The colors blend, and a new image appears. It’s that same boy walking the streets of Kingstown alone at night. Why is he alone in a city I know he didn’t live in? I can’t see his face, but his breathing hitches like he is upset. He’s so small.
Once more, the image scatters and reforms into something new. The boy is older now, very clearly Archer. He sits at a desk and writes. He’s already so handsome with that sheet of black hair falling across his sharpcheekbones. I long to trace the lines of his nose and brow. A goblin, presumably his brother, bursts into the scene. Archer startles and spills his ink over whatever he has been writing. His brother laughs and slams the door.
The vision dissipates and deep red takes over. I’m stunned when the new images appear in my mind’s eye.
This memory opens at the book faire. The infamous stack of cookies is in place. The tables. Lysandra.
And me.
I’m standing beside my table chatting with a tourist who arrived early to the event. In Archer’s memory, I look like I know I do, but the emotions rising in me—Archer’s emotions—are completely unfamiliar. He can’t stop studying me. From tip to tail. Desire roars through my blood, but resistance too. Irritation. Fear of being vulnerable. Confusion. The scene morphs into a memory from a few moments ago when we were walking through the labyrinth. The ache of love that washes through me…
I blink, and the colors fade until I’m seeing Archer now, right in front of me. Hot tears run down my cheeks. Never did I guess he felt that deeply for me. Yes, we have the mate marks, and yes, he said asmuch, but to feel it… It’s a completely different experience. I know how he feels. The pain of his childhood. The deep loneliness of adulthood. His Hunger. His longing and gratitude for me. It’s nearly too much to bear.
Archer gazes at me confidently while I gather myself and squeeze his hands.
“You do love me,” he whispers, and then I cry more.
“Yes,” I manage to get out. “Yes, so much.”
He draws me close. I am addicted to the heat of his arms around me and his soft breath on my forehead. I am so safe with him, so at ease. I don’t have to perform. I don’t have to always be hopeful or cheerful. I can feel uncomfortable emotions and I can be troublesome. I can justbe.
Then Archer stiffens.
Chapter 23
Archer
It’s Valeria.
I move Colette behind me. I scan the trees, summoning my vampiric senses and abilities in defense of my mate. They rise in a way they never have before—quickly, definitively.
“Isn’t this lovely…” Valeria’s low voice ripples through the crowd, turning heads and eliciting gasps.
She wears the same type of clothing she always has. A tunic and trousers in bone white. No cloak covers her shoulders because she feeds only on blood. The cold isn’t an issue for full vampires and those who have chosen to feed in such a way consistently. A flash oflight sparks at her hand. A two-sided blade. So she is here to claim me or to hurt me. Or both. I am growling before I realize it.
Colette steps out from behind me and crosses her arms. “What in the hells do you want, Valeria?”
Valeria blinks. She was probably hoping to surprise Colette with her existence. I am incredibly glad I told Colette everything. I stand beside my chosen mate, ready to fight as best I can if it comes to that.
Valeria sniffs the air and lets out a low growl. “Get away from my betrothed.”
“Fuck off!” Tully shouts. A green cloud of sparkling magic erupts from the end of her wand, pushing Valeria back.
I immediately love Colette’s friend that much more.
Grumlin walks toward us, his salt and pepper hair rising in the winter breeze, and dots of light like small stars dancing across his hands and head. “Or don’t fuck off and my fellow Leafshire Cove folks will have a grand chase for our Snowlight entertainment.”
Chuckling and dusting snow from her tunic, Valeria walks forward. “That’s not how this is going to go and most of you are wise enough to realize that.”
Mayor Rustion and his guards have surrounded the clearing. They hold their swords at the ready. Valeria glances at them, but she doesn’t react. She’s confident that she’ll win here.
Colette takes my hand and I hold her fingers tightly.
“You’re not wanted here, Valeria,” I say, loud and clear. “You have one minute to leave without suffering the consequences.”
“Aw, Arch, come on. You didn’t think I would come alone, did you?”
Vampires appear between the trees behind her. Twenty of them. Three males step into the clearing to stand beside Valeria.
