His hands tangle in my unbound hair, pulling me deeper into his embrace. When my mouth parts with a sigh, our kiss deepens. The taste of him is electrifying.
This is it.
This is the home I’ve been searching for.
My lungs begin burning, and we break apart, both gasping for air. His hands slide out of my hair and glide down my arms. Our breaths mingle in the air between us before his gaze darkens, and we dive back in. If our first kiss was madness, our second kiss is like wading into a warm pool. My hands find their way up the sides of his neck and into his hair while his tongue plunges into my mouth, eliciting a moan from me. My heart begins stitching itself back together, the pieces of me clicking into place and making me whole.
27
BLESSINGS
Iawaken the next morning, tangled in the sheets. The nightmare a million miles away as I look out the window, full of the early morning light upon the rolling hills beyond the castle. I grin sleepily while stretching out my limbs, thinking of the kisses and stories shared last night.
We both agree it would be best if we didn’t move too fast.
A budding romance and an impending war on the horizon are a lot for me to juggle at once. I barely have my current role figured out. I don’t want to add too much to my already full plate. But that doesn’t stop me from nuzzling into my sheets and inhaling his cedar and rain scent from the night before.
Today is going to be a good day.
Word of Odin’s blessing from yesterday has spread like wildfire through the tiny island. Throughout the day, from my training to lunch, and even now, while Lachlan and I head to meet the others in our newly appointed council room, warriors from all over greet me and shake my hand. Odin’s spectacle solidified me as the Queen in their mind. My fledgling support, which was evident yesterday, has now evolved into completeand utter loyalty that garners the respect of the rebels we’ve amassed so far.
The months I was expecting to need to gain their trust took only a second with Odin’s blessing. I’m relieved but also apprehensive that their trust was so easy to gain; what little will it take to lose it? Thoughts of Odin circle my mind when I think about the blessing. The unsettled feeling creeps back into my stomach.
There’s something we’re missing.
The surrounding land is peaceful and serene. I allow my mind time to wander as I stare off into the distance at the cliff that rises up and over the ocean. Lachlan and I walked out here together after lunch for some fresh air.
The land and stolen kisses were needed to reinvigorate my senses. I stare at Lachlan, his hair ruffling in the breeze, his strong jaw shadowed in the stubble that’s grown since we’ve landed on the shores of Olundy. If Odin had the ability to bestow a blessing, why couldn’t he just come back? Tell the realm there is a war, after all?
My nose scrunches, and Lachlan studies my face. “Where’d ye go, Key?”
My mind whirls through all the bits of information that Odessa has dropped during my time here. I inhale slow and steady breaths, giving my mind time to put the pieces together.
Wasn’t Odessa the last to see Odin?
Shouldn’t he have ridden in the Wild Hunt? And they kept mentioning plans. What plans? “The blessing from yesterday. Something is strange about it. What if Odin had to bestow a blessing on me because he couldn’t come back?”
“What do ye mean?” he asks, his face reflecting his obvious confusion as he tilts his head to the side.
“I mean … Odessa was the last one to meet with Odin before he left to go back to his realm, and she said that his reason was because there wasn’t going to be a Great War, right?”
“Aye,” he replies hesitantly.
“Well, what if she lied?” He reels back at my words, squinting in confusion. “She was willing to kill my mother, her own sister, to keep me from coming here to thwart her plans—what plans? And wouldn’t she want to make sure an actual god couldn’t stop her either? What’s the end game here?”
My questions ramble together as I quickly work to get all my thoughts out. Lachlan’s eyes narrow, and his mouth is set in a grim line.
“Ye think she did something to Odin so she could control the realm?”
I nod profusely. “It makes sense. We think the omens are happening because war is coming, but wouldn’t he have shown up by now to confirm that? We know he sees us because he can bestow blessings. And Odessa and Julius literally said they wanted me as a figurehead because they thought I’d be easy to control, but when that proved otherwise, they tried to kill me.”
My mind keeps spinning, grasping at the pieces and trying to fit them together.
“Maybe the omens are actually Odin trying to get our attention, the only way he can from wherever he is?” My voice trails off.
Lachlan shifts on his feet, his brow furrowing even further, and he inhales sharply. “I canna believe I dinna think about it before,” he mutters. “I was so caught up in just seeing the omens as signs of war, I dinna even stop to think about the fact that he should ha’ come back when they started.”
“Odessa also said that the power was fading because my family wasn’t here, but I don’t think that’s true because the magic is still limited. What if it’s fading because Odin isn’t here?”
