Page 133 of The Songs of Fate (War of Fate)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Targets

I danced with Ales until the last moments of night gave way to dawn. All night, the aether played around us, lighting up Eir with sparkling drops of water that swayed and sang to the beat of the island band. When exhaustion started weighing down my body, Ales carried me home. I didn’t remember falling asleep, but I closed my eyes as he lifted my feet from the aether over the stream in the pre-dawn light.

When I woke up, the suns rose high in the sky.

I stumbled out of my room in search of food and Lana. I had to tell her about last night. It was the strangest, sexiest night of my life, and I hadn’t even kissed the man.

I found Lana threading feathers onto the end of an arrow. A pile of a dozen arrows already completed sat stacked on the wooden floor next to her. Seeing the weapons made me want to hunt, and not animals…

“Charlie?”

“Kinda.”

Lana stood up, watching my movements.

“I am Her and She is me. It’s Us… stronger than either alone… I think. Neither speaks or feels without the other. It’s… a strange feeling, I’ll say that.”

“How?”

“Ales. Last night was…”

“I saw.” She smiled as my cheeks flushed.

“Yeah. Uh… well. He brought both halves together, in a weird way. I have Charlie’s thoughts and memories, and emotions but I also know other things—Valkyrie things. And the power is… undeniable.” I knew those arrows would only pierce my armor if less than twenty feet away. I also understood exactly how to shoot a long bow, and I thought I could do it very well.

I twisted my hair up into a knot, preparing to help Lana with the arrows when she gasped and pointed at my shoulder, then began giggling uncontrollably.

“What’s so—” I reached for the spot on the apex of my shoulder. It felt tender.

When my fingers glided over the area, overwhelming pleasure shot from the spot down to my belly, taking my breath away. I craned my head to look at the area. A round glowing splotch marred my skin.

Ales gave me a hickey!

I remembered all of last night, especially his bite, in vivid detail, but I had thought it would heal like all my wounds. In a way, I hadn’t wanted it to. But the wound was made from aether. It wouldn’t be disappearing anytime soon. I couldn’t find a single part of me embarrassed about it, or last night. It had been too perfect to be ashamed of.

Except for one thing… Logan wasn’t there.

“Stop laughing at me if you want any help with those arrows. Better yet, I’ll tell Danny you’d like one too.”

Lana shrugged and tossed me a pile of arrows to be sharpened and feathered. She didn’t giggle anymore but she kept grinning while she tied the feathers to ends.

Is she grinning about Danny or my hickey… definitely Danny.

“What does Talon think about Danny spending time with his sister, or does he not know?”

“Talon is happy if I am happy, but thankful it is not Cri.”

“Talon doesn’t like Cri?”

“No. They fight together, but Cri and Talon disagree.”

“On what?”

“Staying here.”

“Talon wants to leave?”

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