He set a finger on my lips. “Auria. I don’t have much time. I can feel the shift in magic on me. But I want you to know—”
A shimmering portal opened directly behind him, and a soldier stepped out with a chained set of metal wrist cuffs.
Bylur pressed his forehead against mine. “I want you to know I love you. As much as I am capable of love, I’ve given my heart to you. As long as I live, you can reach its magic. Read my journal.”
As long as he lives? Did he expect to die?
His lips just grazed mine one last time before the soldier pulled him away from me. “By order of Queen Daniera of Kerebos, you’re to join her in her palace immediately. Cuffed.”
Bylur extended his arms and, as the cuffs snapped in place, the shadows swirling around us disappeared, as if the cuffs snuffed them out. His gaze landed on me, and I couldn’t stay away.
I closed the few steps to him in record time and threw my arms around his waist. “I love you too.”
He looped his chained wrists over my head and pulled me against his chest in a tight hug. “You shouldn’t have done that. I don’t know how to let go of you twice.”
The soldier gripped my arm. “Queen Daneira will accept your gift of a human slave, but I’ll take her though the portal.”
In an instant, Bylur’s arms no longer held me close to him. He smacked the guard, who fell away from us in a swaggering backstep. Bylur waved me back and shifted closer to the guard. “If you value your life, Queen Daneira will never hear ofmyhuman.”
The soldier stepped back again, an angry glare making it clear that he preferred his captive to not fight back, but that he also knew he was outmatched, even with Bylur cuffed. He nodded. “Fine.”
“Say the words,” Bylur growled.
The soldier marched up to Bylur and sneered the words in his face. But he said them. “I will not do or say anything to tell or hint at this human’s existence, or to reveal yourfeelingsfor her.”
Bylur nodded his approval. Then he turned to me and bowed. My stomach flipped and tried to crawl into my throat. He wasn’t really leaving. Not now. As he rose from his bow, his bright blue eyes held mine, and I replayed his words in my mind.
I love you. As much as I am capable of love, I’ve given my heart to you…
And then he stepped through the portal.
And was gone.
Chapter 26: Bylur
Walking away from Auria felt like ripping out the most vibrant pieces of my soul and trying to exist without them.
But I couldn’t stay with her. Daneira’s magic—my own power twisted back on me—was already pulling on me hard enough to rip me apart. The portal opened into her throne room, where she perched on a marble chair that sparkled like ice.
“Oh, Bylur,” she crooned. “I do hate seeing you in chains.”
“Then unlock them and send me home,” I bit out.
She laughed, an icy laugh that held no humor. “I don’t hate seeing you chainedthatmuch.” She leaned forward with a conspiratorial expression. “But I’ll tell you a secret. I’d rather marry you than keep you bound.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and settled my face into a blank, stony expression. “Obviously. Since this all began with your refusal to leave my castle months ago.”
She tapped a finger on the arm of her throne. “Yes, well, it did take you longer to get here than I expected. I thought your ancient honor would keep you from sharing a bed with someone you hadn’t married.”
She waited for me to respond, but I kept my mouth closed. She wouldn’t get to know anything about Auria, and she could think whatever she wanted about me.
After an awkward moment, she said, “Now that that’s all behind us, are you ready to marry me? We will be the most powerful rulers the four realms have ever seen. Imagine Kalshana and Kerebos’s united power!”
She stared at me expectantly. Did she really think I would want to wed her after she tried to trap me in a marriage?
She kept waiting, leaning toward me as if I wanted to speak to her.
“No,” I finally said. “I have no intention of marrying you.”
