Page 92 of Taken By the Fae King

Unable to hold back any longer, I ask the question that burns in the back of my throat. “Do you think you can love me again?”

Her eyes lift to mine, tears gathering at the edges. “I never stopped.”

Hope flares brightly in my chest.

“I understand now what my mother must have felt for my father.” Another tear slips down her cheek. “She loved him but, he had hurt her and… she did not know how to let him back into her heart.”

Despair floods my veins like ice.

She leans forward and takes my hand. “But I would like to try.”

I turn my palm up to hers and squeeze gently. “So would I.”

CHAPTER49

GRAYCE

It has been a week since I found out the truth. Kyven and I still share his chambers, but he sleeps on the couch, insisting that I have the bed. Greywind has taken full advantage of the situation by sneaking onto what had been Kyven’s side of the bed every night, while I am asleep.

He knows he is supposed to sleep on the floor, but he is smart enough to know that I am in no mood to press the issue.

This morning, I caught Kyven eyeing him with pursed lips, as he lay on his back, completely stretched out with his head on Kyven’s pillow, like a giant cat with wings.

After this, I doubt Greywind will ever wish to return to the rookery. Not when he can sleep in the castle in a comfy bed with silk sheets and warm furs.

“Again,” Emryll calls out to me.

Drawing in a deep breath, I force myself to concentrate as I focus my powers on the target ahead. An arc of green light shoots out from my hands, straight to the ground. Thick vines explode from the surface, wrapping tight around the scarecrow dummy and caging it in.

“Good!” Emryll yells. “Your powers are getting stronger.”

I smile at her praise and then laugh when I turn to find Greywind on his back and Emryll giving him belly scratches before she gives him another treat.

“If you keep feeding him like that, he will grow too wide to fit through the balcony window,” Kyven’s voice calls out from the side as he lands nearby. He turns to me, and my heart melts as he flashes a handsome smile. Despite what happened between us, I still love him. I just… am taking things slowly, trying to protect my heart. But when he grins at me like that, it makes me want to rush into his arms as if everything were back to the way that it was before.

He walks over to Emryll and Greywind, and the traitorous nylluan gives him an affectionate head bump, begging for pets.

Kyven scratches up under Greywind’s chin and he begins his low trilling coo that he does when he’s happy.

Emryll looks between the two of us. “I forgot that I have to be somewhere.”

A faint smile twitches my lips because I know what she is trying to do.

“Perhaps Kyven can stay and help with your practice?”

Kyven’s gaze sweeps to me, and he smiles. “I can… if you’d like.”

“I would.”

He sets up several targets and then we begin. Kyven offers himself as a moving target, telling me to try to catch him as I did the griffins. A few weeks ago, I would have been worried about accidentally hurting him, but now I have much better control of my powers.

Magic gathers in my palms and the tips of my fingers before shooting toward him in a wide arc of green light. A burst of vines erupts from the ground, tangling his legs and his feet, but he manages to counter them with his own power, challenging me to think of new ways to catch him off balance.

After a few hours, I feel completely drained. I’m so tired, I’m exhausted. This always happens when I have a long practice session. Emryll thinks it’s because I’m human and my powers are new. She says I’ll build up my strength the more I use them. But right now, I’m so tired I can barely walk.

“I think I’m done for the day,” I tell Kyven. I start back toward Greywind, so he can fly me back to the balcony of our room, but I stumble.

Strong arms wrap around my middle, stopping me before I can fall as Kyven pulls me back into his chest. For a moment, I bask in the solid warmth of him against me before I remember that things are different between us now, and I start to pull away.

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