Page 118 of Until the Stars Fall

I could faintly hear Lieke’s heartbeat falter and her breath catch. Tears lined her eyes, but they never spilled over. Sniffing quietly, she regained her composure and asked, “What if they loved someone else first?”

Shooting her a curious look, I responded with my own question. “If they’re in love, why are they kissing someone else?”

She grimaced. “I don’t know. Sometimes kisses are unsolicited.”

While she was obviously—hopefully—referring to Brennan’s little stunt in her room, I couldn’t help but wonder if the comment was targeted at me as well. Before I could say anything though, she was asking another question.

“Have you ever met anyone who denied it?”

“Anyone who ignored the bond? No. Not personally anyway,” I said. “Generally, we don’t go around giving out kisses to just anyone. Well, most of us anyway.” My eyes skirted to hers as I said that last part. She looked away quickly, visibly uncomfortable, so I continued, “If it has happened, I would expect it wasn’t a fae who walked away.”

“Oh, right. You said the war started when a bond formed between a fae and a human?”

“Yes,” I said quietly. “Fae-human pairings weren’t uncommon, hence our demi-fae population. But many assumed it was a fae thing only, because the bond hits them harder.”

“What do you mean harder?”

I laughed. “Feeling pushy today, are we?” She didn’t respond, except to stare at me until I started talking again. “Fae senses are stronger than those of humans, and that’s not limited to just our hearing. All our feelings are amplified, for better or worse. Grief, anger, betrayal, love—the bond—all affect us to a greater degree.”

“That sounds terrible,” she muttered.

“Feeling nothing would be worse,” I said.

She shrugged again. “I don’t know. I would happily live without the pain.”

I was shaking my head before she finished speaking. “Even our pain helps us grow, Sapphire.”

She seemed to lose herself in thought for a while before shooting me another curious glance.

“Speaking of pain… Your tattoo…”

I breathed out a quiet laugh as a smirk tugged at my lips. “What about it?”

“What is it exactly?” she asked.

Glancing at her sideways, I angled a brow. “You mean, you didn’t get a good look at it while gawking at me in your doorway?”

She squinted at me. “Oh, you mean when you were being a shirtless jackass?”

She wasn’t wrong, so I nodded. “Yes, when I did that.”

“No, I was too angry at you to really study it. So are you going to answer my question or not?”

“My Sapphire is so impatient,” I said, chuckling lightly. “It’s designed to look like my armor.”

“I got that much, Wolfie,” she said. “What are the words above it? Along your collar?”

I stiffened yet somehow managed to keep my voice steady. “It’s something my mother always said to us:Live to serve until the stars fall.”

At that, she pressed her lips together, regret pulling her features tight as silence fell heavily between us.

CHAPTER 58

Lieke

“Up ahead,” Evan said over his shoulder, “Approaching the road, Your Highness.”

“Almost home,” Connor said quietly, and I allowed myself a relieved exhale.

---