I don’t need any more urging. Bolting from the room, I run with certain steps. Weak and woozy, I refuse to falter as I rely on our bond, on that golden link that pulls me ever-closer to Solano.
“I’m here!” I call to him as I turn a corner, then stop dead. He is racing toward me, his massive paws silent on the stone floor as he comes straight for me.
The guards scatter, some of them pressing to the wall to avoid getting trampled by the beast.
I should be terrified of the enormous lion, his golden mane and powerful body. I’m not. I run to him, my arms open wide, my wings flapping furiously as I lift into the air, and he catches me, his arm encasing me in fur and fluff as he wraps a paw beneath me.
“Solano.” I stare into his feline eyes. And for the first time in so, so long, I feel whole.
He licks me with his tongue, and I tingle all over despite the roughness.
“There’s so much I want to tell you.” I press my palms on his warm cheeks. “But I’m …”
“Don’t be afraid.” He’s in my heart, holding me close to him.
I want to say I’m not, that I’m strong. But I can’t. Because I’m terrified. Not of Solano. Not even of Eraldon. But of myself.
“What am I?” I flutter my wings. “What am I now? A broken thing? A living, breathing curse?”
Without warning, he tosses me onto his back and turns, padding down the hall to his chambers. “You are my mate.You are a queen.”
“I’m a seeker.” Saying the words out loud in the day realm seems like a sacrilege, as if I shouldn’t exist here, much less proclaim my presence.
“And a witch, and a changeling, and something more. You’re everything. You can be what you want to be and leave the rest.”
“I don’t understand.” I’m dazed and crying, but my heart sings with joy and belonging.
He gets to his chamber doors, but he can’t fit through. He paws at the wood panels, then huffs.
“Too big and fluffy.” I hug him.
With a pop of magic, he changes, and I fall into his arms.
I wince when my wing gets pinned to my back, but he adjusts. “Better?” he asks.
“Yes.”
He sweeps me into his room and slams the doors behind us. “I want to know everything. Are you hurt? Are you hungry? What do you need?” He sits me on his bed, then kneels in front of me.
A king on his knees for a failed seamstress, a changeling, a seeker.
“I’m so sorry.” I can’t stop the tears that rise anew. “I’m sorry, Solano.”
“You have done nothing to apologize for.” He takes my hands and kisses the backs, then my palms. His lips are so warm, and his touch sends a spark of heat flickering over my skin. “Please don’t cry, my beautiful one. I’m the one who owes the apologies. I never should’ve let him take you.” His eyes flicker feline, his fangs growing longer.
“That wasn’t your fault.” I cup his cheek. “You couldn’t have stopped him. You didn’t know how powerful he’d become.”
“I will never stop regretting it.” His voice is haunted, and he swallows hard. “Never.”
I feel his emotions, all of them floating down our bond like a melody in the air. His sorrow, his remorse—they taste like rain on a windy night.
“Did Eraldon …” His words falter, but I feel his question. I feel all of them, and I want to show him everything that happened to me, every foul second I spent with the seeker king.
“Is there a way for me to show you? For you to see?” I waggle my fingers beside my head in a motion that makes me feel like the old me.
“Yes.” He rises and sits beside me, then pulls me into his lap. “As mates, you can show me your memories.”
I hurt at the thought of him seeing me change, watching as I take all of Eraldon’s lies for truth. Will he see me differently then? Perhaps I’ve been lucky so far with both him and my mother. Neither of them are willing to shun me despite what I am. But if he really sees the monstrous bits of me clearly, will that change?
