Page 40 of Broken Lands

Wandering through the shelves, I tried to find the row dedicated to the gods and goddesses the librarian had directed me to. Turning at the end of the current row, I found myself in a small study area, tucked into the corner.

Hunched over the small table, piles of books surrounding him, sat Prince Lincoln. Ignoring the tug in my chest urging me toward him, I leant on the shelf beside me and watched him for a moment instead.

Engrossed in the book spread out before him, he hadn’t noticed me enter his space. I watched as he turned the page, chewing on the end of his pen, before jotting down a few notes. The braided crown he’d had the day we’d met was gone, replaced by four individual braids pulling his hair away from his face and hanging down his back.

We’d barely had a full conversation, and yet the draw I felt toward him matched what I felt toward Stefan. It made no sense to me.

“Riley,” he breathed, without lifting his head. “I thought I felt you coming. Come sit with me, Tyas.”

“Tyas?” I asked, as I moved toward the empty chair beside him. The desk was littered with notes, crumpled paper and pens.

“It means ‘my heart’. I think it suits you.” He lifted his eyes from his book, blinking slowly and capturing mine as I sat beside him. Those words should terrify me, instead I found them intriguing. There was something between us. Maybe he knew what it was?

“Can you explain that to me? I’m not denying there is something here, but I don’t understand the pull I feel toward you.” Not any more than I understood the pull I felt toward Stefan or Colin.

His smile was slow and lazy, his eyes lingering on my lips for a moment before he spoke.

“We are a long way from home,” he began. “So, my theory may be wrong. We don’t know how being on this plane affects some of the things we took for granted back on our own lands. Did you know that fae have mates?”

I nodded. “Bee mentioned it, briefly.”

“From what I’ve read,” he gestures towards the pile of books before him. “If one takes the time to look, it’s not difficult to find your mate. The pull is described as undeniable. You are drawn to your mate from the moment you lay eyes on them, like something unseen binds you to them. It’s said that some fae have found their mate simply by following that pull in their chest before they’ve ever even met their other half.”

Lincoln set down his pen, scooting his own chair closer and resting a hand on my knee. The tips of his fingers had ink smudged on them from the studying and notes he’d been taking. Notes about mates. He’d been looking into what that meant. “I think you might be my mate, Riley, and therefore my heart, my Tyas.”

I sucked in a breath, shocked at the directness of his admission.

“You felt it too, didn’t you?”

I nodded, unable to deny it. I had felt it. But… I hadn’t only felt that pull toward Lincoln. Could the fae have more than one mate?

“Yes. But I’ve felt the same pull toward others.” Was that okay to say? He was being direct with me. It felt as though I should be the same with him.

His midnight eyes sparkled as he nodded, turning back to the book in front of him and tapping the page with his finger. “This book says there is a chance we can have more than one mate, that it often occurs among the more powerful of our kind. That seems to fit, given the power you hold. I don’t expect anything of you, Riley. I know your start here has been anything but smooth and easy. But I would like to explore this connection, get to know you.”

“I’d like that, too.” I said, rising from my chair, his hand sliding off of my knee as I went. The fight, discovering my healing powers, this admission. There was so much I needed to process. I would like to get to know Lincoln, but I needed to process first. “Can you point me to the gods and goddesses’ shelves?” Judging by the surrounding piles of books, he knew his way around the library.

“Of course.”

After perusing the shelves Lincoln had shown me to, I selected a brown leather-bound book, small enough to fit in my pocket, that I’d found tucked into the back corner behind some of the larger texts. Finding my way back to the lounge area, I curled up in an armchair in front of the fire, the same one Stefan had wrenched me out of and given me the fright of my life only a few short days ago, and had spent the last half an hour reading

It was untitled, with intricate golden patterns sewn into the corners. Each corner was different, the swirls and lines almost seeming alive with the way they glittered in the firelight thrown from the hearth. I traced my fingers over the delicate pattern before opening the book to find a tidy cursive script; the words reading more like a diary than an informative history book.

I flicked through the pages, stopping when I came across a hand painted picture of one of the goddesses. The detail was phenomenal. So much so that I could almost see the sun shining off of her long golden locks, her green eyes bright, shining with some untold emotion. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was something familiar about her, the set of her mouth, the green of her eyes. Like I’d seen them somewhere before.

My brow furrowed as I tried to remember where. I’d spent my whole life in Sommers. I hadn’t seen many fae outside of the Ascension ceremonies until recently. I’d certainly never met one of their Goddesses. They were back in Faerie, right?

A soft tap on my shoulder startled me, tearing me away from the page and causing me to twist around, sitting up straighter in my seat as I assessed the room for threats. I glanced up quickly, my posture relaxing as soon as I spotted Stefan standing before me, a wide grin lighting up his face and laughter dancing in his eyes. I was still on edge from the attack last night, and from my meeting with Professor Darmon this morning, but I grinned back at him, welcoming his happy, easy company.

“Ready for lunch?” He asked, holding out a hand. I took it, letting him pull me to my feet.

“I’m famished, actually.” I stuffed the journal into my book bag along with the other books I’d checked out to complete my paper and glanced around for Bee. “I feel like I could eat a horse. Like there’s an empty pit where my stomach…” Realization struck me then. “I’m not hungry, am I?”

Stefan smiled and hooked a finger under my chin, lifting my face to his. “No, you’re not hungry. Your magic might still be replenishing. You must have used an incredible amount of power last night.” He leant forward and pressed his lips gently to mine.

Pushing up on my toes, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my body against his. He pushed a hand through my hair while running his tongue across my bottom lip, a request for me to open.

Moaning softly, I parted my lips and deepened the kiss. A desperate heat built in my core as our bodies pressed together and our tongues danced. I wanted to be closer, needed to feel him wrapped around me again.

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