ONE
Wren
Steppingoutoftheshadows and onto Cursina lands sent a chill down my spine.
The first and last time I’d visited Cursina was when I went to the desolate Necromancer village with Kian and Lachlan. But I couldn’t even tell it was the same territory.
Alister, Damien, and I stood at the mouth of a cave nestled at the base of a volcano, and it brimmed with life. Lush grass faded into dirt and stone within the cave, but blooms of flowers surrounded it.
Damien leaned down, brushing his lips against my ear. “All you have to do is say my name, and I’ll be there.”
“Okay,” I breathed as heat spread across my cheeks.
“She won’t be saying your name. She’ll be screaming mine,” Alister purred, crossing his arms as his gaze dragged down the length of me.
Desire sparked in my lower abdomen, and Damien let loose a growl as he grabbed my shoulders to spin me around and captured my lips with his, slipping his tongue in my mouth and tangling it with mine.
My arms wrapped around his neck as I pulled him closer, and he moaned in my mouth as his shadows twined around my legs and parted them, picking me up for my legs to circle around his waist.
Alister huffed. “It's my time.”
Damien’s shadows slipped away as his fingers dug into my butt to keep me up as he broke the kiss. “For now, but all she has to do is say my name, and I’ll be back.”
“Like I said, it’ll be my name she’ll be screaming.” Alister gripped my hips and pulled me off Damien to set me on the ground.
Damien’s lips curved into a wide grin as he faded back into the shadows of the cave. “We’ll see about that.”
“Who says I'm going to be saying anybody's name?” I teased, patting down my skirt.
“I only hope is all.” Alister nodded toward the cave. “This is where I played as a kid all the time. There's a vast amount of crystals in here.” His gaze swept over it, and his eyes twinkled with excitement.
“Show me.” I reached over and laced my fingers through his.
“My father showed me this cave. He said it was my mother's favorite place to be when she was still with my father.”
The sting of his pain ebbed through the bond. “Did Rebeka ever explain more as to why she had to stay away from you for so long?”
“Just that she and her sister were just trying to prevent what's happening now. Their magic is connected to their great grandfather’s, so they wanted to correct the wrongs he did, I guess. I asked why she couldn’t have visited or at least stayed in contact, but she said she had spent her time constantly using magic and searching for the relic while keeping the magic they were connected to hidden.” He shook his head as we stepped into the cave entrance. “It’s ironic that the humans were able to stumble upon it so easily.”
The walls were bumpy stone with fingerlings of tree roots growing throughout, but the deeper we walked, the more the walls were formed with crystals. Crystals of reds, greens, yellows, and blues. They seemed to glow as we passed, illuminating us in beautiful colored lights.
Stalactites hung from the ceiling, and stalagmites protruded from the floors. Small rivulets of water trickled down the stalagmites, plopping onto the cold stone beneath our feet.
I inhaled the stale air, reaching out to run a fingertip along a vein of quartz. The quartz was smooth but slimy with condensation. The cold of it seeped into my body, cooling my core temperature that always spiked around my mates.
The cave was truly beautiful.
“There are a ton of crystals here. There's amethyst and red crystals, high quality green crystals, diamonds… There are so many powerful crystals in here.” The glow of the crystals made his red eyes look hauntingly beautiful, and I squeezed his hand tighter.
“It truly is stunning. I don't blame you for coming in here a lot.”
“These are the crystals that kept me going and growing into adulthood. Especially with my vampiric aging.” He forced out a chuckle. “Meeting you has made my life worth living.”
My heart stuttered as I moved forward and cupped his face, running my thumbs over the scratchy hair on his jaw line. “You don’t mean that. Your life had meaning before me.”
“Maybe, but I wasn’t fulfilled until you.” His hands curled around my wrists and brought my hands down. He brushed his lips over mine slowly, letting his fangs glide over my bottom lip.
Our magic swirled around us, and the crystals brightened. “I love you.”
