Page 132 of The Forbidden Fae King

I don’t tell him that if I don’t leave right now, I never will be able to. If I let him in, I will lose myself.

Aldrin turns from me and starts barking orders.

The small band amasses rapidly, and we leave the fortress in heavy silence. We make our way through the forest, the fresh chill of the morning seeping into my skin despite my cloak. Snow disappears, frost crunches under my boots, then thaws completely, the only sign of the miles we put between us and the border with winter.

My fingers move across the beads of my moonstone bracelet in a nervous tick, and I glance at it multiple times to see its glow, ever so faint.

Aldrin walks beside me, a brooding presence of gloom. His fingers brush against my hand, but he doesn’t take it in his. The man thinks I don’t want to be touched by him. He has no idea how wrong he is.

“Was it me?” Aldrin asks in a low rumble. “Did I do or say something? Am I not enough?”

I turn to him, my lips parted in surprise. “You are perfect, Aldrin. You are everything.”

“Then it is because you believe I cannot protect you.” He searches my face. Deep shadows lines beneath his eyes, evidence he didn’t sleep last night.

“My time here was always only temporary. We both knew this.” It is the bitterest truth.

The forest opens to the small clearing where I first saw Aldrin and the lone portal stands in its midst, seeping thin tendrils of mist. My hands shake at the sight and my throat closes up until I can hardly breathe.

Caitlin grabs me by the shoulders. “Are you sure? Are you ready?”

How could I ever be ready? But what I want doesn’t really matter. I nod, because I can’t speak.

My sister takes my hand as we near the portal. Its power pulls on me like a strong riptide. Light radiates through the milky depths of the moonstone, but they no longer rival the sparkle of diamonds. Their power flickers in bursts and I know it is seeping away.

The sweetest song beckons me from the depths of the portal, calling me home. Those mists swirl and tendrils of them reach out in response to our bracelets.

Aldrin’s hand grasps my arm, fingers digging in ever so slightly. I whirl around to him. There is a softness on his face as he peers down at me, lifting my chin up to him with a finger. He stands so close that our bodies almost touch.

“I would have made you my queen, Keira. I would have loved you until my dying breath.” He says, just above a whisper. Then he places both his hands on my face, and kisses me, his lips soft and caressing. Warmth radiates through my chest at the touch, as my heart absolutely shatters. A saltiness tinges the kiss. My slow, silent, tears.

I place my hands on Aldrin's chest, feeling the hard planes of it, then slowly pull away from him. I take a step backward, then another.

Caitlin’s hand finds mine, but she doesn’t hurry me.

I hold Aldrin’s eyes, as I back into the portal, his form becoming more and more shrouded by mist. He holds out an arm, reaching for me across worlds, but I am too far gone to take it. I focus every bit of my awareness on him, drinking in and committing to memory every line of his face.

Aldrin is the last thing I see as I leave his realm, just as he was the first when I entered it.

I stumble almost blindly through the thick, damp mists, allowing Caitlin to guide me. Physical pain rips through my chest. It sits within my stomach like a block of ice. I come to understand that there is a large part of me that will always regret this decision. A piece of me that will live with Aldrin. The best of my life is now behind me.

We step out into a cool grassy meadow, with a ring of crude, granite stone arches before us. At their center stands the tall tower in all its menacing glory, levels of arches reaching up to the jade plinth at its apex which glows green with magic and powers the portals.

We stop at the mouth of the portal, both of us dazed.

I blink, then blink again.

It doesn’t feel real, to be back here.

Everything is muted. The colors are less vibrant, the scattering of flowers and the earthy vegetation hold little fragrance, and that beam of magic, with threads woven into from so many people, is pitiful compared to what I experienced. The power within my own veins is diminished, sluggish, ladened down like a limb suddenly turned to lead.

Calls ring out around us and the scurrying of boots follow it, but it all seems so distant.

“Hold back.” A strong, familiar voice snaps. “Let me see them first.”

Hands grip painfully into my shoulders from behind. Caitlin is practically holding me up. Skirts swish and a lone figure dressed all in white, with hair to match, approaches us. I look into her wizened face and that frown so similar to Caitlin’s dissolves into one of warmth.

I throw myself into my grandmother’s arms. The high priestess’ arms. She wraps them around me in a tight embrace, kissing my brow as though I were a small child again.

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