Endre shoved Erik’s shoulder. “You grump!” He splayed all ten fingers in front of Erik’s face. “Wefinallyhave hands! How can you be upset about this?”
Erik’s stern expression did not change. Annalisa ran to Erik and grabbed his arm. He nearly jumped out of his skin as she pulled him around to face her.
A shrieking cackle erupted from Annalisa’s lips and she pointed up at Erik’s face. His black eyes flashed with bewilderment, but my eyes followed Annalisa’s finger and I laughed too.
Erik’s large crooked nose was still bright pink.
Endre ran over to Annalisa and picked her up by the waist, even though they were the same height, and spun her while she giggled. “Seven years, and I can finally hold a beautiful girl again!”
Erik’s brow hardened. Annalisa laughed and pointed at him as her feet returned to the ground. “Oh, he is a mean Bird Brain. Sera, change him back!”
Riyan joined Endre and Annalisa. They exchanged bright introductions and re-introductions as Annalisa measured the top of her head to Riyan’s chin.
Brietta slowly descended the steps and joined us on the grass. Her brown eyes were still shining, but her smile had softened.
Erik turned to me. “Say nothing to Endre. This will go poorly if he believes the sorcerer tricked him when he said he was helping you.”
Erik knew about my fate? Daigen must have told him before we went up the mountain, but the Erik I had known would haveneverlet me leave if he knew what the bargain was really going to be.
How wicked was Daigen’s mind that he could work around his inability to lie and trick all three of us?
Brietta pressed her hand over her heart. “What is he talking about, Serafina?”
A direct question I could not ignore. I let out a breath and looked only at Brietta. “The bargain for my eternal life was not with Ganora. When Derrick comes to the fortress, I have to go with him.” I held back tears but my voice still broke. “I am his.”
Brietta’s face fell. The flicker of flipping pages tickled the back of my mind as she searched for a way out, but she would not find one.
A life for a life given in love. Nothing could ever break that bargain.
Daigen’s voice cut through the night air. “If my calculations are correct—and if you’re smart, you’ll assume they are—, you have two sunrises left before the Alastar arrives at the fortress.”
Hushed murmurs blanketed the courtyard. Derrick would arrive to take me that soon?
My vision pulled like I was falling backward. My knees buckled. Only Riyan’s warm hand wrapping around mine kept me upright.
“Two sunrises left?” Riyan smiled. “Let’s make this next one count.”
Our new blood bond glowed around my heart as he took me in his arms and walked past the eyes of the crowd. His walk turned into a run as we crossed through the gate, then a sprint as he dodged the trees in the woods.
Even though I removed Ganora’s curse, I left the power she gave him. He was still the fastest man alive.
The stars were quieting. The night was hazy with the impending dawn. Despite the weight of my bargain tightening its hold around my neck, I still laughed into Riyan’s chest. He did not need to whisper into my mind for me to know where we were going.
He was taking me straight to the Bloodstone lilies.
Never before was I so eager for the sun to rise.
As Riyan held me in the center of the grassy meadow, I caught him up on all he had missed since we separated…except that Derrick was going to collar me.
I could not break his heart just yet.
The first break of golden sun over the rocky ridge sent red fire into the familiar meadow as the Bloodstone lilies opened their petals to greet the day.
The fragrant smell of the lilies shoved the image of Alastar’s covetous glare out of my mind.
I gave Riyan a grateful kiss. He kissed me back and squeezed my thigh. Heat flooded my hips as my heart pounded.
We certainly made the first sunrise count.
