Page 27 of Void of Endings
“Yes?”
“I need you to promise me something.”
He sensed it.
She felt the shift in his demeanor. The way his muscles tensed beneath her touch. Wariness darkened his eyes. But still, he nodded once. “Alright.”
“If we fall, if Faeven falls to Parisa, I need you to promise me right now that you won’t let her take me.” Maeve searched his eyes, silently imploring him to understand. She wasn’t asking for protection or safe-keeping, she was asking something more. Something crucial.
But the corners of Tiernan’s mouth lifted into a small smile. “You know I will never let that happen.”
Maeve shook her head. “No. That’s not what I mean.”
“Astora—”
“Swear it to me.” She spoke in earnest, steeling her purpose. Once, not so long ago, she’d welcomed death, waited for it like an old friend. This would be no different. She would not be afraid, but she would be damned if she was ever used against her own free will. Stepping back, she faced the High King of Summer in his entirety. In this, she would remain unbreakable. She would not falter.
Tiernan’s eyes widened in understanding. Devastation crashed through him, and the solid weight of his anguish ripped right into her.
“Vow to me on this day that you will be the one to take my life. The moment you know, the second you realize we stand no chance against her, take your blade and end me. I would rather die knowing I love you, then have her use me against all that we love.”
“No.” Tiernan choked the word out, his complexion turning ashen. “No. I cannot.”
The witch thread binding them scoured her wrist, pulsing.
“You must,” she demanded. “I will not be her weapon.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, turning away from her.
“Tiernan.” Maeve reached out, grabbing his arm, forcing him to look at her. When he opened his eyes again, the twilight had dimmed, the flecks of sunlight diminished completely. “You know it is my power she seeks. Coupled with thevirdis lepatite, she will be unstoppable.”
He paled. “Maeve…”
His heart fractured, shattering her own into a thousand pieces. But Faeven’s survival couldn’t depend upon broken hearts and anguished souls. Duty would prevail above love. Always.
“A queen worthy of her name would make such a sacrifice, my lord.” Maeve rolled her shoulders back, lifting her chin. Power throbbed around her, raising her hair from her shoulders,casting the Vista in a rosy gold hue. Her magic surrounded them in a swell of intensity and the tattoos marking her skin glowed, illuminating her from within. She was not just an Archfae. She was the Dawnbringer, a demigoddess whose soul had lived a thousand lives. Maeve leveled her mate with a poignant stare. “Vow it.”
Tiernan inhaled sharply, his gaze hardening, growing colder with each passing second. He dropped to his knees before her, never once looking away, and held out his hand. Standing before him, they clasped one another’s wrists.
“I, Tiernan Velless, vow on this day that if Faeven falls to the wrath of Parisa, I will be the one to end your life.”
Tendrils of radiant magic flowed from Maeve toward Tiernan, binding his wrist in a Strand of golden pink roses.
He lowered his head. “I will die without you.”
Maeve helped him rise to his feet as her magic ebbed, as she sought the threads of their love through the bond, channeling all of her affection, her devotion, into him. She stepped into him, placing her hand over his heart. “I will forever live in your soul.”
“It won’t be enough,” Tiernan muttered. “It will never be enough.”
“Then make it enough.” Maeve rose up on her toes, locking her arms around his neck and pulling him close. His hands remained on her waist, unmoving. “Kiss me, my lord. Do not allow her to steal these moments from us.”
Not when they might be our last, she wanted to say.
Tiernan obliged her at first, pressing his mouth to hers. The muscles of his shoulders bunched beneath her palms, the tension rolling off of him in waves of pained remorse.
“Claim me,” she whispered, running the tip of her tongue along the seam of his lips. Coaxing him.
Finally, he yielded, allowing her entry. He slanted his mouth across hers, exploring. Tasting. Their tongues slid over oneanother in a long, languid kiss. Slow and deliberate. As though he meant to cherish her. To worship her.
