Page 12 of A Fate of Blood and Magic
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Her tattoo, which sat on the back of her shoulder down to her shoulder blade, glowed for a few beats.
She scrunched her nose. “Sometimes it tickles. I don’t know if he’s amused by what you said or wants to tell me something.” She paused. “How long should I postpone our wedding?”
I rubbed the center of my chest. “I don’t know,mo elma. I’m sorry. I don’t know how long it’ll take to find the missing fae. I’ll come home as often as I can, but?—”
The ache in my chest twisted tighter. When I rubbed it again, Teddy gently took my hand. She kissed my palm and then leaned forward to press a kiss to my chest.
“I shouldn’t have asked,” she whispered. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters.” The words came out rough and desperate. “I want to be tied to you in every way imaginable. We have the soulmate bond, the wedding, and we should also do an intended ceremony. That way, if you ever want to leave me, you’ll have to undo each vow we made to each other. One by one.”
And I needed those bonds. Not to hold her down but to hold me together.
She inched up to kiss the dimple on my cheek. “Sometimes you’re too adorable for your own good.”
Although she smiled as if I were teasing her, I meant every word. There wasn’t a language vast enough to name what she was to me. She was sewn into the very fabric of my soul, etched in every fragment of my heart.
And still, it wasn’t enough.
Chapter
Three
TEDDY
I tookthe tea Everly offered, not bothering to hide my grimace at the small mug that warmed my hands. While the tea my fae friend brewed every morning after our training session wasn’t awful, it was a piss-poor substitute for the coffee my body still begged for.
Then again, everything felt like a poor substitute when Elias was gone. I’d only been able to share a few quiet hours with him before he roused Brenton, Hayden, and Finley from their rooms to prepare to go back into the human world. Unsurprisingly, Alastor was already waiting for them at the foot of the castle’s stairs by the time we’d made our way down.
Three days had passed since their departure and every day seemed to drag longer. I was glad Brenton had gone with him, hoping beyond hope this mission to find the missing fae would be far easier than any of us anticipated.
My muscles groaned when I sat on the porch swing Brenton had built for our front patio. While this morning’straining session with Everly wasn’t any more grueling than other sessions, my body burned in places that hadn’t yet healed from the previous morning’s exercise. Especially my right leg, from my ankle to my calf.
“You should see Leah,” Everly suggested, mentioning the castle’s head healer who oversaw all treatment for the royal family.
A slight breeze made the spheres of fae lights Elias had put up across the ceiling of our patio jingle as they swung. The fae lights were a strange phenomenon where the lights floated in the air without being anchored to anything. It was as wondrous as the rest of the magic the fae possessed.
I rubbed a particularly sore spot on my right calf but stopped when all I did was make it hurt worse. If Elias were here, he could heal it in that gentle way of his.
I missed him in a way that echoed in my chest. But more, I hated that Elias wasn’t here to celebrate Javier’s seventeenth birthday with us. At least we had a present hidden away that we’d give him together when Elias returned.
“Elias gave me a massage when?—”
Everly nudged her shoulder against mine. “Oh, I heard all about yourmassage.”
My neck and face warmed, but I barked out a laugh, careful not to spill any of my tea. “Hayden didn’t strike me as the gossiping type.”
“I don’t think he meant to gossip, but when his ears reddened, much the same way your face is, it didn’t take much for Ryenne to dig the rest out of him.”
“I liked you better when you were prim and proper.” I kicked the side of her foot.
The rising sun unfolded before the frozen groundof my front yard, her rays like warm fingers that couldn’t quite reach us. At least the endless winter in Niev was warmer than what we experienced back in Colina Verde, my small hill country town in Texas. And unlike those left behind in the human realm, the kingdom of Niev was accustomed to this winter and had magic to keep their world going.
Unlike my yard in Colina, grass grew around our large cabin, which we now called home in Reignom, while snow collected outside its borders. After having experienced nothing but snow for several months, Hee-haw, our pet donkey, was content to graze in the grass. But even where the snow settled, it wasn’t too deep, and most days, I hiked the trail Elias and George had paved for me with Hee-haw trotting beside me.
It was a nice change of pace that I still hadn’t completely acclimated to since we were kicked out of the human realm three months ago.
