“I don’t like this, Tristan. Your brother wouldn’t hesitate to execute you if he suspected you were actuallyhelpingthe Teles Chrysos.”
“He’d have to catch me first,” Tristan smirked, leaning over to press a kiss against his mark.
“Not amusing,” she answered, smacking him lightly. “Are you going to tell him that you killed August?”
“I’ve got all the evidence I need to prove that August was a traitor, so why not? Eamon would likely see it as an act of loyalty on my part.”
“And then what? You’re just… you’re just going to feed August’s name to Eamon and join the rebellion against him in secret?”
He grasped her hands. “This could be our chance, Cass. Everything I’ve wanted for two centuries. This movement can help me achieve it. Eamon claims he’s working for the good of Ethyrios, but he’s pitted the entire world against our family, holding everyone beneath his boot. He will never change unless I force him to. And I can’t do that alone. I needallies. And now there’s a continent full of them waiting for me.”
“Are you sure they’re allies you can trust?” she asked.
“We won’t know until we join, will we?”
“We?”
“I can’t do this without you,” he said, his honeyed eyes filled with yearning. “You dream of it too, don’t you? What Ethyrios could be if our species were able to live as equals, without the divide of the continent and the colonies, these arbitrary lines drawn between us? Without humans forced to sacrifice memories and risk obliviation just to survive?”
Cassandra recalled those nights at the Fang and Claw, the camaraderie and affection she’d seen there among Fae and humans. Like a daydream from a different, better world.
He placed his hand at her waist, his gaze beseeching yet shining with determination. “My destiny, since the moment I was born, was to rule Ethyrios. Though it’s a fate I hardly wanted, even before I was forced to forsake it. Now I think maybe I wasn’t meant to rule Ethyrios, but to free it. Turn it into something better. Will you help me, Cass?”
She scoffed. “How could I possibly help? I’m nothing. Just a human with tiny scraps of nearly useless magic.”
Even as the dismissal left her mouth, that cosmic voice from her vision pelted her brain.
Find her.
Something shivered across her shoulder blades as she recalled the rapturous masses sweeping across a field of lilies.
Recalled the word they’d been chanting.
“You are far more than that,” Tristan said, as if he could sense the turn of her thoughts. “You’re a legend among mortals in the colonies. Just as much of a symbol as I am. Imagine what we could accomplish together, the Exiled Prince and the Savior Sister.”
It was a tempting, though daunting, request. One that led down a long and treacherous path.
“Don’t you want to change the world with me, Daredevil?” He traced the scar above her collarbone. “I didn’t place this mark on you lightly. You are mine and I am yours. For your lifetime and beyond.”
He leaned in to cup her cheek, stroking her cheekbone with his thumb.
“I want to make this world better for you.” He leaned in and pressed his mouth to hers, a gentle touch of their lips.
She pulled back, her throat closing with welling emotions. “For everyone. I think… I think this is my purpose too, Tristan. I’m with you.”
He swept her into his lap, capturing her mouth in a desperate, claiming kiss and circling his arms around her.
“I will never letanythinghappen to you, Cass,” he said, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “You will always be safe with me. If the Teles Chrysos ever threaten that, we’ll leave immediately. I swear it.”
“And go find a deserted island somewhere to live out our in-between moments in solitary peace?” she teased.
“Actually, that sounds incredible,” he chuckled. “Should we just do that instead?”
She kicked her head back with a throaty laugh. “Neither of us is wired that way. You’d never get over the guilt if you had an opportunity to make real change and you didn’t seize it.”
“Speaking of seizing…” Laying her down on the cushions, he lifted the hem of her camisole and pressed whisper-light kisses to her exposed skin.
She threw her arms behind her, gripping the armrest. “Careful, Birdman. A woman could get spoiled.”
