Salty sea water. Melted ice. Ashen flame. Bloodied iron.
She’s remarkably still, nestled tightly against me, her left palm remaining against my cheek while the air beats at my arm across her back.
I risk a glance at her face. Her eyes are closed. Her head is tipped back a little, her lips near my exposed neck, an intoxicating nearness. The rise and fall of her chest reflects deep, slow breaths. I imagine I can feel her soft exhalations against the base of my chin.
Even with her eyes closed, it’s clear that her features have returned to the way they were when I first saw her.
She appears, once again, as a lowborn fae.
In fact, if I think back, she resumed her faded hair and eyes the moment I severed the connective threads between us.
Her skin is no longer luminous. Her hair is once again dull black. And yet, she is more powerful like this.
When she submitted to me, she was physically beautiful, mesmerizing, but after that, when she slid her hand to my face and saved my life, she was as she is now. No guile. No allure. Simply determined. Ready to put her body on the line.
I don’t know how to feel about that.
I’m so focused on her, so perplexed by her complexities,that I miss the final rays of light.
I’m suddenly aware that Maxim has fallen back.
His roar of frustration strikes across the increasing distance between us.
In the next heartbeat, darkness swallows us.
Chapter Ten
Stellen
Icouldn’t cut her hand.
I had what could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to kill the Iron King, and I couldn’t…fucking…cut the Oracle’s hand.
I couldn’t hurt her.
Iwouldn’t.
The corners of my mouth turn down as I stare up at the empty sky where the Iron King’s eagle flew away only moments ago, carrying the Oracle with him. Maxim followed them on his serpent, but the Oracle is lost to me for now.
I tell myself that Antony or Maxim may claim her first, but I won’t let them keep her.
The sunlight catches my sword’s white blade as I return it to its scabbard at my back. I wear the two blades passed down from Frost King to Frost King, and I know how to wield them well.
In the far distance, the remaining Ember and Iron Fae disappear beyond the mountain range, their serpents and eagles still embattled.
I let them go, focusing on calming the unusually rapid beat of my heart.
The Oracle’s commands echo within my ears, unsettling me:Come for me when the stars go out. Find me where the light hides.
I smother a curse. I don’t know what she means.
The stars had blazed brightly on the night of her birth, but what does it mean if they go out?
I try to quickly work through it, conscious that Lilis and my warriors are approaching me, but it’s impossible for me to think logically right now. Being so close to the Oracle and then letting her slip through my fingers has triggered an unrest in my soul.
I tell myself to be patient. I must regroup and plan. Ever since I became king, I’ve acted with purpose, calculating every move, remaining strategic above all else, but now there’s growing turmoil in my mind.
The more the echo of her voice bounces around my mind, the more unbalanced I feel. Impatient as I have never been before.
