Page 53 of Flame and Starlight

“And what might that have been?” He kissed my hair, and I steeled my nerves.

“She may have mentioned something about you marking me? That these shadows of yours that seem to have latched on are a way of saying you intend to mate with me.” I held my breath and thanked the Gods I wasn’t facing him. His breathing slowed, and he stilled behind me. A knot grew and twisted in my stomach. The silence was deafening.

The carriage came to a stop in the middle of our silence. We were home. The anxiety crawled up my throat and forced my heart out of rhythm.

“If you thought this to be true,” he murmured, his breath warm against my ear, “why the fuck would you ever entertain the idea of leaving me in a ploy to save me.” And with that, he pulled away from me and threw the door open, not giving the driver time to do it for us. I felt the color drain from my face.

He turned around and looked back at me, his eyes on fire. “Mating is not human marriage. It is a soul bond, a blood bond. You are more naive than I thought if you think leaving and giving up would ever be the answer.” He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving me with my mouth open in shock.

“I could smell the two of you from a mile away,” came Emric’s deep voice, full of laughter. It filtered in through the open carriage door. I regained composure and quickly jumped out of the carriage, hoping to run and catch up with Asher. “Finally sealed the deal, eh?” He was clearly blind to Asher’s mood as he clapped him on the back.

“Say one more crude thing about her and I will rip your throat out.”

Emric threw his hands up and took several steps back. The smile didn’t falter, though. We both glanced at each other and then watched him storm his way inside.

“Trouble in paradise already, Wheezy?”

I smiled weakly. “I just want to get inside, Em.”

His violet eyes went soft as he smiled at me. “Come on, then.” He slung his arm across my shoulders, and we walked inside.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

I paced the library with Emric sitting on a chair, legs over the arm, carving out pieces of an apple. “You’ll wear a path in that rug.”

I sighed and plopped down heavily on a chair near the window. The sun was starting to set, letting

the stars swirl and mingle in the darkened sky. I could feel his stare on me.

“He’s fuming. I can feel it from here.”

“Just as I’m sure he can feel your rotten mood wherever he is.” He popped another piece of apple

into his mouth and smiled at my scowl. “Careful, your face might freeze like that.” “I was just trying to come up with a solution to our problem without there having to be a war.” “And why do you think there would be a war? You’ve got quite an inflated sense of self-worth

there, Wheezy.” I flipped him off, and he laughed, sitting the core of the apple down on the stand. “Look, Ash didn’t make this decision on his own. He spoke to all of his advisors, he spoke to me and I took it to my men, and he spoke to every single Fae that works in this place. Everyone knows what happened to him as a boy. They know what happened to his mother. No one wished that on you. And, shocking as it may be, everyone respects him as a leader and therefore respects his decisions.”

“But if I left and went to the Autumn Court on my own, it would save a lot of stress. And maybe lives.” I laid my head back and closed my eyes. “I’m trying not to be a damsel in distress. I am trying to fix my own problems.”

“This isn’t your problem, Alys. You didn’t ask for that bastard to go off and sleep with someone to produce you. This problem is literally a product of someone else making bad decisions and being an overall bad person.”

“I wish Asher hadn’t brought himself into it. He would be much happier with someone that didn’t need constant protecting.”

“You speaking for him isn’t fair. You make him happy. End of story.” I looked at him as he stood and tied his hair back. “Don’t go running away. It would destroy him. And I’m not sure he could come back from it.” He walked over and kissed me on the top of my head. He laid a hand on my shoulder, and I squeezed it with my own. “None of us want to see you leave.”

“Okay” was all I could say. I still wasn’t convinced.

“Anyway, now that you’re back, we can start training again. Let’s get that power of yours under control, yeah?”

“See you tomorrow morning, Em.”

He gave my shoulder a final squeeze and then left me alone with my thoughts.

I stared out the window until the sun had completely set and it was just the stars lighting the sky. It was almost a full moon. I wondered if he looked forward to escorting the souls into Summerland or if I had put him into such a foul mood he wouldn’t even be able to enjoy that. I groaned and laid my head back. I had half expected him to come find me at some point and try to make up. My stubbornness wanted it to be him that made that first move.

I could feel him out in the castle somewhere, skulking and moody. I wasn’t sure when it had happened, me being able to feel his emotions without touching him, but they rolled through my body like thunder. His shadows, thinner now than they had been, lay flat against my skin, like even they were mad at me.

“If I leave,” I said aloud to them, “it would make everyone’s lives here much simpler. Your master would get over my loss eventually. He’s basically immortal. There are plenty more opportunities out there.” I ran my finger down my arm, watching the shadows part. I looked out the window one last time, taking in the snowy mountain view, before standing and stretching. “Don’t reach for a savior. Reach for a knife.”

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