“I love your hair,” I continue, smiling at the half-dried waves that tumble over his forehead messily. “Though this is new.” I run my fingers over the shadow on his jaw, the stubble there pricking my skin. “I think I like it.”
“Good,” he chuckles, watching my hand move down to his chest and the chain now dripping onto the bed. A different sort of silence falls over us as I look at the ring, the elegant cut of the diamond glinting despite the low light. “I know a lot has happened. I know that the idea of marriage right now—or maybeever—might no longer be appealing because of what that bastard did to you.” His hand reaches out to tip my chin so that I’m looking once more into his eyes. “But if being married to me is still something—”
“Yes,” I interrupt, chewing on my lower lip until Nox’s thumb moves to gently pry it free. I lay my hand over his cheek, blinking back the pressure that builds behind my eyes. “Yes. I want to marry you.” His answering grin is brilliant—incandescent—as he sits up and undoes the necklace’s clasp, pulling the chain through the ring.
He gently takes my hand in his, kissing my knuckle before slowly sliding the ring on my finger. I worry that the sight of a ring at all might take my mind to a darker place, but as I staredown at the pink and green diamonds that flank the center one, all I can think about is what it felt like to put it on for the first time that day in the garden. “I thought it might have been lost forever,” I say quietly, swallowing down that bitter knot at the memory of the night Daje and I were attacked. “When she commanded that they take the ring…” My voice trails off as I tug on that thread, the one that leads to the memory of the voices from that night. “Her voice…”
“Rhea? What is it?” Nox tilts his head, catching my eyes with his.
“That night, on the pathway where we were attacked, there was a woman,” I rasp, my hand trembling as I stare at him. “I couldn’t remember much before, nothing beyond seeing Daje lying on the path unconscious and bleeding, but there was a female, one who commanded that I take the ring off. That sheneededit.”
His jaw hardens as he curls his fingers around mine and brings them to lay on top of his leg. “Did you recognize it?”
“I didn’t at first, and I could still be wrong, but…” I swallow, my stomach souring with the accusation, even if a part of me can’t deny that it’spossible. “I think it was Haylee.”
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Nine: Rhea
Inthewakeofthe revelation that Haylee might have been there the night I was attacked, Nox tells me what she had done while I was gone. How she had insisted, in a way that seemed as if there was no other logical choice, that she and Nox marry. That they appease the council. Exhaustion lingers heavily around my mind, and yet, even as we agree to discussit all in more detail once we are back in the Mage Kingdom, I cannot find rest easily. The thought that Haylee had been deceiving me, deceiving Nox and Bahira, the entire time, makes me uncomfortable with anger and thirsting for a vengeance I had only tasted once before.
I manage to doze off for a little while before the press of Nox’s lips at my shoulder rouses me from sleep. We shower again before we leave, this time painted in the soft yellow glow of early morning light. Nox shampoos my hair and then lowers to his knees so that I can do the same for him. I’m desperate to hold on to one more moment of just us before we thrust ourselves back into the reality we’re running from. It starts with a kiss, soft and sweet and slow. Then I’m delving my hands into his hair and wrapping my leg around his hip as he holds me to him, and together, we steal an intimate moment that is far too rushed.
The ride is just as arduous as it was the day before, stripping us of the ability to engage in conversation as we push the horses well into the night, only pausing twice briefly to let them drink and rest. Without the distraction, my mind wanders, collecting images and memories I’d rather forget as if they are trinkets to be shown off.
I already tried pretending that my hurts didn’t exist, and I had learned the consequences of that action. So as we ride, I try to focus on each memory that rises. But what I don’t account for is theguilt. It twists and contorts each image until I’m left white-knuckling the saddle, my chest heaving with fractured breaths.
When we finally stop to rest, it is well into the night, and though we aren’t quite in the Mage Kingdom yet, the trees grow more thickly here. Daje starts a fire as Nox and Xander guide the horses to drink first before tying them to trees and giving them sacks of grain. Gathered around the flame, we eat a small meal of dried meat, nuts, and fruit before Xander breaks our tired silence.
“If I am to cross the border tomorrow with you, you should heal me now.” I stare at my cousin over the fire as I reach my fingers towards it to warm them.
“Why now?” Nox asks, his arms folded over his chest where he sits at my side.
“While I’m sure that we have enough resources just between the two of you to fend off a decent number of men, it’s in our best interest to avoid as much conflict as possible while crossing. Especially if you want to handle the delicate situation of revealing that there are now mortals who can pass through the Spell. If there is trouble, I don’t want to be a distraction for her.”
“Are you sure youwantto cross?” I ask him, tugging my cloak around my shoulders more tightly as a shiver works over me.
“No,” Xander answers honestly, tossing a small stick into the flames. “But Brisk was right. Staying in the Mortal Kingdom is too dangerous right now. I can figure out how to get communications going again, maybe with your help.” I don’t miss how he gestures to me and not Nox. Neither does Daje, whose eyes shift back and forth between them.
“I’m sorry, but what is the connection here,” Daje asks, a brow lifted as he points from Xander to me. “I mean, I know you are leading the resistance, but—”
“He’s my cousin,” I interrupt, glancing at Nox from the corner of my eye. I had told him before we left the inn about who Xander was to me, and though I had seen a small flash of relief cross his face, Nox had been otherwise unbothered by the reveal. He had cited that being my cousin didn’t absolve Xander of all he had done against me in the king’s name. Considering it had takenmea while to trust Xander, I couldn’t exactly blame him for feeling that way.
“King Dolian had children?” Daje asks, eyes wide.
“He hadachild,” Xander answers, arms folding over his chest as he stands in front of me. He wears a cloak similar to Daje and Nox, except he has the hood pulled up over his head, his onyx hair lost in the shadow it creates. “I am, for better or worse, his single bastard heir.”
“But heir enough,” I reply quietly, and Xander’s expression softens at my words. “Ready?”
He exhales roughly but nods, watching as I lift my already glowing hand. The magic blankets him easily, and though I keep my focus on Xander, ensuring my intention doesn’t stray, I hear Daje stand and step closer, Nox doing the same. Xander’s eyes eventually fall closed as my power pours into him, seeping beneath his skin until he is glowing with it. I realize that this is the first time I’ve healed anyone without the ring on, and just as I begin to wonder how I will know to stop, Ifeelthe moment Xander is healed, and my magic starts to pull back. His veins show through the white light beneath his skin, but then that fades too. When his eyes open again, I’m sure I see white glowing behind them, but then he blinks, and all that remains are those dark irises.
“Do you feel any different?” Daje asks, eyeing Xander like he might shift into another being at any moment.
“A little. It feelswarm.” His brow furrows, a line carving between them. “And like I can take a deeper breath.”
I grin at him, grateful that my magic has done somethinggood.
“We should get some rest,” Nox says, from behind me, his hand finding mine. “I’ll put a shield over us with my magic.”
We all make our way to wool blankets that are spread around the fire, Nox and I settling down on one together as his magical signature flares, and then we are encased in a deep purple dome that covers our small camp on all sides. “Can you hold it while you sleep?” I ask, looking over my shoulder at him. My heartsinks when he doesn’t answer, so I turn until I’m facing him. “Nox, you can’t stay up all night. Why don’t we take shifts?”
