Page 60 of Knowing Trust

Shael sighed and nodded, giving me an apologetic look. “It doesn’t happen often but—”

“I know,” I rasped. “I know. People have given me a lot of shit about not immediately turning to my demigod father for everything, but he—the pain he’s in constantly and—I feel it. I feel the—he’s fading. His siblings are all gone and my mother was the only anchor here.”

“You are his anchor here, Tamsin,” Iolas argued.

“I would be if his mate’s death didn’t pull him to go,” I countered. “She’s gone, Iolas. Nothing can save her. She might be frozen in that last instance of death, but she’s dead. You all felt it and his soul is… She’s gone. The moment I finish it—I cannot hold him here. He’s ready when I’m safe.” I realized this was the moment to bring up something I’d been wanting to.

“You want to break tradition,” Onas surmised, nodding when I couldn’t hide my shock. He gestured between Stefanie and himself. “We’ve long since figured it out and we’re with you. Many of the commanders and nobles are. The rest will get over their shit and do it for you.”

“Really?” I breathed, shocked down to my soul.

“Wait, I’m missing something,” Neldor hedged.

“The princess wants to release her mother after she has her coronation,” Onas said for me. “It’s normally after the current queen is buried and all of the grieving traditions are finished.”

“I understand the tradition. I do,” I rasped, quickly wiping my eyes. “I get it even and wanting a clean slate with the new queen instead of worrying about immediately swearing in who is next or—”

“But you want your dad to be there,” he whispered, tears running down his cheeks.

“But I want my dad to be there,” I choked out. “I need him to help me do it before he leaves me.”

They all agreed and promised to handle it, saying they didn’t think it would actually be as big of a deal anymore. That shocked me, but Morgan said I was so ridiculously popular and combining the realms was a miracle that it was such a small ask before I lost my father—fairies weren’t so heartless. They really weren’t.

Good.

We finished the meeting and then I found myself teleporting to Darby. He wouldn’t ask questions and would just leave things alone when I was raw.

Sure enough, he set down the book he was studying from and stood, eyeing me closely before hugging me.

“All I need to know is if everything is okay,” he said after several minutes. “I’m worried something is wrong with Freya and you don’t know how to tell me.”

“She’s fine,” I promised. “Nothing even bad happened. Just topics that made me raw. Too much. I’m just… Fried.”

“I’m sorry, agra.” He lifted me up and sat down on his bed with me on his lap. He kissed my shoulder and hugged me tightly, careful of my wings.

Then he kissed under my ear and my shoulder again.

I was confused and snuggled against his shoulder, but he kept going. I wasn’t against it, but it felt more than comfort.

And then he was hard under me.

I blinked as I stared at his lips kissing my skin from what I could see.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, probably sensing my confusion. “Sorry, agra. I know you didn’t come here for this, but you are just so perfect, and—I can stop.”

“No, it feels nice,” I admitted. “I’m just kind of all over. I wouldn’t be…”

“All here?” he checked, waiting until I made a noise to confirm. He turned a bit and brushed his lips over mine. “I’m okay with that.” He smiled when I couldn’t hide my shock. “Not for always, Tams. For tonight. Let me distract you and fill you with something nice instead of overwhelmed.” He hurried on when I frowned. “If you want. Otherwise, we can just cuddle.”

I thought about it for a minute and huffed. “Well, you can’t take back the offer of sex, you stupid vampire. Yeah, I want nice and—I just—my head’s not in the game. I don’t want to be selfish and—”

“It’s not selfish if I offer,” he whispered, giving me another soft kiss. “Spoil me after. I have a craving. Let me pick second or third dinner.”

I chuckled. “Your services can be bought with delivery?”

He smirked at me. “My services come for free when it’s you, my mate. The whole menu is always available for you, even a secret menu when you’re overwhelmed and need something extra special.”

“I want extra special,” I mumbled, sounding something between whiney and confused almost. I was just so damn overloaded that what he offered sounded so, so much better but… I was too tired to try and get there.

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