The tairen broke through the clouds into a deep, narrow gorge and raced north, following the rushing river at the bottom of the ravine. They zigzagged through the river’s bends and curves, then flew up over a series of breathtaking white waterfalls and emerged in a broad basin at the center of five enormous peaks. Crystal Lake dominated the basin, its waters a clear gemstone blue that reflected the five soaring, snowcapped mountains ringing it like a crown.
An abandoned city hewn from the gold-veined gray rock of the mountains rose up on the southwestern shore, seeming to sprout from the mountainside. Clearly Fey but falling to ruin. Beautiful and melancholy in its gilded gray solitude, it stood like a monument to a once great race.
«Dunelan,» Rain said. «The first lost city of the Fey. Abandoned near the end of the Second Age except as a military outpost. Not because its Source died, like in Lissilin, but because our people were too few to remain. I suppose we should have known then our race was in decline.»
Rain’s and Steli’s wings angled to slow their speed and they alit on the rocky shores of the lake just north of the ancient city. Steli padded to the water’s edge and stuck her nose near the surface, purring as she inhaled the heady aroma of magic that perfumed the air above the lake. «Strong Source. Very powerful. Good for Rainier-Eras and Ellysetta-kitling.»
She stuck a paw in, then gave a squawk of outrage. «Cold!» Images of a white tairen encased in icicles accompanied the exclamation.
Ellysetta laughed as she slid off Rain’s back. “It’s a mountain lake, Steli. What did you expect?”
Steli tossed her head and sniffed. She didn’t like being laughed at. A moment later, a calculating gleam entered her bright eyes. She drew a deep breath and breathed tairen fire on the water’s surface, holding the flame until the water steamed to near boiling. She padded into the hot water, head held high, tail swishing with feline superiority, and plunked down just off the shore. “Mmmmrrrr,” she purred.
A cooked fish, boiled by the sudden heating of the water, bobbed to the surface. Steli’s whiskers twitched. She sniffed the floating fish experimentally, then lapped it up with a large pink tongue. Clearly, she liked what she tasted, because she boiled a wider circle of water and paddled around, slurping up the tasty fish treats as they bobbed to the surface.
“Shall we join her?” Rain asked. He’d Changed back to Fey form and summoned an Earth weave to shed his golden war steel. The armor, boots, and blades re-formed in neat piles beside his bare feet, but the magic of the tairen-forged steel left a gleaming aura swirling around him that amplified his natural Fey luminescence. The Fey king’s war steel, once donned, could never be returned to the Feyreisen’s palace in Dharsa until the Fey were victorious or the wearer of the armor died. Until then, even when Rain removed the armor to sleep or bathe, a part of its magic remained with him.
His lean, well-muscled form glowed with the silvery luminescence that, even unenhanced, had earned the Fey their mortal appellation, the Shining Folk. Black hair, without a hint of curl, hung in fine, silky strands down to his shoulder blades, framing a face of both indomitable strength and breathtaking masculine beauty. Muscles, lean but well-defined and hard as stone, rippled beneath smooth, gleaming flesh. If Lord Brandis, the god of war, ever chose to take physical form, Ellysetta thought he would look like Rain did now, magnificent and male, dazzling and deadly.
She swallowed and tamped down a familiar, visceral surge of lust, quickly directing her attention to her own garb. Time enough for matingafterthey rejuvenated themselves in the Source. She could feel the weariness beating at Rain and the emotions swirling so close to the surface beneath the too-thin layers of his self-control.
“Aiyah,” she managed to agree. The word came out throaty, unconsciously seductive. She coughed twice and added with a grin, “But let’s keep our distance. I don’t fancy swimming in fish stew.” Earth came to her call with a green flash. Leathers and steel fell to the ground in haphazard piles.
