Scooping her into his arms, Daemon carried her to the bed, then tucked her beneath her blankets. But when he began to walk away, she grabbed his wrist.
“Stay. Please?”
A soft smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he gently stroked her cheek. “I’m not going anywhere, Auraelia. I just need to shower, then I’ll be right back.”
When she grimaced, Daemon knelt down beside her. “What is it?”
Yawning, Auraelia snuggled deeper into her pillow and pulled the sheets up to her chin. “I don’t like when you call me that… it’s tooformal.”
“It’s your name,” he responded with a small laugh.
“You didn’t use to call me that.”
Auraelia yawned again, and then her breathing evened out, sleep claiming her at last. Daemon stroked her cheek once more before standing and smiling down at her. “As you wish,my star.”
Auraelia had been asleep for a few hours. Snuggled up against his side with her arm draped over his lap while he sat propped up by pillows against her headboard. Other than the sound of her deep breathing, there was a peaceful stillness around them. But not even that could quiet the thought that spun around relentlessly in his mind.
It was my fault.
Although she hadn’t outright said it, Davina was there because ofhim.
Because he thought that with her in the Court of Garnet, he would be able to get away with slipping into Lyndaria unnoticed.
But he was wrong, and he’d never forgive himself for the pain and destruction that his presence had brought to Auraelia and her people.
The one thing that niggled at the back of his mind that he couldn’t quite put his finger on was who was the one reporting back to Davina?
Was it someone in his own court? In Auraelia’s?
Very few people in Kalmeera knew he was going to Lyndaria, and even fewer knew in Auraelia’s court. As far as he was aware, the nobles of the Sapphire Isles believed that he was in Lunaria doing his bi-monthly check-in with the priestesses…which he would eventually have to do.
Taking a deep breath, Daemon looked down at Auraelia’s sleeping form.
He’d idly smoothed her hair with his hands the entire time she slept, and the contented smile on her lips brought a small smile to his own.
Peace.She looked at peace, and he had a feeling that she hadn’t experienced that in a while. He’d do anything to let her hold on to it, even if it was just in her dreams.
When Daemon thought back over everything that happened down at the harbor, his stomach churned. Seeing Xander on the ground with blood pouring out of his face would be etched into his mind forever. But the crazed look on Davina’s face when she realized that his star had outsmarted her to get her brother to safety was priceless.
His star.Goddess, she was impressive. He had no idea what happened on that pier after he’d gotten Xander out—they hadn’t had a moment to talk about it—but he knew it had to have been amazing.
He hadn’t wanted to leave Auraelia to deal with Davina alone. He’d fully intended to be there with her for the entire fight, fighting by her side—goddess knows she didn’t need anyone to fight her battlesforher, and she would have killed him if he’d tried.
The moment Davina moved out of the way to reveal Xander, he justknewwhat he would need to do. What he wouldhave todo so Auraelia could concentrate on getting her cousin out of the city and away from her people.
He couldn’t explain it any more than he would have been able to then. All he knew was that it was as if he and Auraelia had become connected in a way that he couldn’t describe. That he could read her so well that she wouldn’t have to utter a single word. And in the moment, it seemed as if she’d felt it too. She somehow justknewthat he would understand her when she said ‘now.’
Resting his head back on the headboard, Daemon closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
He needed to apologize to her for—albeit unknowingly—causing her so much grief and pain.
A small moan came from Auraelia as she stirred in his lap—her arms reaching above her head as her legs extended in a long stretch. When he looked down, she was gazing up at him with a sleepy smile on her face.
“Hi.”
“Hello, my star. Did you rest?”
Chapter Nineteen
