Page 18 of Beyond the Mountain (Fae's Captive 4)

“I can’t take that.”

“It is mine to give.” She fastens it around my neck. “Wear it well, and remember me.” She presses her forehead to mine then backs away and begins to shine, her gryphon form emerging as she disappears in a bright flash of white.

I stroke the stone and swallow my tears for Delantis. She’s right. I will see her again. I can feel it in my heart. But right now, I have work to do.

I square my shoulders and face the magic. “Tell me how to get back. Do I just climb the rope?”

It stops dancing and motions me closer. “Come here, winter queen, and I’ll tell you a secret about the child of many worlds.”

I lean toward it, and the magic cups its hands next to my ear and whispers.

18

Leander

I hold her.

The walls quake with the ice of my fury and loss.

I hold her.

The ceiling cracks and falls in chunks, obliterating soldiers as my Phalanx jumps out of the way.

I hold her.

“Leander.” Beth rushes to my side, her wide eyes focused on my beloved. “She isn’t … Is she? Is she dead?” She takes Taylor’s hand and moans, her eyes filling with tears.

“We have to get out of here.” Valen wakes, his voice weak. “The mountain top is caving in.” He casts a glance up the stairs. “Shathinor is dead. It’s time to go.”

“Go.” I stroke Taylor’s cheek, wiping away the last of her tears.

“Leander, come—”

“Go, I said.” I don’t raise my voice. I don’t move to leave. I don’t do anything, except …

I hold her.

My love, my mate, my heart, my soul. Her end is also mine. I will go to the Ancestors with her. It’s not a road she should walk alone.

Gareth runs up, bloodied and battered, but alive. “Leander, if we stay here, we die.”

I look up at him, my hollow heart beating a funeral march. “Don’t you see? I’m already dead.”

“No.” He holds his hand out for me.

I don’t take it. “All of you go, leave this place now before it’s too late.”

Brannon and Thorn walk up the steps, both of them covered in gore with an injured Gray held between them. “We’re not leaving—”

“I command you as your king to leave me here. Go back to the winter realm. Choose a new king.”

“No.” Gareth reaches for me again. “You are not going to die here.”

“Did you not hear me, old friend?” I shake my head, and my loss is reflected in his barren face. “I’m already dead. Now, go. I command it. Your oath to me demands obedience.”

Beth wails and hugs Taylor tight, her heaving sobs telling of a loss almost as great as my own. And I suppose losing the only friend you ever had can break you almost as badly as losing a mate.

Gareth struggles to my side and sits on the stair next to me. “Go, friends. I will see our king to the Ancestors.”

“No, you won’t.” I jerk my chin at Beth. “This one needs your protection. Take her with you.”

“What will you do?” Gray asks as a hunk of ceiling shatters behind them, the mountain top shaking more violently.

I stroke Taylor’s face. “I will hold her. Now go. I demand it as your king, and I call on your sacred oaths to obey me.”

The tang of magic coats the air, and the oath takes hold. Gareth grits his teeth, but he rises, a trickle of blood flowing from his nose as he tries to fight his promise. But it’s too strong. The old magic binds us, enforcing his vow no matter how he wants to disobey.

“Leander.” His anguish should move me. It would have, before. But now? I can feel nothing but her loss, sense nothing but emptiness, and care for nothing but seeing her again in the Glowing Lands.

He takes a knee before me as do the others, all of them bowing their heads.

“My friends, it has been my honor to serve with you. No king has had a more loyal court.” I pull Taylor closer as Beth releases her hold. “I will see you all again on the other side. Long may you live in this world.”

“My king.” Their voices meld into one as they rise.

“Beth.” Gareth holds out his hand, and she takes it.

“When you see her, tell her I love her.” Beth sniffs. “And that I’m still mad about not getting to watch the mating.” Her small laugh turns to tears, and Gareth pulls her to his chest.

“Shhh, changeling.” He kisses the crown of her head.

A landslide of rock takes out the right side of the throne room, burying our former cage in boulders and shards of sharp stone.

“Hurry,” I urge.

They turn, their shoulders low, their hearts heavy. But again, I can’t feel anything. She took my soul with her. I am empty.

Gareth gives me one more long look, and I know he wants to say more, to convince me to come with him. But the oath forces him to turn his back on me, because above all, Gareth is honorable. He and the others disappear into the corridor as more stone falls, crushing the bodies left behind, a few of the undead moaning.

I return my gaze to my beautiful mate. “I thought we would have more time.” I kiss her forehead. “Centuries of learning each other. Children.” I choke up at that, thinking of a babe with her wild blue eyes and my dark hair.

More stone falls revealing the night sky, the stars close enough to touch.

“I know so much about you but not enough.” I rock her gently. “But I will see you soon, and we can be together. Just not here.”

The mountain trembles and cracks as I send my ice deep into its core, breaking the stone and ending my suffering.

19

Taylor

My chest hurts. Bad. The next time I stab myself, I’m definitely not doing it through the heart. Sheesh.

Leander’s strong arms hold me close as my eyes open, and I inhale his winter scent. He’s singing again, the same song he serenaded me with as I slept in his arms at the Vundi stronghold. I love the sound of his voice. But the sound of the throne room crumbling around us? Not so much.

“Leannnrr.” I speak against his chest and push back.

He jumps, his song ending as he stares down at me with wide, haunted eyes.

“Taylor?” He says it so softly, as if afraid I might disappear if he speaks too loud.

“It’s me.”

“How?” He shakes his head.

“The bond. Just like Delantis said. Our bond saved me.”

“I don’t understand. But I don’t care.” With a yank, he pulls me to his lips and crushes me in a kiss that sets my soul on fire, the bond surging to life. I hold onto it tight, determined to never let it go again.

I wrap my arms around him, tears coating my cheeks as I breathe him in. My love. My everything. He runs his hands down my wings, and I shiver. Then he pulls back and inspects my chest.

“Healed?” He runs his fingers along the spot where the obsidian blade pierced me. “Completely healed.”

“Magic.” I wiggle my fingers and green appears.

“You have healing magic?”

“A little gift straight from the otherworld.”

The mountain rumbles, the back of the room collapsing and blocking the corridor.

“What happened?” I look around at the destruction, all of it coated with frost.

He cups my face in his palms. “You died.”

I glance at the veins of ice that run through the floor, cracking the dark gray stone. “So you brought the mountain down?”

He shrugs and kisses me again, his need for me overwhelming and comforting all at once. I share the same desire. The same elation at being able to be with him again.

“What did you have to give for this?” He presses his palm to my heart to feel it beat and peers at the soulstone necklace.

“Doesn’t matter.” I try to get to my feet, but he stands and lifts me in his arms.

“It does matter, and you will tell me. But first, I have to get you to safety. I’m not letting you out of my sig

ht ever again.”

“I’m grounded?”

“Yes.” He kisses my forehead then frowns at the blocked corridor. “I need to find another way out.”

“I think I have an idea.” I kick my legs. “Put me down.”

“No.”

“Leander.” I smack his chest. “Put me down.”

He growls low but sets me on my feet.

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