Page 100 of What Hunts Inside the Shadows

To save me.

“Why would I want to fight with you, my star?” he asked sadly. “I just want to love you until my last breath. You were worth every century I waited, even if I only had you for a short time.”

I squeezed the hilt more firmly, clinging to it even though I already knew the answer to the question in my soul.

It was him. Always him.

I released it as soon as the thought solidified in my mind, letting the dagger clutter to the ground. It dropped as if in slow motion, as if fate itself recognized the descent for what it was.

The beginning of the end.

Caldris closed the distance between us before it clattered against the ground, stepping over the blade as he slid a hand beneath the curtain of my hair. His hand cupped my neck, my face, my mark and everything he could reach. Staring into my eyes for a moment, he lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me with the slow, consuming passion that we didn’t have time for.

Time we’d been robbed of, no matter what the outcome of crossing the boundary would be. He pulled back, staring down at me. “Let me take you to Catancia,” he murmured.

“But you have to bring Mab’s daughter to her. We both know—”

“We know nothing,” Caldris said, touching my lips with his to silence me. “I have to bring you and Fallon there to present you to her, but there’s no reason we cannot make a stop along the way. Let me take you to the frozen falls of Lumen. Accept me as your mate as you already agreed to do. We’ll stand a chance of breaking the bond she placed on me as a child. If she can no longer command me, then I won’t need to bring you to her at all. We could befree.”

His words built an ache inside of me, a longing I hadn’t wanted to admit I possessed. I wanted nothing more than to be free, except to be with him. The promise of having both seemed completely unattainable, with his possessiveness and the way he thought to protect me from all the horrors of the world.

Could I ever really be free with a male like Caldris at my side?

“Okay,” I whispered, slumping my shoulders forward as I gave my answer. If there was even the slightest chance that we could find a place that offered us peace, I had to take it.

The smile that lit his face would hold in my memory for the rest of my days, the shock of relief crashing into my chest making my heart skip a beat. He crushed me to his chest, wrapping his free arm around the small of my back tightly and dropping his mouth to mine.

His gaze held mine as his lips teased the flesh of my mouth. He murmured against them, the intensity and intimacy of his smoldering stare raising the hair on my arms. The words felt significant, pulsing through the silence of the gardens as the Fae Marked moved from their hiding place. “I am going to love you until the stars disappear from the night sky and the sun ceases to shine. Until the world returns to the void from whence it was born and chaos reigns once again.”

He touched his lips to mine as he dropped his hands to grab my own. Raising them at our sides, he pressed his palms against mine and aligned our fingers the best he could. My skin hummed with warmth as I closed my eyes, breathing in the deep scent of lotus flowers on the lake in the summer with a hint of sandalwood as the winter breeze washed over my face.

When he pulled his mouth away, I blinked up at him, the golden light radiating from our hands. Something in the magic required an answer, a calling I couldn’t ignore. “Until chaos reigns and eternity begins anew, and for every moment after,” I said, turning my attention to our laced fingers. Golden threads twined around the backs, squeezing them together until I gasped in pain. The threads cut into my skin, the red stain of blood trailing down Caldris’s skin in the same way.

“My soul, my heart, my flesh, and my sword are yours, and if ever there should come a day when your heart ceases to beat, I will follow you into the Void.” He twisted our bound hands, letting my blood glide across my flesh to touch the edges of his. The moment the first drop touched his blood, the golden threads tightened suddenly and then burst out in a sudden wave of light.

He lowered our hands to our sides, releasing mine so that I could raise it and stare at the crisscrossing marks the threads had left. The blood was gone, and if it hadn’t been for the golden lines shimmering from under my skin, I might have thought it had all been a figment of my imagination.

“What have you done?” Imelda asked, stepping forward through the hush in the group that had gathered to watch. She took my hand in hers, running her fingers over the faint gold lines and turning a wide, white-eyed stare to me finally. She stepped back, dropping her hands to her sides slowly.

“What is it?” I asked, looking back and forth between her and Caldris. He raised his chin high in defiance, glaring down at her.

“Your mate swore a blood oath, and The Fates accepted it,” she said, glaring back at him. “Do you have any idea how foolish this was? You have no idea what awaits her on the other side of the boundary! You are the sole heir to the Winter Court. You cannot gamble with your life when chaos will be the only result of your death.”

“I don’t understand,” I said, staring at him as I tried to understand the words he’d spoken.

“Your lives are now one. The mate bond will tie your mortal life, assuming youaremortal, to his immortal one, enabling you to live longer. He’s made it so that whether you are mated or not, whether you are mortal or immortal, he will die alongside you. If we lose one of you, we will lose you both. It was a fool’s bargain,” Imelda said, looking toward Holt as if she expected him to back her up.

“I think it’s quite romantic,” Holt returned, crossing his arms over his chest with a smirk.

“If codependence is your thing, sure,” Imelda said, her lips forming a cruel smile. “It isn’t mine, and you’ll doom us all for yours,” she added, turning her attention back to Caldris. She pinned him with all the judgment of her all-seeing stare, and I knew that if the force of it had been focused on me, I’d have withered on the spot.

She took Fallon by the hand, guiding the other girl away as they murmured between themselves. There was little doubt they needed to strategize for what they would do when we learned what Fallon was. I’d all but proven to everyone except my mate that I was the lost daughter of Mab.

The same power flowed through my veins.

“Why would you do that?” I asked, staring up at him as he leaned into my space once again. His fingers toyed with the lock of hair that hung around my shoulders, my body seeming to recognize the drum of fate that pulsed off of his hand and echoed off of my body.

“You may not be able to kill me, but that does not mean that you wouldn’t take your own life if you became desperate enough. You will not be a martyr, min asteren. Not unless you’re willing to take me with you,” he said, the confirmation of his outright willingness driving a stake into my heart. While I didn’t doubt the emotion behind his profession, the blood oath had been a very conscious decision.

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