Page 25 of Steeling Light (Shadowed Debts #3)

The Lesser Houses are far stranger than the Great Houses, and it is only now, as the world burns, that I’ve realized just how undervalued they truly are. And now they have become the enemy.

~Cole Cyrus, The Future of Magic and Dragons

Ainslee

I wake up in my bed at the inn, tangled up in the sheets.

My feet are trapped, and I’m panicking. That dream had been so vivid.

I was bound in webs so tight I couldn’t move an inch.

An enormous spider walked toward me, as large as a cottage, and he spoke to me.

Softly, in that chittering voice of the silkies, he told me something that didn’t make any sense.

Steel devours, Daughter of the Bright. It devours life and magic and cheer, but it is forever changed because of it. There will come a time when the Steel is tested, and it must shine as brightly as you. Change the Steel, young one, because no one else can.

Then he was gone, and I was trapped, struggling against the silk. Now I understand what that was about, at least. I slip my arms from the rough sheets and push them from my legs. The sense of relief when I don’t feel so confined is surprising. I’ve never had a dream like that before.

Then I feel something on my cheek, and I go to brush it away. My finger comes away wet. Why would my cheek be wet? Then I feel it on the other side, too, and I realize what it was. Tears.

Why was I crying? From a dream?

I stand up, needing to get away from the bed. I don’t know what happened while I was sleeping, but that dream shook me to the very core. Even the events of last night are secondary thoughts as I stare at the place I was lying.

I see it then. A single strand of spider silk hangs from the ceiling above where I was sleeping. What in the world? I know instantly that this has to do with the silkies or weavers. Somehow, they got into my dreams. They…

I let out a snarl and kick the bed. It flies across the room and hits the wall with an explosion of feathers and wood chips. Anger flows through me like a fire in a forge, each breath turning it ever hotter.

Then the door shatters, taking the doorframe with it as something barrels through it. No, not something. Someone. Rhion, to be exact. I whirl on him, my hands reaching for the daggers normally sheathed at my waist, and I realize that I’m still in my nightgown.

“What in Sidon’s name just happened?” he shouts, a black steel sword in his hands already.

He heard the explosion and thought I was being attacked. I don’t talk. I just point at the thin piece of silk dangling from the ceiling. He walks over cautiously as though he’s expecting an enemy to appear at any moment. When he finally sees the strand of silk, he frowns.

“You’re afraid of spiders?” he asks, his brow arching.

I shake my head and grit my teeth. “No, this was no normal spider. It was a silky, and it got into my dreams.”

He blinks. “What is a… silky ?”

“They’re the Guardians of the House of Webs. Like the dwarves.”

“Oh, the silk spinners? Why do you call them silkies? Never mind. That doesn’t matter. Why do you think one was in your dreams?”

I point at the silk again. “I dreamed of a giant spider and woke up with this piece of silk attached to me. I’ve never had a dream so lifelike before, and the silkies are very interested in me. It’s the only thing that makes any sense.”

Rhion’s jaw tightens as he stares at a single strand of spider silk silently. He’s a warrior capable of destroying armies, and yet, that tiny strand has him frozen in place. “So, what are you going to do about it?” he finally asks, his sword still firmly grasped in two hands.

“I’m going to another inn at the very least. I don’t know. They’re not trying to hurt me, but I am not letting them just crawl through my dreams.” Then I stop and look at Rhion. “Wait, why are you here? You had to have been right outside my door to get here that fast.”

He finally turns away from the strand of silk to look at me. “I needed to talk to you. My generals sent me a message early this morning. I need to go back to Draenyth for a while, and I have to leave immediately. I guess our reunion will have to be cut short.”

My heart sinks at his words. All thoughts of my dreams or the silkies disappear, and instead, all I can think is that I don’t want our time together to end. After last night…

“Is it because we kissed? Because if…” I feel frantic. We were supposed to have an entire month together.

He shakes his head. “Ainslee, I’ve waited a lifetime to kiss you, and there’s only one thing in the world that I want more than to kiss you again. Every day forever.”

I put my hands on my hips and raise my eyebrow. “What do you want to do more than kiss me?” I ask.

“Keep you safe.” I stare into those gray pools, and I accept that answer.

“I need to go back to Draenyth, or my father will begin hunting for me. My generals have… found something , and I need to be there to deal with it. Even my search for a relic is less important than dealing with this, and I can’t risk him deciding to come and collect me. ”

I swallow hard at what Gethin Rahn would do to Selithar if he found Rhion disobeying him.

For any person other than Rhion, disobeying an order from him would be a death sentence, but he can’t kill Rhion without losing a valuable tool.

He’d obviously take it out on everyone else who might be important to him.

Like me or the rest of the city of Selithar.

