Elaine nodded thoughtfully. “That would explain the behavior of those from the queen’s court too then. I wondered if the emotions of drunk humans eventually made the fae who shared them act like drunks too.”
“Exactly.” I kissed her hair, then stretched my right leg. “Look.” I traced the vertical line where the scales on the outside met the skin on my inner thigh. “The way it used to progress before I met you, I should have at least a whole new row of scales here by now. But I didn’t get a single new scale since the day they tried to steal you from our hut on the beach.”
“The day when you first connected your tendrils to me,” she whispered, tracing the line of the scales with her finger too.
“According to my calculations, I should’ve lost another tendril at least a week ago too. But the bone never progressed past this vertebra.” I touched the edge of the bones just below the back of my neck.
She gasped, leaning over me to see the bones on my back. “Are you saying the poison stopped progressing then?”
“I think that at the very least, it has slowed down significantly.”
The only thing I’d discovered since that day on the beach was my ability to breathe fire. But that may actually not be new. I could’ve gotten the ability long ago. I just never used it until they enraged me beyond control by taking my Elaine from me.
“There is a great magic in your love, my sweet,” I said. “We definitely don’t need Suhai and his lies to meddle into our lives, which is a good thing because…” I scratched behind my ear. “Well, he’s dead now anyway.”
“He is? Suhai is dead? How do you know?”
“I killed him,” I said simply and explained since she stared at me in shock. “He was at Mazra’s place when I found you. He was one of them.”
She blinked, the deep lines of a frown forming between her eyebrows.
“He came to the doors of our cave,” she said slowly, remembering. “He told me about the solution he said he’d found for you. Something about extending your lifespan by using mine.”
“Only a mating bond can do that,” I said. “But normally, it expands the life of a human to match that of their fae mate, not the other way around.”
“Well, he tried to convince me that he could do it. But…” She moved her eyes to mine. “I didn’t open the door, Timur. I told him I would need to make that decision with you. Then…” She frowned again, dropping her head between her shoulders and rubbing her forehead. “The water…I kept drinking the water, but they laced it with the tea or juice or whatever they used to make me so horny, I lost my mind. I thought I would die. I opened the door…just to stop it all.”
I wrapped her trembling form in my arms and cradled her to my chest.
“It’s over now. I’m here. You’re safe,” I murmured into her hair between soothing kisses.
“And everyone who has wronged you is now nothing but shadows and ash,”I added in my mind with deep, dark satisfaction.
“I…I don’t remember much of what happened after that,” she said in a small voice.
“Mazra and her people took you. I found you with them.” Echo of the loss twisted painfully in my heart. “I learned about you being taken from the man who sold us this house. I flew to get you back, and Ashgate had to fall.”
Her mouth fell open. “What happened to Ashgate?”
“I didn’t get to see its very final moments, but I set the city on fire, and knowing Prince Rha, he finished the rest. The prince is always thorough in his conquests.”
“Prince Rha came with you?” Her astonishment grew.
“He did.” I nodded, stroking her wild hair. “Along with many of his best warriors. We should visit the royal palace soon. I gave your friend my word that I’d bring you to Teneris.”
“My friend?” She blinked, grabbing my hand. “What friend?”
“Dawn.”
“Dawn!” She climbed to her knees before throwing herself into my arms. “Dawn is here? Did you see her? With your own eyes?”
Her excitement burst through my tendrils like fireworks. I laughed, unable to process that much emotion in any other way.
“Yes, my sweet darling, I saw her with my own eyes. I talked to her. She even hugged me.”
She brought a hand to her mouth, trying to contain her excitement. “Oh, Timur, I need to see her. Can we go to the palace right now?”
I glanced down at my straining cock and the undulating feelers of its surrounding cluster.
