AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“To protect you from my father,” he said. “I’d just learned my whole life was a lie and that he took my memories of a past that scares me. I was upset about the truth you’d kept, but not about you being my soulmate.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” Her lips pressed into a flat line. “When I realized you had no memories of me, I was afraid you wouldn’t choose me. But I realize I wasn’t fair to you. All this time, I’ve been upset about the things you chose not to tell me. But when things got hard, I did the same to you.”
He didn’t even care about that nonsense anymore. Not when fear had nearly crippled him the night before when he almost lost her to his father and his guards. Even if they hadn’t killed her, King Oberon would have made Nava disappear right along with his recent memories of her.
“Did you hear what I said in the hallway? I’m yours, and I will not change my mind. I love you, Nava. If you’ll have me, I will stay.”
Her lips trembled. “You love me?”
“I do. And I’m sorry I ever made you doubt it.”
7
ORION
Devon sped past Orion on his black horse, loose pieces of gravel spraying around him as he went.
Then he pulled on the reins and slowed into a bouncy trot, turning around to meet Arkimedes’s gaze from underneath the hood of his cloak. “Be prepared for Celeste to run as soon as she sees us. Better remember why we are here, brother.”
As if he could ever forget. The branded letter in his pocket had five words written in red ink hidden behind the hard wax seal depicting the Society of Crows’ emblem.
Deal with the traitor. Discreetly.
Arkimedes clenched his jaw as claws of dread buried themselves deep inside his chest. He dug his heels into his horse’s flank, urging him to catch up with Devon. How he hated that he was the one to be sent to the outskirts of the Iron City to find Celeste.
The imposing, ornate iron gates hid the beautiful stone manor from the street, and tall twisting trees cast shadows upon the path that led to its entrance. The ground was littered with leaves in all shades of brown.
Arkimedes jumped from his saddle before his steed had even stopped moving, ignoring the ache in his thighs as he leaped up the steps, two at a time.
His dread grew, urging him to turn around and flee. He was not one to fear his fate when it came to handling most of his tasks. However, Celeste was a magnificent spell caster, and dangerous with a weapon in hand.
And he didn’t want her soul to haunt him for the rest of his miserable existence.
Devon walked to the main door, and as Arkimedes followed him, movement to his right drew his attention. It was a girl, kneeling before a garden bed. She was lithe, with dark brown hair that flowed in messy waves over her round cheeks.
He took a step forward, attempting to get a better look, swallowing past the knot that stuck in his throat, past the fluttering of his erratic heartbeat.
Celeste? No. The girl was too young to be his old instructor. Still, the similarities were impossible to ignore.
Then her beautiful, strange eyes met his, and time stopped.
The air fled his lungs, and sudden pressure constricted his chest, burning him from the inside out. His hands dampened with sweat, yet he forced himself to step forward. Since when did he find it challenging to talk to a girl?
“Excuse me, do you know if anyone is home?” he said in an attempt to distract himself. He didn’t want her to flee the moment she realized who they were.
Her brows shot up, and her throat worked as she swallowed. “N-no,” she stuttered, dropping the shears she’d been using to cut the plants.
His body still blazed with this strange fire. So much so he struggled not to lower the hood that covered his face to get some air. Why was he feeling like this? He’d never been so unsettled by meeting anyone before. What was going on? “Do you live here?”
“No, I’m just…the gardener.”
Her words pulled a distinct snort from Devon’s lips. The girl was far too young to be a gardener. And she was the spitting image of Celeste.
She pulled a dead plant from the ground. Dirt spilled all over the aged stone floor that she knelt on.
His heart fluttered as her gaze met his once more. What the fuck was wrong with him?
“You have peculiar eyes,” Devon said.
