Page 45 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown

“Just like you’re supposed to,” he cockily preens.

Chuckling, my eyes start closing as the weight of exhaustion rests on my shoulders.

“Time to sleep.” He runs his hands through my hair, pushing it behind me. “I’ve got you.”

“I don’t want to,” I whine, but my eyes are already closed. “I’m scared.”

“Just relax and let me worry about everything. I’m here for you, nothing is going to happen,” he whispers and kisses the side of my head. “I’ve got you, Sweets. I’ll always be there for you.”

CHAPTER 11

“Adeline,” a gentle voice says. “You need to wake up.”

I groan and keep my eyes closed. I’m warm and comfortable. I haven’t felt this way in years, and I don’t want this to stop.

“Come on, Sweets,” Kieran whispers. “You need to wake up.”

“No,” I mumble back, snuggling into his chest.

Even though I’m lying on the hard ground, I’m comfy and want to stay right in this position for days. Maybe it has something to do with Kieran, but I don’t care.

He chuckles. “You need to wake up or you’re going to be late getting to your parents’ house, and I’ll miss check in.”

My eyes slowly open, and I look at him. “Don’t want to.”

His hand softly trails up my face. “I know you don’t want to, but you have to. People will be looking for you, and I don’t want to get you in any trouble.”

Sighing, I nod and close my eyes for a couple of seconds, taking everything in one last time. When will I be able to be with him like this again?

An ache in my chest forms when I don’t have an answer to that. This is cruel.

“I know, Sweets.” His voice holds the sadness I feel. “I wish we could stay here forever as well, but we can’t.”

“It isn’t fair,” I mumble before I can stop myself.

“Nothing in life is fair, but it’s going to be okay. We are going to get through this. We’ll have another night like this, I promise,” he reassures me.

But how does he know that? There is no guarantee we are going to be able to be in each other’s embrace like this again. This was already unique since I was coming back from Hellhollow, but I’m not doing that again anytime soon.

“Come on, we need to get going before guards come to my tent to see where I am and find you here,” he says as he helps me up from the ground. “I’m not ashamed of you, understand that. But I don’t want you to get into trouble with them. I want you safe and unharmed.”

Smiling, I nod. “I know you aren’t ashamed, I think since I don’t really know you that well, but it wouldn’t be me who would get hurt. It would be you. They would think the worst and harm you, maybe even kill you.”

“They won’t kill me,” he replies. “They know if they kill me, they will have a riot on their hands.”

Right. He’s the High Lord. If he dies, the other Fae won’t care if they have their powers back or not. They will kill anyone and everyone.

“Elias dropped your bag off earlier,” Keiran says as he points to my bag.

“You’ve been awake for a while?” I ask, looking up at him.

He’s sitting on a little stool, but even then, he’s still taller than I am by a lot.

“A couple of hours, just looking at you sleeping,” he honestly replies.

“That’s not creepy at all,” I mutter. “Some people might think you are a stalker.”

“A stalker wouldn’t help you in the middle of the night, keep you warm, and talk with you,” Kieran points out. “I’m no stalker.”