I’ve never seen her so unsure—never felt such a nervous energy surrounding her since the moment she found me.
As easy as it would be to think it’s because of me, of trying to figure out how to talk to me, there’s something more. But my mind is still shrouded by a thick haze, making it hard to sift through what I could be missing.
I already feel my energy slowly returning after my short rest earlier, but my thoughts are still…off.
It’s hard to grasp memories from right before I leapt into the Vale. Like there are small gaps preventing me from connectingone point to another. I remember waking up in the cave without Lunaria and finding Zephyr frantically pacing outside.
But when I try to think about how I got to her, the memory grows fuzzy.
Then I can clearly see Lunaria’s father on his knees before her, a weak excuse for a man, spewing words like acid at her. He told her that he wasn’t her real father, that the Lord of Shadows was.Thatmuch, I remember.
The rest is a blur.
Iknowthere were others with us—Brielle, maybe? Flashes of scaled bodies and leathery wings fill my mind, but I can’t make out who’s atop the flying beasts. Can’t place who stood behind Lunaria and me before I decided to leap into the Vale to save her.
But I’ll never forget the voice that seized my thoughts, so loud that it was all I heard.Vidaris wants Lunaria.
Visions of Vidaris ripping Lunaria’s heart out play on repeat in the forefront of my mind.
All of my torture in the Vale revolved around one thing: Lunaria. IknowVidaris wants her, but for what?
The voice that gave me the warning wasn’t one I recognized; a soothing tone filled with starlight clanging inside of my head. The moment I heard it, I knew what I had to do. I was going to give the woman I loved a little more time.
Vidaris couldn’t have her—not if I could stop it.
There was no thinking after that. My body reacted, and I prayed to the Divine that Lunaria wouldn’t find a way to save me. I knew she would try—that there would be no stopping her from doing everything within her power to get me back.
I had only hoped she would fail. That whatever plan Eurydice had for her could come to fruition before Vidaris got strong enough to break through the Vale again. And if the Goddess of Vengeance brought her power to our lands, the damage she could do would be irreversible. The deaths would pile up, all laidbeneath her feet, and their souls would be damned to an eternity with her.
But I should’ve known my girl wouldn’t accept failure.
“We should get going soon,” a familiar voice says from behind us, followed by a throat-clearing sound.
Adrian.
I blink, my back stiff as I realize we’ve been sitting here silently for longer than I thought. Lunaria turns to me, an odd look on her face.
“The sooner we get back, the better,” Adrian presses.
My jaw clenches, and I glance at him over my shoulder. “And where would we have toget back to?”
This is the first he’s talked to me, and even now, I’m not certain it’s directed toward me.
Adrian narrows his eyes at me, his mouth pressing into a narrow line.
I know he hates me for what I did—for lying to him about who I was while I was in Crea. Adrian was my friend. He isn’t a bad guy; he’s just…lost. Has too much blind faith in the invisible crown atop his head. His motivations are to help others, but his problem is that hethinkshe knows what they need.
And that certainly doesn’t mix well with a woman like Lunaria.
Even when he droned on and on about her at the castle, I knew he didn’t stand a chance with her. She was…everything. Perfect.Fiery. Passionate and stubborn. She left me breathless each time she walked into a room.From the way she glares but fights a smile at my jokes to the soft, wide eyes that see me in a way no one else has.
Iknew I had a duty to find Evelina’s daughter—to bring back my kingdom’s princess—but I was ready to abandon it all for her. If she had asked me to run away with her that night she escaped the castle, I would have.
“You haven’t told him?” Adrian looks to Lu, his voicesoftening enough that I shift toward her. His eyes briefly flick to me, noting the movement.
There’s a hint of smugness in his voice that he knows something I don’t. Well, I don’t give a fuck what she hasn’t told me yet. I trust her—which is far more than I can say for him.
We may have been friends once, but he still tried to take her from me. From her home. I won’t forgive that.
