“The charm is very real, as you both know. And relief did help fight it.”
“But?” I prompt her, feeling somewhat guilty when it’s so obvious that she’s still recovering her strength.
“But the connection of a soulmate bond, once accepted, is something that can prevent the charm altogether.”
“How?” Evander and I say nearly in unison.
“Think of the charm like a false mirror of a genuine soul-mate bond—it is trying to recreate the pull. If you do not have that connection already, you are potentially open to receiving it. But, if the bond is there, there is no need for more. Like a peg in a hole, there is no space for other magic,” Aurora explains.
It all begins to make sense. I see the past months with new clarity. When I first arrived in Midscape, I had shut off my senses to such bonds. By trying to ignore them, I had inadvertently made myself more vulnerable. Ever since returning—since knowing the truth of who Evander is and accepting the depths of my love for him—I’ve felt that Conri’s charm has been nonexistent.
“It’s true.” The two words summarize so much. “When I was with Conri earlier, I didn’t feel the barest edge of the charm.”
Evander’s brows tip up slightly in the middle, and his mouth parts with a smile that can only be described as relief. I returnthe expression wholeheartedly.You don’t need to worry about me falling prey to him, I say without words.I am yours, and yours alone.
CHAPTER 39
The restof the day in the grove is spent quietly discussing amongst the three of us—or just Evander and myself as Aurora meditates.
I learn more about the history of this sacred place. The grove is where the first lykin communed with the great wolf spirit underneath the full moon. It is also where Conri will make me his bride. That realization prompts some imaginings of what it might look like. Would I be dressed in finery? Or wear nothing at all?
Of course, I imagined my wedding to Evander when I was young, both the informal ceremony under the redwood and the more mortal one later on where actual vows would be said and rings exchanged. Here would be a fitting place for me to wed, in concept. I would’ve wanted such a ceremony to take place in nature, communing with magics old and new, swearing myself to my partner before gods and spirits alike. But if—when—such a day comes, it will not be to Conri. Nor do I suspect it will be here.
Evander and I will find another redwood to marry beneath, well after we escape from this prison.
The escape plan consumes the majority of our discussion throughout the fading hours. Aurora gives her own input, asshe’s able. Evander and I brainstorm and debate between her moments of consciousness.
As the moon rises, so does Aurora. My feet have long gone numb—I didn’t dare move them while she was recovering—and I stretch them slowly, wincing as feeling returns with pinpricks. But any discomfort I feel is dulled by seeing her revitalized and well.
Aurora takes my hand and squeezes it. “Thank you.”
“You have nothing to thank me for.” I squeeze her hand in return. “I would do it all again, gladly.”
She flashes me a bright smile and I realize how much lighter I feel now that the worry is gone. Relief at having her back to normal floods me. This elation isn’t just from the strengthening of the magic between us… A twinge of pain mingles with the joy and relief at seeing her well, changing up the mix of my emotions. Making it sweet, yet bitter.
Aurora will leave soon. And then I will never see her again. I want so badly to see her leave—to be free. But the mere idea of it is already carving an Aurora-shaped space in my heart. She was one of my first friends in a long, long time.
“We should probably head in.” I turn my attention to the pathway that leads back into Den. “Conri will be waiting for me, and if I can return earlier, rather than later, it would probably be wise.”
Evander and Aurora both sigh in unison, prompting them to lock eyes and share a smirk. The expression even slips onto my own face. Though it’s short lived.
“Trust me, I share the sentiment,” I murmur.
“My apologies, Faelyn. You’re the one who’s enduring the worst of him right now. We shouldn’t be lamenting it,” Aurora says.
“Lament away.” I shrug. “It helps me feel not alone.”
“You will never be alone.” Evander rests his hand on my knee. It’s the most outward contact he’s made all day and my stomach flips. I want to lace my fingers against his and bring them to my lips to kiss his knuckles. But I don’t dare. Judging from the almost tortured knit to his brows, he feels the same.
“Thank you.” The best I can give him is a small smile that I try and pack all of my adoration into. “Besides, you two have served your time suffering at Conri’s hand. It’s my turn to share the burden.”
“If I could make a world where no one had to suffer at the hands of a wolf king, I would.” Evander’s hands ball into fists and relax.
“Perhaps we might,” Aurora says. “If I’m gone from this mortal form, then there will be nothing more for the lykins to fight over. No ring or person that will denote the power of a king.”
“The lykin could return to packs,” I offer optimistically, thinking of his ancestry in the woods. “Every lykin could live as they pleased, with those they pleased, governing themselves in their own way.”
Evander slowly shakes his head. “The wolf king is a scar on the past of my people, but it is also our future. Our ways have been fundamentally changed from that time. The hearts of the lykin look to a king. I do not think it will be any different just because there is no longer a moon spirit to offer a single person power. They will find something different to squabble over.”
