“You know you can always come to me,” she said, after a moment of silence that lasted a few seconds longer than it should. “I don’t ever want you to feel like you’re alone.”
Caelian feared it was too late for that.
“I appreciate that, Cres. Truly, I do.” She reached out and grabbed her sister’s hand.
Creslyn squeezed back. “Try and get some rest.”
Caelian watched as Creslyn floated out of the room, glancing back once with a soft smile. When she was alone in the library again, Caelian replaced the unused tomes in their rightful spots. She gathered the stack of letters, grateful her sisters hadn’t asked about them, and collected a few of the books she thought might be useful during her upcoming travels with Kjeld.
Closing the library door soundly behind her, Caelian was accompanied only by the sound of her heels clicking quietly against the smooth stone floor. The echo was hushed, butit reverberated through her mind, rattling around in the emptiness, causing her teeth to clench.
She’d almost forgotten her magic had been taken from her.
Briefly, when both Creslyn and Sarelle were in the library with her, and the chaos caused by Prince Aspen’s ring left them in a flurry of shock and awe, was the only time in recent months that Caelian felt at peace. It had been a delightfully succinct moment where the symphony of her sister’s voices drowned out the pervasive solitude of her mind.
Now, however, the silence was monstrous.
And the stillness splintered through her, a dark and bleak crevasse of nothingness that left her frozen with dread of the impending nightfall.
CHAPTER SIX
The day would be a reprieve, as spring carved out its final breath. Kjeld ventured out early, before dawn fully broke across the eastern sky, before the crisp air morphed into the heavy press of summer humidity. Clouds banked across the horizon, blotting out the fractures of sunlight, swallowing them from sight. For now, the breeze was chilled, melted drops of dew clung to stiff blades of grass, and Kjeld’s breath misted before him.
He trudged through the forest outlying the Moonfall Peaks, glancing skyward every so often through the thick canopy of leaves. Gray clouds loomed overhead with the promise of rain. His boots crunched beneath the solid ground, each step taking him closer toward the indigo base of the mountains. At his back wasKaldflam, his hand-carved axe, the cold iron of the blade threatening to singe his flesh with each step. When he was human, when he was mortal, his axe was his most prized possession. It was more than a weapon, it was an extension of himself. Allowing him to master the art of fluidity in battle.
Yet now, because of his new fae life, the very thing that once saved him could also slowly kill him.
Cold iron was harmful to the fae. Lethal in some instances. Not so long ago, Kjeld thought such nonsense might simply have been legend, a bit of fae lore or trickery. But the first time he ran his thumb along the blade’s honed edge, he felt the burn of the iron in his bones. Its power seemed to siphon his strength, to render him useless. The unexpected rush of pain sent him to his knees and scarred the inside flesh of his thumb. He’d been exceptionally careful from that day forward, hating the fact that this was one more sacrifice he never asked to make.
Further into the woods he stalked until he came upon the stretch of land at the base of the Moonfall Peaks where a cabin stood. With Ariesian’s permission, Kjeld had taken to clearing the area of trees and building a home for himself. He claimed it was because he wanted to be closer to the dragons, but more than that, he longed to be free of the strangling hold of House Celestine.
Regret prodded at him.
He supposed that was an unfair judgment. The house itself had not wronged him. No, for the most part, the Starstorms were welcoming. They treated him like family, like he belonged with them. Save for the female who consistently made him on edge, who caused his fists to clench and his cock to thicken by merely breathing. Aye, Caelian frayed every last one of his nerves. She made him furious and lustful all at once, a troubling combination. No matter his efforts, it seemed he couldn’t escape her. She was everywhere. Humming. Whispering. Existing. It was as though they were bound by thread, like a glimmering strand of her damning starlight somehow wound itself around them both, ensuring one was never far from the other. Not only did he want his own space where he could free his mind of her, but he needed a place where he could simplybe.
Be too large.
Be too strong.
Be too intense.
Be all the things that made him fae, all the things he wasn’t ready to accept.
Kjeld eyed the house he had built with his own two hands. It was by no means a permanent place to live, but it would work for the time being. At least until he could return to Brackroth for good. But the woodworking was smooth and precise, each log was evenly cut and trimmed. The inside was sparse, but he preferred it that way.
He grabbed the bronze handle and opened the front door, grateful he was able to walk right in without having to duck to avoid smacking his head or angling himself sideways just to fit through a standard door frame. For the most part, the cabin was one large room. There was a washroom off the back for easy access to the spring that filtered into a faerie pool behind House Celestine. Inside was rustic and simple. It was all rich, warm wood with a massive bed in the middle and an arched stone hearth. Not much else. A deep navy rug scattered with silver stars lined the floor, and the bed was piled with soft, cushiony linens and pillows given to him by Sarelle. All in all, it was the perfect respite.
He placedKaldflamon the custom shelf by the door and breathed in the scent of freshly cut wood and mountain air.
Stretching out on the plush bed, Kjeld tucked his hands behind his head and gazed up at the wooden beams above him.
He’d often considered coming to stay here at night, but each time he steeled himself to make the trek through the woods, something twinged deep in his chest. A hesitation. A pause weighted by remorse and shame. For some reason, he could never bring himself to leave. If he left to stay in the cabin, then he would be too far from Caelian to hear her hushed pleas to the night sky, the steady beating of her heart would be unable to soothe him, and her broken cries would no longer keep him upat night. Her despair would be unable to slowly chip away at his cold heart in the midnight hour.
A deep, rumbling sigh escaped him.
Kjeld had grown accustomed to not being able to sleep at night because of a certain fae lady’s inner turmoil, and he’d perfected the art of running on but a few hours of rest during the day. Yet now, with the comfort of the mattress beneath his exhausted body, his eyelids grew heavy as though boulders had been dropped upon them. His muscles gradually relaxed, and his breathing grew steady and even as he allowed himself to succumb to the temptation of what he hoped would be a dreamless sleep.
Until the sound of delicate footfalls traversing across the quiet forest floor sent his body on full alert. The subtle crunch of grass was accompanied by the whisperings of a decidedly feminine voice.
