She gave an odd little shrug like it wasn’t important, but it was clear that it was. “Me too,” she said. “But it doesn’t change anything. What should I bring?” she repeated.
I wanted to know what that meant, but it was clear she didn’t want to talk about it right now, so I let it go for the moment. I returned to my calling stones and tried to reorient myself to the matter at hand, pushing magic into them again to recall the maps. “Some changes of clothes and your little box is fine. Dress in layers,” I added. “It’s cold here, but we’ll be in the desert before nightfall, and most of the cities in between have milder climates. Whatever we don’t want to carry will be delivered by courier.” I would only bring a few changes of clothes for myself, along with the gift I’d promised for Elara and Levi’s son.
“Do you think… ” She stopped and glanced away before continuing her question with a frown. “Will we be able to find more of that pudding that Helda makes us?”
It was the first time she’d shown deliberate interest in a food that she enjoyed, and my heart ached with something that might have been joy or pride. “I don’t believe I’ve seen it outside of this region, but I bet she would be willing to share the recipe with us.”
Celeste’s cheeks pinked and her small smile was sheepish this time, but I noted that for once she didn’t protest that it would be too much trouble. She was delightful, and her growing comfort with me warmed my soul more than I ever could have imagined. Had I thought her lovely when she walked down the aisle to meet me? Standing here with her wings out, wisps of hair escaping her braid, and a bruised but healing soul, was the most captivating person I’d ever known. Her form had begun to fill out nicely in the past few weeks, and she was getting stronger every day. She was no longer a broken flower, but a full, robust blossom just beginning to unfurl. A perfect, healthy bloom who was just coming to know herself and her value. “Do you think she has any extra we could take with us?” Her hesitant, tiny grin was so beautiful I couldn’t respond immediately.
“I’ll go ask,” I murmured, thrilled to my core to do so.
As I figured she would, Helda supplied me with not only the recipe but several pounds of pudding to take with us, as well as a stack of tiny cakes and a bag of nuts that were nearly impossible to find outside of the Dragon’s Teeth.“Gifts for your friends and that lovely new wife of yours.”I’d never seen Helda so happy as she was when I told her Celeste liked her pudding.
I loaded it all onto the back of my wraith along with Celeste and climbed up behind her. “I would like for you to save your magic today. Let me deal with anything we encounter along the way,” I murmured as I wrapped my arms around her and took hold of the reins. She’d expended more than she should have this morning when she blasted my cousin into the wall and had been slightly shaky for over an hour afterward. As we left the keep, I looked back to find Nikolai shaking a hanky for us from an upper window. His bandages had been removed. Probably by my sister.
We traveled the same path we’d taken before into Bhalden’s Post, and when we passed the cliffs that the ghoul had been in the last time, her whole body tensed up. There were no ghouls there today, and I rubbed her arm as we rode to remind her that I was with her. Perhaps the number of reapers in the vicinity have driven them off, but our trek was uneventful and by the time we reached town Celeste seemed to be enjoying herself as she took in the snow-capped scenery.
I noticed the high fae riding an irin toward us first, causing Celeste to make a confused noise when I directed our wraith to halt. The man rode at a fast clip, coming up the road from Granite Cross where the Gate from Faery was, and his expression was one of determination as he barreled at us.
Celeste finally noticed him and stiffened between my arms, a quiet gasp leaving her lips.
“What is Apollo doing here?” she asked quietly.
Chapter 24
Grim
Apollowasleanlymuscled,with sweat dampened ringlets of golden hair that hung about his ears and the same lavender high fae eyes my wife had. His skin shifted between being nearly as pale as mine and icy blue that I imagined probably tipped his wings when he allowed them to be seen. His mount was large, one of the bigger irin I’d seen, and the flowers that most of them sprouted from their antlers had mostly been rubbed off, a sign that it was territorial and liked to challenge other irin. Though it traveled on silent paws, as he pulled it to a stop in front of us, it blew heavily as if it had been running hard for a long time.
The man’s eyes flicked to mine for the briefest second before focusing on Celeste and quickly scanning her from head to toe and back. “I found you,” he panted, as short of breath as his mount was.
I expected Celeste to respond, but she didn’t. She simply sat in front of me and watched him. I desperately wished I could have seen her expression to gauge her response.
He panted for several more seconds, trying to slow his breathing. “Celeste, we need to talk.”
“I think you’ve said what you wanted to say,” she finally replied, her voice sounding oddly empty in a way that made my lungs ache. She had been many things with me since we’d arrived at the keep—tearful, angry, upset, hurt, nervous, scared, comforted, happy, calm—but never empty, as if she was numb inside. Her body was still tense where she sat between my forearms, entirely motionless.
Dwarves were beginning to gather at the edge of town to stare at us where our mounts stood facing each other at the crossroads just outside of the market area. The older people at least pretended they were doing other things, but the younger ones openly stared at the irin, having never seen one before.
“I made a mistake,” he said, and my heart instantly softened toward him.
He’d come to apologize for hurting her. Perhaps she would allow him to repair their damaged friendship. “Can we—” He paused to take in the small gathering of dwarves that was forming to gawk at him. “Can we go somewhere private to talk?” His gazed shifted to me and back. “Alone?”
I narrowed my eyes at him, my heart suddenly less soft. This man who’d declared his love for my wife wanted to speak to her alone.
Her voice was still emotionless and empty when she responded quietly with a simple, “No.”
Relief washed through me.
Apollo gritted his teeth in frustration, glancing at me again before addressing her. “I thought about what your mom said, that you needed to marry him for his magic to save your life.” He finally addressed me, saying, “Thank you for that,” before shifting his gaze back to her. He set his jaw before continuing. “But now you don’t need him anymore.”
Every muscle in my body tensed. I briefly considered how many witnesses were gathered around that would notice a portal to the underworld opening beneath him, mount and all. Wrath poured through my veins like a toxic poison.
Celeste gasped, her emotion finally cracking through the mask she was creating. “Excuse me?”
“You don’t have to stay with him! You already have his magic, so you can come home now, with me.”
She flinched and reached down to set her palm on my knee, a reassuring gesture that stayed my baser impulses. It was true. She could walk away from me and return to her homeland if she wanted. But she didn’t respond at all, simply sitting and staring at him. My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest. Anger, fear, a primal feeling of possessiveness, and malice toward this man, all warred with my innate knowledge that I did not own Celeste. She was, of course, free to walk away from me at any time.
