Viktor drew a slow breath.
Truth left him with the exhale.
“Ten years ago.”
By the stars…
Juliet turned to Amerei.
“A Ruakite lives in silence—until fate demands the flame. Your betrothed has suffered long, Amerei, but suffering has not broken him. He is stronger than he knows.”
The pull between them surged. Amerei felt it in her chest, in her blood, the ache to step into him, to claim the fire she knew was hers. But still she waited. Juliet’s blessing mattered. She was the bridge between their worlds—the only mother Amerei had known, the only woman before her to have loved a Ruakite.
Juliet lifted her chin toward Viktor.
“Send fire.”
He raised his hands, palms opening like an offering. Flame leapt to life, flickering between them.
“Send the wind to find your betrothed,” she ordered.
“Ten paces to my right.”
Juliet smiled, stepping toward the window.
“Stir the sky,” she said. “Drop lightning on the eastern cliff.”
Líri?
Viktor hesitated.
His lips parted, but no words followed.
Juliet’s tone gentled. “You are indeed new to this.” She touched his arm. “I look forward to watching you grow.”
She turned at that, hand to the doorknob, and added, “Have an elf braid your hair before the handfast. You make a fair effort—but it must be tighter on the sides.”
“I will, my lady.”
She inclined her head, pulling the door open. “The blindfold stays on.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Amerei answered quickly.
She waited until the door shut fully, silence settling around them—
She flew into Viktor’s arms.
His lips claimed hers in a single breath, heat surging through her as he pulled her against him. He smelled of leather, of cypress and cedar, of flame. The familiar wildness of him wrapped around her, steadying her as much as it unraveled her.
Her hands fisted in his braids, strands falling like midnight across her fingers. She wanted to pull harder, to feel the weight of him resist her, to know the strength that could crush armies yet bent so carefully for her.
She pressed her mouth to his jaw, to the curve of his throat. His stubble rasped against her lips, startling and thrilling all at once. He was so solid—so real—that she almost laughed for the ache of it.
“I thought you’d never come,” she breathed, the words catching on his skin.
“I’m here.”
The silken robe scrunched beneath his hands as he drew her closer. His warmth wrapped around her like a cloak, his heartbeat steady beneath his woolen mantle.