“Will you come back?” I’ve never felt this much angst thinking of leaving someone. Even when I left Darian in Stormhaven, I’d been scared to be apart, and there was definitely sadness. This though… It feels like my heart is ripping apart.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can, Ainslee. Last night, I told you that you were my heart, and that was the truth. I’ll never turn down the opportunity to see or spend time with you.”

I do the one thing that will make sure he understands where I stand. I take a step toward him and press my body against his. He leans down just as he did last night, slightly unsure of himself.

I know what I want, though. Rhion is handsome. He is kind to me like no one else in the world has been. He’d do anything to protect me. And I want him in ways I don’t think I’ve ever wanted another man.

I want him for more than what he could give me. More than the pleasure of a kiss or the warmth of his body pressed against mine. I don’t care about his position in the world or his skill with a sword. He’s Rhion, and that’s all that matters to me.

I let all the passion I’ve ever had flow through my lips to his, my hands digging into his back.

I can feel the control over my emotions slipping.

My nails grow sharper as pride wells up inside me.

I’ve never felt proud of a kiss, but this is something different.

This is more than a kiss. It’s… the breaking of chains that have separated us.

It’s giving in to something so few Immortals find in life.

My heart feels fuller because his lips are on mine.

Every bit of desire that he’s held back for nine hundred years flows through him. He is a man who’s never been with a woman, a man who’s only ever wanted me.

My nails dig into his shoulder hard enough that his tunic gives way, and my nails cut through the thick fabric, layer by layer until they find skin. He doesn’t cry out in pain. Instead, it’s a soft moan before he sucks in a deep breath. His hand goes to my hip, and he pulls me to him.

I can feel exactly how desperate he is for me under those trousers.

His body thrums with power, but he controls himself while I can’t.

The possibilities flow through me, a ripple of power just under the skin, and as he pulls away to catch his breath, I wish I could be tall enough to continue kissing him.

My legs extend, growing until I’m staring into those gray eyes, and my hands run through his shoulder-length blonde hair.

I ball my fists in it. He doesn’t react until I kiss him, until I show him I want him just as much as he wants me.

Rhion’s hand moves from my hip to my ribs, and his thumb presses against my breast.

Light streams from my body. None of the control I’ve learned seems to matter when I kiss Rhion.

I can’t remember why I should control myself with him.

I pull away from the kiss only long enough to move to his throat.

My hand leaves his hair and grabs the front of his tunic.

The claw at the tip of my finger cuts through the fabric in a straight line down his chest. I can feel his heart racing under his muscles.

It's soothing to me, and I can’t help but press my cheek against his shoulder, my lips finally leaving his skin.

“I’ll miss you,” I whisper, and my light dims. “I’ll miss you more than I ever thought I could miss someone.”

Rhion’s hand moves from my rib to the center of my back, and he softly kneads the muscles that I’ve built to fly with.

“I promise that I’ll miss you even more,” he whispers back. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

I pull away from him, and I press my hand to his cheek.

“You be safe, Rhion Rahn. I’ve spent nine hundred years trying to ignore the way I felt about you when we were young.

I can’t do that anymore. I can’t hide from the way you make me feel any longer, and if you were to die, I don’t know what I’d do. ”

He grins at me. “Don’t worry, Ainslee. I’ve spent the last nine hundred years without a single dream as wonderful as this very moment. I doubt anyone could keep me from coming back to have more.”

Neither of us says the obvious objection to that statement. His father could keep him from doing anything.

Then a voice comes from the shattered doorway. “Umm…”

We both turn to see the innkeeper standing in a pair of linen trousers and tunic, something that no one would wear anywhere in Draenyth, in the shattered doorway as he looks at the room with shock.

Rhion chuckles and pulls a small pouch from his belt before tossing it to the innkeeper. “Sorry about the door. I heard yelling. That should cover the repairs.”

Then he promptly ignores the innkeeper as he turns back to me. “It seems that every time I kiss you, someone interrupts us. I’m kind of new to this whole kissing thing, but it seems like an unusual coincidence.”

I grin at him. “It is. Then again, most people who kiss don’t shine like a beacon in the dark.”

He nods and gets a suspicious look on his face. “What about the other men you’ve kissed? Were you constantly interrupted when you kissed them?”

“I’ve never shone like that before,” I say without thinking about what it means. The smile on Rhion’s face precedes the scent of forged steel and wildflowers by a half second.

“I guess I’m just a natural kisser then.” The smirk on his face only makes me smile, and then he takes a step back. “Until I see you again, Ainslee. Thank you for making the last week the most memorable and wonderful week I’ve ever had. You be safe, too.”

Then he walks away, past the still-concerned innkeeper and down the hallway. “Are you okay, Miss?” the man asks. “He wasn’t trying to hurt you, was he?”

I shake my head and pack up my things. “No, he’s not that kind of man.”