Page 100 of Where Broken Wings Fly

Raegan turned back towards his father. “The Morrigan comes for you now, Father.” He pressed a frigid kiss to the cold and grey skin atop his forehead, and stepped down and away from the raised platform.

“Drink and feast and dance, my fellow pixies of Choilltean!” Raegan roared, which was met with an onslaught of the same noise. “As the sun departs the lands today, your heir shall accept his throne and perform the rites.”

All of the cheering died at that. Instead, ghostly silence moved through the throne room. The only noise being that of beating hearts and the ominous chewing of Shea, who apparently wouldn’t stop eating her apple unless death departed her from it. Killian shot her a look.

Murmurs began. It was hard to tell what the people of Choilltean thought of this revelation. Shocked as they were, they all nodded to the Prince and moved away from the King once Raegan motioned for the music to continue.

~

I couldn’t stop laughing. Killian was, by far, the worst dance partner in all of Saoghal. Possibly, the whole world. His feet caught mine at every movement, his toes crunching against my feet and invoking short squeals from my tongue. Then it was his hands, never quite sure where to place themselves against me. When he finally did find a comfortable position, he would start moving yet again, like a slippery fish between my hands that I could not still. But neither of us cared. We twirled around the throne room like no one else was there to witness, laughing like two criminals sharing in a wild secret as eyes gawked at us.

The music was fast and well-spirited, jigs and tunes that demanded quick moving bodies and wide smiles showing all teeth. Pixies spun themselves around one another, forming odd circles that they jolted about in with their knees high and their hands clapping.

Neither Killian nor I were capable of such a movement, so I finally stopped altogether and looked up at him. He frowned down at me.

“My heart is beating so fast I can’t breathe!” I called to him above the noise, which made him tip his head back and laugh even more.

“That is what it means to dance, dear Olivia!” he hollered back.

I took his hand in mine, my movements soft and slow. “Let me show you how humans dance.”

I didn’t think it was possible to make Killian Fiodh’Rugadh blush, but he did. He tried his best to adapt his pace and large body to mine. With one hand pressed against his, I wrapped my other arm around his neck and motioned for him to wrap his around my waist.

We danced slowly.

My head fell against his cheek, where he let out a jagged breath.

“This doesn’t seem like the right speed for the music,” he muttered, his words breathy and hot against my skin.

“Then we shall make our own music,” I muttered back, my eyes wanting to fall heavy as we finally found a speed that the two of us were capable of handling.

I let my head fall even heavier against the curve of his neck, the weight of the world removing itself from the two of us, even if just for a few hours. He tugged me against him, every part of him touching me and every part of me touching him. He was warm, which was unexpected of a Choilltean pixie. I had thought that he might be cold, like the forest that surrounded us, the space that was never met by the sun. But Killian was hot, his skin steaming against mine as we found a soft rhythm to move to.

Pixies were looking at us, but I didn’t care. At least I thought I didn’t, until my eyes fluttered open and met a pair of green across the room. My breath hitched at the look that Raegan was offering me, the unblinking intensity as he lifted his cup to his lips and watched me from behind the rim.

“Your Prince is staring at us,” I whispered to Killian, chuckling to myself as he flinched against the moisture of my breath.

Killian had warned me about the somewhat animalistic nature to the pixies, but I wasn’t prepared for him to pull me impossibly closer at hearing that. The grip that his arm had against my waist was near suffocating, but it promised safety and security that made me sigh. I also vaguely heard what appeared to be a growl, but equated it to the pounding of my head.

When I dared another look at Raegan, his eyes had darkened, his knuckles white around his glass.

Perhaps Killian’s possessive nature had lit a fire within Raegan, because when he took another long sip from his goblet and set it down, I definitely wasn’t expecting him to start walking towards us. But he did.

Seconds later he tapped Killian on the shoulder, to which Killian released me and turned to face Raegan.

“I would like to steal one Olivia Loughty for a dance, and I doubt you would rob your Prince of that.” Raegan grinned wickedly. I had never heard him use his title so blatantly to one of his friends. Killian must have been thinking the same, because his jaw tightened where it began to feather as his nostrils flared.

“It’s alright.” I laid a hand on Killian’s forearm, nodding at him and releasing him from me. His eyes shot between the two of us as deep creases formed between them, but he ultimately nodded and left. Not without sweeping a mocking bow to Raegan, though.

It was hard to believe Raegan was a pixie and not a human by how quickly he took up the position, his hand taking mine and his arm wrapping around me. I let out a sharp gasp as our bodies met, as a current rushed through my bloodstream at having the Prince of Choilltean — and Cluaineach, for that matter — suddenly pressed against me.

Like every other part of Raegan’s life — he led. I didn’t have to do anything as he simply adapted our movements to a rhythm of his choosing, quite literally sweeping me off my feet as we began to slide and twirl and meet once more.

His thumb roamed against mine. The motion was so minute, so insignificant, that it shouldn’t have made my heart pick up the way that it did. Then it was his hand against my back, changing from the flattened, splayed-out position to one more demanding, his fingers gripping against my flesh in a way that sent goosebumps across my body. It was possible that he felt my rushing heart and the heat spreading across me, because he snickered into my hair. Even that made me tremble.

“What do you think of the funeral rites?” His breath scattered across my ear.

“Why are we dancing together?”