consuming. “I didn’t do all that I have done for you so you could give away the gift I fought so hard for. I will never watch you die again.”

“But…” Thane had sacrificed so much.

“You will take the top off and you will become fully immortal. It’s part of you, it belongs to no one else. The council may have been able to use magic to hold it inside others, but it’s yours. You know Thane would never accept it.”

No, he wouldn’t. Her hand shook as she brought it up to twist off the top. Two thousand years she’d waited to be reunited with her immortal strength. Ordinary weapons wouldn’t pierce her flesh, time would not age her, sickness would never haunt her. She would be faster and stronger than before.

One final turn and she lifted it off. Inside waited a swirling glittering essence.

The memory of it being ripped from her with the combined magic of the council was vivid.

The moment she was pushed to a cold stone block and turned her head at the last moment to look at Hel…

not Thane. A tear rolled down his beautiful cheek.

It was the first time she’d seen him cry.

His last words to her in her mind were— You are my mate and my wife.

I will always love you. You don’t need to be afraid.

I will find you. One day we’ll be together again, I promise.

Tears filled her eyes even now. He kept that promise too.

It didn’t matter that they had fought against each other. It didn’t matter that he thought she’d left him. Those last moments made their true feelings come out. Tragedy did that. I never stopped loving you, Zaurahel. She’d whispered back just before the axe came down.

“What is it like when it becomes a part of you again?”

He grinned. “Not quite as good as making love to you but close.”

“This should be interesting then.” Hello, she thought.

As if a bit shy, it slowly curled out and hovered before her.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” The glimmering silver was like misty water suspended in air.

It twirled as if it was dancing for her, then almost like a serpent, it struck her chest. She nearly stumbled with the burst of power that rippled through her.

It was like the day of her creation, when she’d awoken in the darkness and light flooded in.

Holding her hands out before her she inspected the new glow to her golden skin. She touched her ears, they were pointed at the tips, not rounded as they’d once been. So, she would always be an elf. That made her smile.

Hel grabbed her waist and lifted her in the air, spinning them in a circle.

Then he pulled her against him and held her like if he didn’t, she might disappear.

“It worked. It really worked. We did it.” He started laughing, genuine laughter full of joy.

“You’re safe now. We’ll never be separated again. ”

All that was left to do was wait for the battle. The warning bells would chime at the first sign of invasion. The army of elves and dragons were ready for the inevitable.

It was too quiet. The soldiers who usually patrolled the castle grounds were at the front. The maids and staff had gone home. Where there was usually chatter and music, there was only the wind and the sound of the waterfall crashing into the ravine.

With all of her friends present near the horse pasture, Valeen sat in the seat of her new white chariot. It looked almost identical to the one she’d had before. A wedding gift from Presco.

Starborn and Night were hooked to it. They happily swished their tails and grazed on the grass. If they knew battle was coming, they didn’t care. They’d seen it all, and did not experience fear anymore.

With a civar between his lips, Hel leaned against the railing of the chariot. With a quick flick of his fingers, the smoke rolled into a heart, and he blew it at her.

She sent a letter to Aunt Evalyn and told her to hide with her wait staff in the hidden compartment beneath the floors of Nerium Oleander and not to come out until the battle was over. Part of her wanted to go there now and tell her to go back to Briar Hollow instead.

Not even a smile? Hel said.

His little heart trick was an attempt to get her mind off what was coming.

Using his finger, he started writing something with the smoke. When he finished, he flipped the message around to her. Show me your boobs , it read.

She rolled her eyes and laughed. He waved his hand through the message, and it dissipated.

“That’s better. The wall will hold, and the city will be safe because of you.

We’ll cut off Pricilla’s head and Eliza’s too.

I’ll kill the god of the grapes just because he annoys me while the rest of the council and their armies will fold and run. ”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“Because I believe we will win.”

“Who’s the god of the grapes?”

“Alehelm.”

“I don’t remember him.”

“He’s not worth remembering.” He took her hand and flipped her palm face up, the tip of his finger sliding across the lines.

“What about Synick? He’s still running around only All Mother knows where.”

“I’ll gut him too.” He shrugged and blew out a cloud of smoke. “I should have done it the moment he appeared.”

“I want to be the one to kill him. And we should be looking for him.” After all the disgusting, vile, putrid things he’d said and done, she wanted to be the one to end him again.

“By all means. Make it hurt. And he’ll show up when the council does. There’s no need to waste our efforts looking.” He pressed his finger to a spot on her palm. “Two great loves. Three, maybe four lives, but one of them was fractured. Remember when I first told you that?”

“Yes.”

“I couldn’t figure out what the fractured line was that came back together. It’s now, when your life as Layala joined with the first. You won’t die again.” He kissed her palm, and let it go.

“I thought you didn’t believe in palm reading?”

He chuckled. “I didn’t then.”

She took hold of his hand and gently caressed the lines. Palm reading wasn’t a skill she’d ever learned. “What do yours tell then?”

Curling his fingers, he smiled. “Mine tells me I have one love.” He leaned forward and kissed her.

“And your life line?”

“Isn’t clear. Not everyone’s is.”

The unknowing scared her. She bounced her leg nervously and got to her feet.

She was too anxious to stay sitting. In the back of her mind, she couldn’t shake the bad feeling that the council would break through somehow.

If that happened, what of all the people here?

Where would they go? Not to Calladira, the woodland elves wouldn’t accept them.

And the humans were afraid of elves; they wouldn’t be welcomed there either.

They’d be homeless, left to wander the wilderness, maybe north with the dragons.

Although elves and dragons were such starkly different cultures, they could never coexist peacefully for long.

And her friends, where could they retreat to?

And Tif and her gnome colony? The little gnome in her red hat sat on the bottom rung of the wood fence that surrounded the horse pasture.

Humming merrily, she kicked her feet while plucking yellow flower petals from a dandelion.

Katana sat in the grass beside her, showing Tif how to weave flowers into necklaces.

It was good to see her happy. She never smiled more brightly than she did with Thane. They were special people separately, but together, it was magical. He was the match to her bright sun. She didn’t worry so much about Katana. Thane would protect her and take her far from here if he needed to.

Piper rocked side to side, keeping her gaze fixed on the skies. Ronan and Dax were up there somewhere. Fennan and Leif argued about where Princess Talon should be. At the moment, she was tucked away in her room.