Page 60 of Terragnata and the Heir of the Earth

My mind buzzed with questions, processing the knowledge that my birth mother had been the one to kill my sire and place me in the human realm. “How did you find me in the first place? How did you even know I was alive?”

Cas kicked off his shoes and sat fully on the bed, causing me to wiggle over and make room.

“A few years into my travels, I found myself in a tea den in the Hafian desert. I overheard the strangest story. A wanderer, a practitioner of the ways of the old gods, talked of a Fae girl that he’d met in the human realm. The girl, not more than fourteen, appeared human, given she lived with humans and her scent was that of humans. But he knew she was Fae because one day, he saw her fall from a forty-foot tree, a fatal crash that should have crushed her human ribs, punctured her lungs, and killed her instantly. But she lived.

“I pressed him on the tale, to tell me details of the girl. He shared enough of his knowledge that I firmly believed it was you, but in the end, he wouldn’t tell me where you were. He said the code of the wanderer, the old ways of the gods, demanded he not reveal such things. I would have killed him right then, but I didn’t want to interfere with the gods.”

“I remember that fall,” I whispered, a tear running down my cheek at the memory of my brothers and the way they’d rushed to me. “No one could explain how I’d lived.”

Cas rested a hand on mine. “After that, I enlisted Jana to help my search. Things were getting worse on the relations front—the Rexi had used your death as a catalyst to ripen tensions between Viribrum and Drakkar, and Darlan had fully taken the bait. After another two years, we found one of your original abductors, who confessed you were alive, living amongst humans in Argention. Jana left immediately to find you—to bring you back to Viribrum.”

I nodded, feeling some relief. His story of how I was captured, hidden, and ultimately found at least lined up with Jana’s.

“I never thought the Rexi would catch wind of it, let alone show up inValfalla. I mean, she’s never even left Nebbiolo since she was Siphoned at age thirteen.”

Siphoned.The word snagged in my mind. Dane mentioned it before Ezren and I had coupled. I still didn’t know what it meant exactly—Jana had only told me it was “a sacred bur oak that fed her power.” Before I could ask, Cas continued.

“But I suspect she discovered we’d found you, sent Fayzien to collect you, and then waited for us to bring you here in the case he failed.”

A numbness descended over my flesh. “So… what now?”

“The Rexi arriving has been a… complication. She pressured Darlan to jail Jana and her crew immediately, claiming they were involved in your abduction. I’d planned to reveal the Rexi’s guilt to my father when you returned, but that went out the window the moment she arrived. Her power is not to be underestimated, Terra—the stories I’ve heard…” He shuddered. “It would be a serious risk to challenge the Rexi’s integrity whilst she’s here. I need hard proof before I tell Darlan, before I make my next move.”

“We. Beforewemakeournext move.”

The corner of Cas’s lips twitched. “So last night didn’t scare you away too much, then?”

“I still don’t know what to think about last night.”Half-true.His dismissal of Fayzien’s behavior enraged me, but I needed Cas’s help.

He turned towards me more directly now, the golden flecks in his eyes illuminated. “Terra, I have to say this. You were my first true love, and you will be my last. I have never opened my heart to another, and I never will. In that way, it will only ever be you.”

“But in body?” I asked quietly, unable to meet his eyes.

“Like I said, a lot has happened in the last few years. I have developed… tastes. Needs that you can never satisfy.”

“And you would never let me try? To satisfy your… needs?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to try, but needing to know where I stood.

He paused. “Some of the things, well, no. There are some desires I have that I would never, ever involve you in. But they need to be filled… Filling those desires is how I maintain control of the things inside of me that I would rather you not see.”

I eyed him and exhaled. “I get now why you made that whole display of proposing to me, having Olea dress me up like a harlot. You have a reputation, don’t you? You needed to extinguish the rumors that you wouldn’t uphold your commitment.”

His lips formed a tight, guarded line. “No matter what you think of me or what you saw last night, I will always, always protect you.”

While the pang of Ezren’s departure still pressed heavy on my chest, Cas was here—he was real. He was the only thing from my old life that made sense, the only thing I could believe in. “I want to know you, Cas. All of you,” I whispered.

His eyes searched mine, and I could tell he was unsure.

“May I see it again?” I asked. He cocked his head in question, a wicked smile appearing on his face, and I rolled my eyes. “Your tattoo.” I gestured to his chest.

He nodded but made no effort to remove his shirt. I sat up more, the sheets falling away from me, revealing the thin shift that did little to hide the curves of my body. He rested with his back against the headboard, and I leaned over him, undoing each button. And then I drew the sides of the shirt away from him, exposing the artwork on his chest.

I let my fingers run along the ink, tracing the letters of my name, the displays of the Earth. Cas closed his eyes. “It’s beautiful,” I murmured.

His gaze grew foggy—distant. “There was a time when I thought you’d never see it.”

I paused a moment, letting my fingers continue to roam the lines of the image on his abdomen, remembering the closeness we shared as kids. He must have felt an utter lack of control when I was taken. While the image of Fayzien in his bed remained ripe in my mind, as did the pain of Ezren’s departure, a desire wound through me I could not completely deny.

I kissed each letter, lingering my lips from one to the next. He drew in a sharp breath, and I saw the whisper of movement in his trousers.

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