She glanced up in time to see Rain’s eyes rake down her slender body and spark with a hunger as powerful as her own. He took one step towards her, intent stamped on his face. And despite her determination to see to Rain’s health first, a thrill of pleasure shot through her. It never ceased to amaze her that all the love, passion, and devotion of this incredible man belonged wholly and eternally to her. Her. Ellysetta Baristani. Who would ever have believed it?
In her mind’s eye she still was, and perhaps always would be, that shy, gawky, rather unattractive girl who’d never fit in. Yet even when the glamour set upon her at birth had disguised her true Fey heritage, Rain had always seen beneath the mortal guise. And when he looked at her with such simmering intensity, she felt like a different woman. Not Ellie Baristani, but Ellysetta Feyreisa, a shining Fey queen every bit the equal of her exceptional mate.
“On second thought,” Rain growled, taking another step closer, “swimming can wait.”
One brow arched. “Who says we have to choose?” Her lips curved in a siren’s smile, and with a low, challenging laugh, she bolted. She raced across the stony shore on nimble feet and dove for the lake with an Air-powered leap that sent her soaring gracefully half a tairen length from the shore before she plunged into the Fire-warmed waters.
Magic hit her like a lightning bolt, robbing her of breath. She kicked to the surface, gasping and tingling all over. Rain was on her the instant she came up for air.
“Rain, wait. There’s something—”
She didn’t get to finish her sentence. His arms wrapped around her, dragging her close. His lips fused to hers. The long, lean lines of his flesh—hotter than the waters Steli had boiled with her tairen flame—pressed against Ellysetta’s, burning stone beneath seductive velvet flesh.
Coherent thought evaporated.
Sensation raced through her…sizzling, electric. Her flesh was afire. Always when Rain’s skin touched hers, she felt his emotions as if they were her own; but now, with the waters of the Source around them, the feeling increased exponentially, instantly forming a harmonic. His desire feeding hers…hers feeding his. He breathed, and her lungs expanded as if the breath were her own. She brushed her hand across his skin and her flesh felt the caress. She dragged her nails across his nipple and her own sprang instantly erect.
“Oh, dear gods.” She gasped. Her womb clenched. In an instant, her flesh grew swollen, burning and aching…needing.
Ellysetta couldn’t tell which feelings were Rain’s and which her own, and she didn’t care. Her arms wrapped around his neck; her legs locked around his waist. Her muscles contracted, dragging him so tightly against her it was as if some part of her mind thought she could physically fuse their bodies together through the sheer strength of her embrace.
«Ke vo san…ke vo lanis…ke vo arris….» I love you…I want you…I need you. The words chanted in her head with the beat of her pulse, repeating over and over. His voice—or was it hers?—grew more insistent with each utterance. «Veli ti’ku…Vo’shani ti’ku.» Come to me. Give yourself to me.
The connections of their still uncompleted truemate bond flared with the same rhythmic pulse until she could almost see the threads and their intricate, tightly woven pattern, until she could almost see what was missing and how to spin it. Her dazed mind tried to grasp the image, process it, but sensation overwhelmed her senses. Concentration dissolved, thoughts scattered. The image of their bond flared with sudden brightness, and its pattern merged into a single blinding light.
She could hardly breathe. Then his body surged up, plunging deep into hers, and all she could think was,Breathe? Who needs to breathe?They flung back their heads on a mutual shout of pleasure as her body shattered and his followed.
“What in the Haven’s name just happened?”
Dazed and still trembling from the overload to her senses, Ellysetta floated in Rain’s arms, her limp body draped across his, incapable of autonomous movement. She could barely think straight, let alone summon the strength to actuallymove.
Rain’s chest rippled as he dragged in a shuddering breath. “I don’t know.” His voice came out hoarse, raspy. He swallowed, then tilted his chin against his chest to glance at her. A grin twitched at the corners of his mouth. “But I hope it happens again.”
She started to shove his shoulder, decided it was too much effort, and settled for a scowl instead. “Be serious. That wasnotnormal.”
