Page 143 of Wings of Betrayal

“I’ll go and find someone. Would you like to wait here with him?” Kyle asks gently.

I look over Finlay’s body, still shocked to my core that’s he’s really gone. “Yes, I’ll wait here.”

Kyle kisses my forehead then takes off into the sky. I sit with my friend, thinking of all the wonderful memories we’ve shared together. I’m thankful to have known the real Finlay. He turned out to be so special to me, and I will never forget him. He touched my life, enriching it in so many ways.

I take in a deep breath, attempting to ease the ache in my heart, like a part of it is missing, and I wonder if it’s from our severed bond. My lip trembles as I lean over and hug my friend, sobs consuming me until I can barely breathe. An emptiness settles inside me, and I wonder how I will ever recover from this.

I stare at my reflection in the mirror, and I’m almost unrecognisable. The long white dress I’m wearing is such a contrast to my usual leathers. The thin straps and plunging neckline give it an elegant feel, and it hugs my hips before flowing out down to the floor in a puddle of silk.

Lacinda helped me choose it for my mating ceremony, but it’s bittersweet not having Lissian here to help with that sort of thing like she usually would.

I haven’t heard from her, or Mikel, or anyone else still stuck in Silanthia. I only hope they are being treated well. When I can, I will get them out of there. It frightens me knowing Amaros is out there, ruling over two Kingdoms now.

I can feel his betrayal deep in my bones. It scares me how much he has changed. Or perhaps he has always been this way, and I just didn’t see it. Caught up in my own delusions of who I thought he was.

But none of that matters right now. All that matters is Kyle. And that we finally get to celebrate our mating with those who matter most to us. Almost all of them. My heart aches at the thought of those who I have lost, like a deep wound in my heart that feels as though it will never heal.

I spent the last week opening portals within the Kingdom to send any remaining lost ones back. I did the same on Earth, and we are confident they are all back within The Realm of Lost Souls where they belong. Visiting the Spirit Realm frightened me, and I wasn’t able to take anyone with me.

No one else is able to pass through it. Just me. My ability feels like both a blessing and a burden at times.

Knowing Amaros can open portals himself concerns me. That and the fact he can get into the Spirit Realm.

Alaron is still missing, and I haven’t seen my father since I ventured down to Earth to ask Lacinda and Demetros to join us on our mission to Galespo. Where could he be? Why did he suddenly abandon us when we needed him most? WhenIneeded him most.

And then a more sinister possibility crosses my mind.

Maybe he didn’t abandon me at all. Maybe Amaros got to him.

A gentle knock sounds at the door, stealing my focus, and Lacinda pops her head in.

“Oh, Zarla, you look beautiful!” she breathes, wiping her eyes.

“Are you crying?” I tease.

“They’re happy tears, I promise,” she says and slips inside the room, closing the door behind her.

I admire her gorgeous red floor-length gown as she crosses the room. It matches her red hair perfectly, which she has pulled back off her face in a loose bun on the back of her head. Shedrapes her arm over my shoulder while we both stare at our reflections in the mirror.

My hair is braided over my shoulder with a few loose waves framing my face. My lips are a deep pink, matching perfectly with some gorgeous pink flowers Lacinda found in the fields surrounding the castle that the keepers threaded into my braid.

I glide my fingers over my mother’s locket, wishing she were here for this special moment.

“A lot has happened in this last year,” Lacinda says.

I giggle. “You’re not wrong. I’m hoping the next year isn’t as eventful, but that may just be wishful thinking.”

She smiles. “No, next year will be great. Let’s remain positive. And today is a positive day. We get to celebrate you and Kyle. Are you ready?”

I brush my hands down my dress for the millionth time and blow out a long breath. “I think so.”

She reaches down and takes my hand. “Come on, then.”

She walks with me out of Kyle’s quarters and down the corridor. When we reach the doors on the patio area of the castle, everyone is already sitting on wooden chairs on the lawn, waiting for me. Kyle stands at the front dressed in a gorgeous navy tux with a black shirt underneath. By the gods, he looks good.

Lacinda opens the doors and walks with me over the grass, where someone has laid out hundreds of gorgeous pink petals. The sun beams down over us, and the sound of waves lapping in the distance creates the most perfect atmosphere.

Kyle’s Kingdom feels more like home to me now than my own does. It’s a bittersweet feeling that the home I once knew is lost to me.

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