A knock echoes through the room, and I instinctively raise my arms to cover myself. Cillian stops the fall of my dress, holding it against my hips.
“What?” he barks out.Impatient.His eyes still on me, he licks his lips.
I can feel the look down to my toes.
“Your Majesties, we need you,” a muffled voice responds from the other side of the door.
He stands, his throat bobbing as if it’s physically painful to help me pull my dress back into place over my shoulders. He gives me one more kiss, his shoulder muscles flexing beneath my palms. Then he eases the door open just enough for him to see who’s outside.
I peek around his bicep to find a smirking Halcya in the hallway. Jealousy flashes through me in a violent rush. I know it’s from the mating bond, but that doesn’t dampen my instinct to scratch out her eyes.
Her smirk falters momentarily when neither of us says anything. “King and Queen Vaylor,” she says, her smilereturning. “I was asked to come find the two of you and bring you to the celebration. I hope I’m not—” her tone is tinged with amusement—"interrupting anything.”
The mocking tone in her voice makes me sneer. She is acting like a friend, not the manipulator that she is. The priestess that came in to destroy lives and prevent prophecies from coming to fruition.
Does she even have the gift of communicating with the Goddess? I can’t imagine Gaia would want to communicate with a High Priestess who is conspiring to stop what she wants.
“Halcya”—Cillian’s voice has turned to ice—“we will be there momentarily.” He begins to forcefully close the door.
“Wait,” she says.
He slowly releases the wind in his chest, and pulls the door back open.
“The Heart Stone.” She holds out a wooden box .
He takes the box and shuts the door in her face.
Cillian hands me the smooth box, beautifully carved and engraved with anN. I run my finger over the initial before slowly folding the top back, exposing the symbol of my birthright. An emerald stone shines brightly in a golden setting. I watch as the flower encased in the elemental jewel constantly shifts, cycling through an array of blossoms.
Cillian lifts the heart stone free. He walks to my back, pulls my hair to one side, and gently slips the pendant on my neck. “We can’t tell them we know yet,” he whispers into my ear as the energy of the gem settles between my breasts.
I lean into him as he nuzzles my neck. “And why is that?”
He pulls back, hearing the need for answers in my voice. He leads me to the driftwood chairs in the corner, and we face one another. “I know, it will be hard. I almost called my mother out then and there, but we can’t. We have to figure out who knows what. My father is probably in on all of it, but I can’t be sureyet. Aiden—if he knew, it could explain why he would want Nova dead. If they find out that we know, anyone that was part of it will try to hide their part. Do whatever they can to make us believe they weren’t part of it.”
He's right. I know he is, but I still don’t like it. I would throw both Kiel and Isolde into the castle’s prison without hesitation if it were up to me. But Aiden… I still need to know if he was the one who killed my sister. If he didn’t, someone else did. It could all still be connected to the lunacy around the prophecy.
And our mate bond!
I smack my hand into the center of his chest. “And when did you plan on telling me that you could speak into my mind?” I almost screech the accusation.
The corner of his lip twitches.
The amusement makes me even angrier. “Seriously, Cillian! Didn’t you think that could mean we were mates? Didn’t you think that was important information?” I feel hysterical from so much information to take in, so many new emotions swirling through me with the mate bond. Plus, coming into my magic. It’s too much.
He cups both sides of my face and kisses my forehead gently. Leaning back just enough to look into my eyes, he pops a shoulder up. “I never knew if you heard me,” he says mildly. “How could it be possible anyway? No king and queen have ever felt the mate bond until the coronation ceremony.”
“Why us? Why are we different?”
“I don’t know.Yet.But when you wanted to confront my mother at the altar, I knew I had to try to stop you. You were my mate. Maybe Icouldspeak to you in your mind.”
“Well, it worked.”
“There were other signs. I always just chalked them up to my desire for you. Did you ever feel the connection we had?” He swallows hard, gaze intent on my lips.
“Yes.” I try to nod, my face still held in his hands. “My magic. Itreactsto you.” I swallow too as those beautiful blue eyes darken.Screw the reception. We can save the world later.
He gives me a seductive smile, like he heard my thoughts. And maybe he did. I still don’t know how this works.
