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My body numbed. “Bash.”
“I need you.” There was no hesitation. His dark brown eyes shifted between mine.
“One more time,” I breathed.
His hands stroked up my arms to brush my hair back from my shoulders. “Althea.” I quite liked the way my name rolled from his tongue. “I need you. Don’t leave this realm. We will find a way to keep you here. Alive.”
My next breath was a sigh of relief and disbelief mixed together. Had the thrill of seeing my brothers again corroded my mind, or was Bash, the beautiful fae king, asking me to stay here with him?
“What happened to keeping your distance from me?”
“Forget that. It was an impossible wish.”
I searched his eyes. “I’ve had enough tricks,” I told him. “If you are playing me, it’s not okay.”
“I would never,” he promised. “I’m ready to fight for you if you’ll let me. We will defeat this fate of yours together.”
All breathing functions had stopped. All thoughts vanished. All ability to see anything other than him faded away. His voice settled along my hairline.
“Please, Thea. Please, let me fight for you.”
“Yes,” I breathed.
I could have waited for him to kiss me, but it was a thousand times more gratifying to press my lips to his and see the way his eyes widened in surprise before closing as he leaned into me.
Kissing him was exactly as I imagined it would be. His hands wrapped around my waist to draw me closer, and heat radiated between us. My fingers laced through the coils of his thick hair and down the curve of his neck, obsessed with every detail of him. I was drunk on the taste of his lips, which was sweeter than any wine Odette could steal. He was glorious. And for this one moment, he was mine.
When he pulled back, he stayed close, his nose rubbing against mine. “I’m a fool to have fallen for a Mortal Queen,” he said.
“I’m glad you did, or you would have left me falling on my own.”
He grinned. “I’ll always catch you when you fall.”
He kept my hands tucked in his as he let out a deep sigh. “We have work to do. If you’re going to survive the two years, we need a plan.”
“Oh, I have plans,” I told him. “I’ve been scheming for a while.”
He raised a brow. “Perfect. I have a plan, too, but you’re not going to like it.”
“Does it involve me staying here?”
He nodded. “It involves you becoming a fae.”
I stepped back and gaped at him. “Is that possible?”
Bash grinned at my surprise. “It’s tricky, and I don’t possess the ability to transform you, but it is possible. You see, other queens have been determined to get back to their realm to survive.” He kicked his cloak away. “I think the trick might be to stay here.”
I thought of Dhalia escaping at the Choosing Ceremony. This couldn’t be how she survived. She ran. I wanted to stay.
“Alright. I’ll do it.”
Bash spoke carefully. “My Queen, you need to think about this for a while. Becoming a fae comes with many complications. Your heart will turn to glass. You will cease to age at a normal rate. If you don’t like it, you’ll have thousands of years to regret your decision. And fae . . . We can’t walk in the mortal realm as you do. You’ll be trapped here just as you are now.”
Little did he know how fond I’d grown of this cage.
But . . .
“Would I never see my brothers again?”
