“Have you forgotten me already, Honey?” she said with a small smirk.
The Cherub Commander squealed and dove into Maura’s arms, nuzzling her neck. Maura laughed through sudden tears.
“I’ve missed you! Are Pudge and Huck all right?” she asked.
Honey nodded enthusiastically, his giggles echoed through the air, turning into incoherent babbles.
Releasing him, he fluttered to Maura’s eye-level and outstretched a small arm. His expression suddenly hardened, eyes locking in on her swollen cheek. A low and feral growl escaped his tiny body.
“It’s a long story,” Maura muttered, face slightly falling. Her eyes glanced up toward the Crystal Castle. “I need to see him. Can you take me?”
Honey firmly nodded, then grabbed her hand and rifted.
Only Cherubs could rift without using a portal. No one knew how or why, but they seemed to like it that way. Cherubs liked keeping secrets.Cheeky little devils.
Deep laughter echoed through the lush gardens as they arrived.
“You’re too stiff!” a sultry voice teased. “Relax your muscles before taking aim. I have very talented hands if you need a little extra help unwinding.”
Maura rolled her eyes as her lip twitched up.
She wasn’t surprised at all that David would be flirting with some handsome, muscular fella, no doubt. Typical Lovelanders, the very air around them was charged with attraction. They couldn’t help it. Affection, physical or otherwise, was in their blood, in the very magic that fueled the land beneath them.
David’s calming, familiar voice cut the air. “Your hands do have a way about them,” he replied smoothly.
“How’s the Lord?” the man asked, more sheepish now.
David sighed. “My father is eager to retire his wings.His advisors gossip like biddies, stewing in paranoia.”
“Well, I think you’d look damn good in those wings,” the man purred. “Plus, screamingLorddoes have an appeal.”
Honey rounded the corner and David came into view. Tall, blonde, bow drawn. Behind him, a shorter, muscular man stood pressed close, sensually trailing a hand down his chest.
Honey barked an awkward cough, his cheeks going rosy.
“Maura!” David’s eyes went wide, and for a moment, something in his face shifted. He rushed over, pulling her into a hug.
The embrace had her pulling in a sharp breath. David didn’t miss it.
“Did I hurt you?” His brows drew together in alarm, searching. He took one look at her cheek and his voice turned to ice. “Wyatt, we’re done training for tonight.”
“Yes, your grace,” the man shot out. He bowed, quickly glancing once at Maura before disappearing.
Honey fluttered up, reaching with fingers aglow, but Maura gently swatted him away.
“No. Thank you, but no,” she said, voice grim and haunted. “There’ll be more hell to pay if I’m healed.”
David carefully grazed his fingertips down the side of her face, inspecting.
“Who. Did. This?” Although it was a question, the dark threat of blood payment was easy to hear.
Grief, heartbreak, abuse, fear, and worst of all, hope—had all been locked away inside her for months now, trying to claw its way out, and Maura pushed them down to keep them together. But here with David, the dam was breaking. The final crack fragmented, bursting open, flooding out in hot tears that spilled down Maura’s face. No mental barriers or cells could contain her pain now.
It crashed over David in a wave, no doubt overwhelming his Heartseer abilities. He instantly paled, dropping to his knees at the weight of her emotions. Maura fell with him, holding onto him for dear life as her soul cracked wide open before him.
A soft whimper escaped Honey, his bottom lip quivering.
“You will tell meeverything,”David sharply whispered, hardly forming the words.
