Page 57 of Fate and Flame
I looked to my mate and back to Aibell. “Are we going or not?” I demanded.
Nadra pinched me, and Aibell smirked.“Good girl,” she said. “Now take my hand.”
We placed our shivering hands on hers and the world faded away, but just as quickly as it had vanished, it slammed right back into place. Again, we stood atop a mountain, only this time, we were under the shadow of the largest oak tree I had ever seen.
“You have a day at the very most to see this through. Don’t get caught.”
“Can’t you help us?” Nadra asked.
“I can’t touch the tree, child. It comes from the gods. Temir knows what to do. I’ve got somewhere else I need to be as well.” She handed me a large jug and said, “It’s an accelerant. You’re going to need it. I’ll see you again.”
“Hope not,” I complained as she vanished.
Chapter Fifteen
Ara
You think I don’t know that you are grown?” Fen stared down at me. “Do you think that changes the way my heart feels? Does it change my soul? Our soul?”
I stood in our room with my arms crossed over my chest. “No, I didn’t say it did. I’m just saying that I have to be allowed to make my own choices too.”
“Look what happens when you do. Greeve told me he took you to see her. Why? Why was he the one to tell me?”
“Because I knew you’d act like this,” I said, fuming. He was broken. I’d done that to him. But it wasn’t intentional, and he acted as if I’d purposefully cultivated this horrid situation.
He threw his hands into the air as he paced before me. “Of course I would. Do you not see the danger you’re constantly putting yourself into? I’m not just your mate, Ara. I’m your Guardian. But I can’t do my job if you don’t fucking let me in.”
“I wasn’t leaving you out. I thought I was saving your father.”
He blanched at that. The gaping wound of his father’s current health was still fresh.
I crossed our bedroom and wrapped my arms around him. No matter how furious I was, I needed him to be okay. “I’m sorry.” And I meant it. “Obviously, I didn’t expect the betrayal. I sat on that seafloor and replayed that night over and over in my mind. I’m not sure if I would have done it differently, Fen. I lost my parents. Both of them. I know the pain of that loss. I would save you from that over and over again if I could. But it doesn’t mean I’m not sorry for all of it.”
He held me close and laid his head on mine, taking a deep, shuddering breath. We stayed like that until our hearts beat as one and the tension slowly faded away.
“You killed the sea queen,” he said finally. “What will you do about the sea now?”
“I don’t know. I can’t worry about them right now. Only you.”
“I’m sorry for being so upset with you. I know the choice you had to make wasn’t easy.” He pulled me tighter, and I ran my fingers through his thick black hair. “I’ve just been lost without you. I’ve lived in a constant state of panic and rage until that little sea fae came to me. I nearly killed her. Even with Kai and Greeve holding me back, I still nearly killed her. I don’t just want days, Ara. Not even weeks with you. I want an entire lifetime. And even then, I don’t think it will be enough.”
“I didn’t ask to be Alewyn’s Promise. I didn’t want to have to kill Morwena. I want a normal life too. But you and I, Fen, we are destined for something greater, and even if I only get one more night with you, we need to make it the best night of our entire lives. We cannot take a single moment for granted. We cannot fight like this.”
He pushed back from me, his eyes searching my own. Convincing himself that I was really there. In his arms. He swept a lock of hair behind my ear and leaned his forehead down to mine. “If I didn’t care so much, I wouldn’t fight at all.” He kissed the top of my head, and I ran my hands up and down his muscled back.
“How is King Tolero?” I asked.
He pulled me in closer, locking his arms around me. His voice broke as he whispered, “I thought we had it figured out. They’d saved the Cetani with the same poison by using my father’s blood. But it’s not saving him. The healer thinks it has to be foreign to the host of the poison. Coro won’t take a meeting. Autus isn’t an option. I think I’m going to lose him too, Ara. I think he is going to die.”
I forced a breath, pushing back the tears threatening to come. This wasn’t my Fen. He was always strong. Always sure. Something in his vulnerability shook me to my core. “Shall we go see him?”
He nodded and we left, our footsteps as heavy as our hearts as we rounded up the others and stood outside the king’s bedroom door. Asha, Efi’s cetani, paced on the roof above us, as if she knew what was happening below. I tried to swallow the sharp lump in my throat as Fen trembled. My dark and fierce warrior was lost in his own sorrow.
“I can’t do this. I can’t walk into that room knowing it might be the last time I see him alive,” Fen said, completely broken.
“Can you guys give us just a few minutes?” I asked the rest of the group standing with us.
They walked halfway down the hall. I gave them a fierce look, but they only backed up a few more paces. They would not leave their brother, and I couldn’t blame them for it.
