I blinked up at him, forcing myself back into the memory I’d lived too many times and realized he was right. Knowing him now for the monster he was, if he could’ve taken it on his own, he would’ve. It was the only reason Thaddeus hadaskedme to do it again.
“Please, tell me you understand.” Endymion’s clipped words drew my attention back to him.
I grabbed his arm. “They’ll kill the others if I don’t give in. I can’t—” My words were cut off as something shifted beneath my feet. Looking down, I saw thin wisps of magic begin to rise through the glittering shield.
“Endymion,” I breathed, now holding onto him for dear life.
“You can,” he said, stepping past both of our fear as mist began to pooling around our feet. “Youmust.Even if he kills every last one of us. Do you hear me?”
I shook my head furiously, tears blurring my vision. “My magic will come back before then. I’ll fight him,” I said, grasping at straws.
His head tilted and his eyes softened, the combination breaking something in me. Caressing my cheek with a thumb, he said, “One day, Little Star. But not today. Not against a High Lord.”
My tears slipped past their confines as the implication of what he was asking me to do sank in.
He placed his forehead against mine, enveloping me in his deeply familiar scent. “I need you to promise me that you’ll stay alive. That you’ll keep the spark safe.”
I swallowed, unable to utter the words that would undoubtedly sacrifice everyone I cared for.
Heartbreak stared back at me through his depthless eyes. “Nyla, please,” he begged in helpless desperation—and gods did I understand those feelings all too well.
“I can’t,” I croaked.
He closed his eyes, and I felt his anguish. Opening them, he brought his other hand to my face and cradled me as he bore into my soul, his cerulean depths swirling with endless emotion.
I didn’t have to look down to know the tendrils were creeping up my legs as a cool, sharp tingling followed in their wake.
We had seconds. Maybe more.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you, Little Star,” he whispered, and the crack in his voice had my own hand reaching up to caress his cheek.
“Don’t come for me,” I said. “You have a chance to get back to Caius. And who knows, with my fae body…” I let the words drop. Maybe my new body would survive losing my powers, or maybe my very essence was the spark as Endymion had claimed, and surviving was a fool’s hope. Either way, if I survived without the spark, I was of no value.
“I can’t,” he said, echoing my answer, and I knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t everything to save me.
No, he’d never abandon me.
My legs were going numb as the ground claimed me, forcing Endymion down to his knees—and I could tell the intrusion of magic ripping through his shield was hurting him.
His eyes dipped to my lips, then back to my eyes, and the place in my chest that had continually ached, bucked then, as if stirred to life.
My breath hitched as he ran a thumb along my bottom lip, the intimate contact making me feel things I thought long dead. The corner of his mouth pulled up a fraction, and then, he leaned in. I closed my eyes waiting for the soft caress of his lips to press against mine, and the flutter in my chest went from want, to a sudden, all-consuming need, like promised rain to a thirsting desert.
I was suspended in time. The warmth of his breath caressing my skin, and I almost moaned at its promise. Parting my lips, I tilted my head up and was instantly bereft when cool air nipped at me instead.
Confused, I opened my eyes, and my heart stopped dead in its tracks as I found myself staring into honey-brown eyes, their light color a stark contrast to his commander who’d just held me in his arms.
“Hello, Nyleeria,” Wymond crooned.
Chapter 56
Elsewise Engaged
Ifelt like I’d fallen through ice into the frigid lake below as I stood before the High Lord of the Autumn Court. I didn’t dare look away as he stared down at me from a few paces away like I was a pestilence he needed to eradicate.
The hate that wafted off of him was strong enough I swore I could taste its acridness, and I unconsciously took a step back. I didn’t have to look around to know I was in the Great Hall Endymion told me I’d be stolen away to, the sound of the rain pelting the glass ceiling and walls was almost deafening.
I’d experienced a High Lord’s power before. Had been drawn to it. Had flinched when Caius’ had lost control out of anger. But I’d never experienced its ire turned on me, and stars above, it was enough to bring any being—mortal or not—to their knees.
