“I heard her too,” Arach cut me off. “Thank you, Faerie, but I'm sure you can understand why I'm still worried. Vervain's fate may be certain but there are several paths to it, are there not?”
Faerie was silent for a few minutes before she said,That is true; the path toward her fate could be altered. But what must be, will be, no matter what some Greek god does. Trust in your destiny, Vervain.
I think I'd rather just trust in my ability to kill him, I said.
That is also an option.
Chapter Four
Arach refused to accept “I'll remind you” as a solution. He insisted that we were faeries, and as such, we had access to magic that was far superior to that of any god. He spent hours trying to come up with a spell that would protect our family. He even thought about calling the High King and asking for Cian's assistance, but I talked him out of it.
“King Cian's solution will be to close the realm,” I pointed out. “And even if we tell him not to, he might get spooked enough to do it anyway to protect what he treasures most.”
“Lugh,” Arach whispered.
“Right; Cian won't want to lose his son,” I agreed.
“The amount of lives you've touched is phenomenal,” Arach said tenderly as he stroked my face.
“Which means that this god can do a lot of damage by simply changing my path,” I said.
“We're stronger than he is,” Arach said firmly. “I have faith in our love; it's no simple affection. We have something that can survive any trauma.”
“How?” I shook my head.
“I carry you in my soul, A Thaisce,” Arach whispered before he leaned in to kiss me. “No one can take you from me completely.”
“Blood magic,” I said eagerly. “If we can't find a spell to stop Nyx, then maybe we can work a smaller one to help us hold onto our love.”
“A soul bond like you forged with the others,” Arach concluded. “I don't know why we haven't done one before.”
“Because we are connected in other ways, and we never felt the need.”
“Now, we have the need,” Arach said. “And it's a good thing that we waited because we can alter this spell into something that will help us survive this.”
“Blood to Heart?” I asked.
“No; not a god spell.” Arach shook his head as he pulled me close. “We are Fey.”
Arach lowered his lips to mine and kissed me savagely; so savagely that he cut my lip. As my blood and recent memories poured into Arach, I bit at him and savored the same from him. Magic rose around us as Arach began to weave a spell; murmuring Fey words against my lips. Then he pulled away to stare into my eyes.
“If we are parted, we shall be drawn together again, and when we meet, the sound of our names will remind us of who we are to each other,” Arach declared. “I with yours, and you with mine. Your name is burned into my soul, Vervain.”
“And your name is burned into my soul, Arach,” I said.
As I spoke his name, I did feel a burning sensation in my chest. It wasn't painful—dragons like fire—but it felt as if it sank deeper than my bones; deeper than anyone could touch.
“I love you, A Thaisce,” Arach said. “Forever; wherever that forever takes us.”
Chapter Five
I spent a bittersweet night with the Fire Fey and my family; gathering memories like flowers and praying that they would last. But flowers wither and prayers don't work for gods; no one's listening. By morning, it was all blurring together as memories do, and I knew that even if nothing were to change, I couldn't possibly remember every aspect of the night before. Except for Arach; I vividly remembered the love we shared later that night. We came close to burning the bed again.
As time in Faerie caught up with the God Realm, Arach and I gathered the children together for our goodbye. And this goodbye would be real for us; we all knew that it might be our last one. It broke my heart that my boys had to face this with Arach and me; that I couldn't pretend that everything was all right for them. That's what a parent is supposed to do; make the world seem like a safe place, even when it isn't. But the twins had faced adversity—and saved us from it—before they'd taken their first breaths; their magic and blood prevented them from having the childhood I would have wanted for them.
“It's okay, Mommy,” Brevyn said, “you're going to do great.”
My son was comforting me; why did that make things ten times worse?
