Page 32 of Deliverance

“Yes, just overwhelmed.” Pushing out of his arms with an awkward smile, I brush down my dress, aware of how much of a mess I am, especially when compared to his stunning appearance. Even covered in ash and soot, he still looks ridiculously handsome.

Blaise clears his throat loudly, and I startle, pressing my hand to my chest and looking away from the prince guiltily.

“If we are done flirting, we really need to get a move on,” he drawls, watching us with a smirk. I can tell from the way Alaric stiffens beside me that he also hears the note of pain in his friend’s voice.

Resting a hand on the small of my back, he ushers me forward. “He is right, we need to go. We shall be safe once we reach Seelie territory.”

Something about his voice has me questioning his final statement. If he says we will be safe, then I believe him, yet he sounds almost as though he is trying to convince himself of this fact. Just what is waiting for us in the Seelie Court?

Chapter Seventeen

Nyx

Iwas too late.

Deep in the fae realm, I was completing my grizzly task when I felt her fear. Everything in me screamed at me to get to her immediately, yet I held back. For a heartbeat, I stopped myself from going to her. She needs to learn not to rely on me, no matter how much I wish otherwise.

I want her every thought to be of me. Every time I have to leave, I want her yearning for me as much as I do her. She is my oxygen, the very reason I haunt this dreadful land, and she gives me a reason to exist. This is why I must stay away. I am sick, obsessed, and want more from her than she could ever give me.

I stopped myself from going to her, although not for long, just a few precious seconds, but I had been too late. Had the Unseelie scum not rescued her, she would have died in that fire, and it would have been my fault.

Guilt and self-loathing weigh on me like a noose around my neck, making it difficult for me to breathe. Now, I watch her ride towards the Seelie Court with Prince Charming holding hertightly. It makes me feel murderous. The court of light is not that much better than the court of darkness. At least the Unseelie do not hide what they truly are.

The fae cannot be trusted.

There will be no more holding back or second-guessing. When it comes to Iris, I will not chance anything. Not anymore.

Chapter Eighteen

Sunlight filters through the leaves above us, casting a golden glow ahead, as though lighting the way for us. There is a clear road that has been paved here at some point, but we are deep into the forest now, well away from human territory. I should be terrified, especially after what happened at the inn.

However, everything here feels different. I am not sure I could ever put it into words if anyone asked, yet the whole nature of the forest here feels… alive and curious. Here, there is not the same feeling of being followed, of beings hiding in the darkness and waiting for their chance to hurt me. The heavy weight of dread that hung around my shoulders is no longer there, and although my gut is telling me to stay alert, I truly believe that I am not in danger here.

Colour, light, and beautiful creatures line our path. Birds chirp their songs around us, not bothered by our presence, and butterflies and bumblebees flit from flower to flower, colours and shapes of which I have never seen before. A deer steps out into our path, pausing as he hears us. He is no ordinary deer, his antlers tall and golden, glittering in the light. His eyes meetmine, and there is far more intelligence in those soft brown orbs than any creature I have ever seen.

I would be a fool to let my guard down completely, even if we are now in Seelie territory. They are still fae, tricky creatures who could easily hurt me if they wanted to. We are being watched here, yet the gazes I feel upon me are those of curiosity rather than malicious intent which I experienced in the woods before. It reminds me a bit of being in my little pocket of the forest at home. Nostalgia hits me, and my heart aches with the knowledge that those times are gone… that Nyx is gone.

I must have fallen asleep at some point after we left the inn, an impressive feat on the back of a horse, because when I awoke, pressed against Alaric’s chest, the sun was high in the sky, all traces of darkness having long since disappeared.

We have been riding in silence for some time now, Blaise and Daisy leading the way. My body quickly fit against Alaric’s, his chest pressed to my back, and I cannot help but notice how perfectly we fit together. Ever since his comments after the fire, my mind cannot seem to think of much else.

I see you, Iris, for everything you are and everything you will be. We have been placed in each other’s path for a reason.

What is the reason though? My foolish, naive heart wants to believe that he’s saying our connection is romantic, that we belong together. I cannot deny that I am attracted to him, and the pull of our connection is all the more intense when we are together. However, he is a fae prince, and I am a poor human from a village. Why would he want to be with me that way when he could take his pick of females?

That does not mean that my mind cannot wander and daydream, especially when I am pressed against him like this. Each step the horse takes makes my hips lift and roll back, one side, and then the other, brushing my behind against his crotch. Just thinking of his nether regions causes my core to clench anddesire to flood through me. I have never been so reactive to a male before. Thankfully, I am in front of him, and he cannot see the embarrassment and desire on my face.

What I have not accounted for, though, is the fact that he has the superior fae sense of smell.

Curling around my back, he leans forward so his lips brush against my right ear. A gasp escapes me before I can control myself, the skin of my ear and neck tingling from the touch of his breath.

“What are you thinking about that has you smelling so delicious?” His words are a seductive purr, so unlike anything I have heard from him before, and it causes every cell of my body to come alive.

“Oh,” I murmur, scrambling. “Flowers,” I lie, saying the first thing that pops into my head. It is a stupid answer, yet there was no chance that I was going to tell him I was thinking about him the whole time.

Alaric chuckles, the sound low and rumbly. “You must really like flowers.”

He doesn’t believe me, yet he doesn’t call me out on it, seeming content with the knowledge that we both really know what I was thinking about—him.

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