Page 148 of Fated or Knot

Marius kissed me ever so slowly underwater and nuzzled his nose against mine.“‘And he kissed her with the floating detritus of his once great ship and the stars as witnesses. Plus the good-natured jeers of the rest of the crew when they were forced to witness too,’”he concluded.“I’m a little surprised that wasn’t the end of the book.”

“They had a great comeback.”

“They did. You were right. It was a much better book thanThe Battle of Marsh Hill.”

“How did you know that was my favorite part?”I asked.

He slanted me a playful look.“Consider it an educated guess. My p’nixie loves kisses. And prefers kissing scenes to saucy ones.”

I considered for a moment.“You do know me pretty well. I guess I did give you a peek in my head.”

“Hmm. What is it Kauz is always saying? ‘Being perceptive isn’t magic. Keep your eyes and your mind open, and you’ll rarely be surprised.’”Oddly, communicating mind-to-mind this way meant that he mimicked Kauz’s soothing tones almost exactly.

“He is unnaturally perceptive,”I said with affection.

“Only when he cares. He notices the hurt in everyone if he talks to them long enough. That level of empathy is a curse.”His mind held a thread of respect for Kauz. I had the impression he was thinking of others his brother had helped. And the fact that there were many of them didn’t surprise me at all.“Anyway, you’re mine right now, and Niall is considering attempting to breed you right here. Let’s get going.”

42

LARK

We were reentering polite society soon, so Marius donned a sleeveless shirt and his swimming trunks after giving himself a brisk dry-off with a towel. I took the second towel and wiped away as much water off me as I could, as the air was cooling significantly now that the sun had set.

We experimented with my wing-fins, having him squeeze the water out of each. It was like they’d gone numb when they’d gotten saturated, as he was able to wring them without causing me pain. They started plumping up and stiffening on my back after he further dried them with my towel.

Marius played with a wing when it was in an in-between phase, still flexible like a fin but firm enough to be posable.

“You’re evidence of something remarkable, p’nixie.” He twirled one of my top wings into a corkscrew shape, which tickled. I glanced over my shoulder to see what he was doing. It was a shock to see just how flexible my wing was right now.

“Careful. If it gets too damaged, it’ll fall off, and regrowing wings takes two seasons at least,” I said. I’d seen it happen inOsme Fen, after a pixie’s mate had accidentally crumpled one of her top wings.

“It’s fine. See?”

Already, my wing was unfolding from the corkscrew and resuming the shape I was used to seeing when I glanced back at it. That was rather remarkable, actually.

“I think it’s clear that omegas used to belong to a single race of fae. Some delved into the sea, mated with my kind, and became nixies, and others preferred forests, sunshine, and flight and became pixies. Generations later, here you are…both.” He stopped fiddling with my wings to press to my back, his body heat more than welcome against my cold skin. His hands roamed, spreading the warmth of his skin over my bare midriff and through the damp fabric of my top and shorts.

“Going to make you mine,”whispered his feral side, and I showed him my throat. I soaked in his rumble and the pressure of his fangs when they dimpled my neck.

“We can talk about it later,” I murmured. “I’m going to freeze.”

“So dramatic. It’s usuallymuchcolder at this time of night.” He slung our bag over his shoulder and took my hand, leading me up the rough-cut rock path leading away from the sea and the entrance to Telimarr. We’d both put on sandals for a bit of protection from sharp stones.

Marius made sure to walk at my right side, and his good eye sparkled from the light of our essence lamp before he reached up and dimmed it. We rounded the bend that’d seemed so dark earlier and entered a tunnel lined on either side with glowing, multicolored crystals. Unlike the ones we’d observed underwater, these had grown to hip height and absorbed the lamp’s light to gleam twice as bright.

My mouth fell open, and I gasped. No wonder he wanted to visit at low tide. There were puddles here and there thatsuggested the sea level rose to cover the first section of this tunnel, though it was set at a gradual upward slope. Prisms of multicolored light and spiky shadows danced around us as we walked.

Marius watched my reaction to the surreal loveliness around us. He felt so strongly in the moment that his emotions and mine mingled. This was it. Very soon, we would be tied together in a permanent bond.

It was as beautiful a concept as the tunnel itself. I saw why this long path had been created from the sea to our ultimate destination. Wecouldrush through it, just like we could grab one another and complete the bond with damp stone as our bed. But the anticipation was heady as we walked hand in hand, soaking in the moment and each other.

This was another branch of Always. He and I were meant to be. No doubts, no worries, and no fears were left. We’d already exposed ourselves down to the last hidden thought while balanced over the depths of the open sea to arrive on this path of light and color.

“You’ve helped me understand.” He kept his voice at a hush, reverent for our surroundings. “Fate’s guiding hand is the force that brought you back to me. The odds of us meeting again were so incredibly low.”

“You don’t despise it anymore?” He’d been the only fae I’d met with an abject hatred for fate. It’d take time to seriously extract it from the core of who he was.

He snorted gently. “I will give thanks for it once now. But any time after, I’ll say that Fal tripped over you out of sheer luck. I would’ve still found you if he hadn’t, p’nixie. I was right on the edge of losing myself to my feral side, and Niall was of a mind to abandon Ilysnor to chase your shadow.”

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