This, though? This bond between Cedric and her? Itwasdifferent. It didn’t just come from her. Wasn’t only some possessive fae instinct rearing its head. Or maybe it was partially that, too, but there was something else to it. Something that came from him just as much. Something that had long beentuggingthe two of them toward each other, since before they evenlikedone another, let alone...
Elyria blinked, drawing her focus back to the present, to Cedric’s still-sleeping form, the rise and fall of his broad chest, the downward slant of his mouth, like he was having a concerning dream.
She released a slow breath, and Cedric’s arm tightened around her. She tried to focus on the feel of it, relishing the way just his grip on her body had her magic stirring, had warmth spreading through her bones.
She’d been so stupid. So stubborn. Deep down, beyond where she’d tried to hide and bury every feeling, every thought about it, she’d known.
Known that there was something between them that went beyond claiming a partner or tying a life together.
Not just a soul-bond. Not just any tie.
Something celestial-forged.
Celestial-blessed.
Meant to be.
It was why some small, tiny part of her had felt like she knew him, that she could see him. It was the way their magic whispered to each other, that flare of familiarity. Her shadows recognizing his light.
What she hadn’t known was that finally giving into it, finally acknowledging it, claiming it, would feel like this.
Like peace.
Like coming home.
His voice brushed against her consciousness, calm and content.“Your thoughts are very loud.”
Elyria grinned as she peered at Cedric, who had cracked one sleepy eye open, his gold-ringed iris sparkling. “Apologies for interrupting your beauty rest.”
He groaned, rolling onto his back. “Not this again.”
She chuckled aloud. Then, not aloud, she said,“Good morning.”
Cedric blinked at the tent ceiling.“This is definitely going to take somegetting used to.”
Elyria propped herself up on one elbow, gazing down at him.“For me as well.”
He looked at her, brows drawn together. “So, you never...? With Evander?”
A swell of sadness bubbled up in her chest. “It wasn’t the same. Neither of us ever felt the urge to trulyclaimone another like this.” A divot formed between her eyebrows. “Not to say that we didn’t love each other deeply. Not that we weren’t committed.”
“Of course,” Cedric started. “I would never?—”
“We were together for nearly a century. We’d made plans for a long life with each other before...” She swallowed, the back of her throat feeling suddenly tight. “It’s just that in all that time together, even when we were at our best, it was never like this.” Elyria bit the inside of her lip to try and stave off the surprising tears she could feel building behind her eyes.
She shouldn’t have bothered. Cedric knew instantly. He could feel it too, now. Maybe he always could.
“We don’t have to talk about it.”He sat up and scooted behind her, pulling her back against his chest.
“It’s fine. I’m...” She leaned into him. “It’s hard not to feel guilty. Not only because of how it ended, and then howheended. But now this. It’s hard not to feel like this is somehow a betrayal of what he and I shared, and it’s equally hard not to feel like what he and I shared is not also somehow a betrayal of this.” She shook her head, her shadows tangling inside her chest.“I know that probably doesn’t make any sense.”
“It makes perfect sense.”He swept her hair over one of her shoulders and began playing with the ends, planting a quick kiss on the side of her neck before saying,“And you’re allowed to feel however you do—about that, about this. But if it helps in any way, shape, or form, I could not feel further from betrayed. I could never begrudge any part of your life, anything you’ve been through. Even the things that make me rage at the thought of how you’ve been hurt.”
She could feel the moment Cedric’s eyes darted to her legs, could hear the grind of his teeth as his jaw clenched. Elyria resisted the immediate instinct to splay her hands over the scars there, to make a joke, todistract or redirect.
Instead, she turned in his lap, forcing herself to meet his heated gaze.
“I cherish every moment that’s made you the person you are,” he said.
