Page 36 of The Mirror in the Mountain

He made a face, and I couldn’t help but laugh. He kissed me hungrily, as if to capture the sound.

“Your Majesty?” I asked, teasingly.

“It seems more appropriate foryou, considering all I want to do in front of you is get on my knees.”

I could feel a blush heating my cheeks despite everything we had just done. His eyes danced in delight, those blue and green swirls mesmerizing. But laughing about titles…

Bash raised an eyebrow in concern as my face fell.

“High Queen,” I said with a swallow. “This is all because I’m supposedly fated to be High Queen. But why would the people of Agadot even accept me?” I shook my head, a strand of hair that had freed itself from my braid falling across my face. “I didn’t even know this realm existed a month ago. And, somehow, I’m destined to lead it?”

“They’ll accept you because of who you areandwho you’ve proven yourself to be,” Bash said, suddenly serious. His finger gently twirled into the curl of my hair, wrapping it around his finger before tucking it behind my ear. “Though most will accept whomever the Choosing decrees, since that’s the will of the realm itself. Especially once they learn the truth behind their so-called savior’s identity. But I don’t doubt they’ll fall in love with you as easily as I did. Not when you’re fighting to create a world for them that’s far better than what it is now.”

“I don’t want to fight forever though, Bash,” I whispered, suddenly feeling exhausted at what lay before us and the battles I knew we would have to face. “I want to live to see this realm at peace again. To see what it was like before this endless war andexplore it all together. I want to live in a world where people can laugh freely. Where they can play music and read and dance and fall in love.”

Bash nodded solemnly. “One day, we’ll make that world together.”

And we could, I realized. If I lived to become High Queen.

As I pulled away, Bash tensed, sitting up as I got to my feet. I found myself momentarily distracted by the way his abs rippled as he did so. Shaking my head, I walked toward the bathroom, asking over my shoulder, “And if I follow my mother’s footsteps in creating a more representative form of government?”

His eyes raised from where they had fixed on my ass, finding mine. Then the right side of his mouth tilted upwards, the left slowly following just after, as always, in that crooked smile that I would never get enough of. “Then I look forward to helping you establish the new world order.”

When I returned, I barely yawned before Bash tucked me into his side, pulling the blankets over us. His arms wrapped around me, and I felt my eyelids droop as I relaxed into that feeling of safety. I was almost too warm as his body heat enveloped me, but I refused to move a single inch.

Pressing my face against his chest, I listened to his heartbeat under my ear—in sync with mine, beat for beat.

Chapter 16

Bash

Iwoke up from my nightmare with a start, my heart in my throat. Eva was still curled up beside me, fitted against me so perfectly it was like we were made for each other. Locks of her hair decorated my shoulder, dark eyelashes fanning across her cheeks. Our hands were still entwined—the last thing I remembered before sleep claimed me was her hand folding into mine.

But I could see the bruising around her throat, a sharp reminder of how close I was to losing her. The still-healing bite mark that set my blood boiling. I let out a shaky breath, clamping down on the bond between us so my shame and fury wouldn’t wake her.

Eva’s warm breath tickled against my neck as I fought to steady my breathing and settle back into her. She felt so fragile in my arms, even though I knew her to be entirely the opposite. Eva had always been a dichotomy, vacillating between breathtakingly powerful and yet heartbreakingly vulnerable from all she had been through, even if she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

Thankfully, I hadn’t woken her from her obviously much needed sleep, her exhaustion pulling her too far under. Nuzzlinginto her hair, I breathed in an indulgent inhale as I carefully moved as close to her as I could, her warm body curled against mine almost managing to chase the worst of my thoughts away. Like how much I had failed her by leaving her in Aviel’s clutches. How he had almost raped my soul bonded yet again while I fought, and failed, to reach her in time.

Eva was breathing softly, the sound that had lulled me to sleep so many nights in the Faewilds as the stars twinkled through the treetops. I had almost forgotten how much I loved that sound; the joy of it only secondary to having her safe in my arms at last.

Her full lips parted as she sighed, turning further into my body—needing me closer even in her dreams. My stomach swooped as her dark lashes fluttered, struggling against the lull of sleep as she tried to wake.

I couldn’t resist reaching up and brushing my thumb against the smooth, tan skin of her cheeks, relishing how the color deepened at my attention. One eye cracked open, a hint of gold flashing in the morning light.

Her voice a sleepy rasp, she asked, “Why are you looking at me like that? Do we need to get up?”

“No, not yet,” I whispered. “Go back to sleep, hellion. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

She needed to rest, to heal before what came next. Even if that indomitable fortitude was firmly intact.

But her eyelids fluttered open, though she hid a yawn against my shoulder, her lips grazing against my bare skin. Dark circles lay under her eyes as they suddenly filled with a worry I could feel like a twist in my gut. Her lower lip quivered before she bit down on it as if to hide it. But she couldn’t hide the renewed hollowness in her gaze, the recollection of despair that echoed down our bond.

“What is it?”

She blinked at me like my question had brought her back from an unwelcome memory. Then she sighed, whispering, “I feel like this is going to fall apart somehow. Like I’m going to wake up back in that box, or in his bed.”

I pressed a soft kiss on her forehead even as I tamped down on my rage that thought induced, the force of my hatred for the monster who had made her fear that. “This is real, Eva. You’re safe. You’re here.”

---