Page 27 of The Fallen Fae King

Yet guilt churns in my guts. I remember the pain in Lanlin’s eyes, when he looked at me and realized that I’d known about the deception.

Does he think that our love is also a lie?

I need to explain everything to him.

Scheming sucks.

“What did our darkness whisper to you?” I demand. “Can we trust Lanlin to still go through with everything tonight? Or is he intending to kill us, rather than marry us?”

Daire’s lips quirk. “He’s a psycho. I’m always expecting our bat-winged King’s fangs in my neck. But he won’t hurt you.”

“Not reassuring.” I frown. “I won’t let him hurt you either. I’ll slice off the knot of anyone who tries to attack you again.”

Daire squirms out from underneath me with a fighter’s skill that shows me he could have done it any time he wanted, and I’d never truly had control.

He crawls with a slink of his hips to the end of the bed, grabbing up a handful of the clothes there, which I have been deliberately not looking at.

He feels over them.

“I have brilliant deductive skills, aye? If he’s left our bridal outfits here, then I’d say he’s not planning to murder us during the ceremony.” Daire throws the white sheath dress at me, and I catch it. The material is spun out of some material, which is so fine that it is almost transparent.

There is an edge to Daire’s tone that I don’t understand, as if there is something that he isn’t telling me.

Daire is good at telling the truth, while hiding it.

When I stare down at the bright orange carnelian design that is embroidered on the front of the dress in gemstones, my heart beats painfully. I am suddenly frightened that the same bat design won’t be worked in onyx circling the sun in worship, as in the first dress that Lanlin gave me. It marks me as being part of the royal nest.

A smile tugs at my mouth, however, when I spot the onyx bat. I trace over it.

I didn’t realize before how addicted I had become to Lanlin’s devotion.

Am I just as hungry for that devotion as Lanlin is for Daire’s blood, and Daire is for the other Alpha’s attention?

We need each other.

The draw feels more than the Golden Threads that hold us together by fate.

I slip the dress over my head. “Is this us deciding not to run like cowards?”

I smooth down my dress and place my hand over the gemstone sun like I will be able to feel its warmth.

“We can’t abandon Aurelius, despite him being a buggering idiot,” Daire replies. “And I refuse to use this cursed mask from Maximinus to capture Sin. We love them both, despite them being too blind to see it. But love is strange like that. They can hate me, and it won’t change how I feel. As long as they want you, Spark. They’re both pack, aye?”

I give a firm nod. “They’re pack, but how do we make this work? Fuck a troll, this whole plan has gone wrong. Even if Lanlin forgives our betrayal, we’re bonding fully with him tonight, through both ceremony and rut. If we don’t take him back to the Shadow Court, then we’re fucking Aurelius just as hard.”

Daire fumbles with the kilt, which has been laid out for him. The kilt is made of stiff, pleated linen. He draws it around his waist.

My mouth dries at how the kilt leaves his chest and lean legs bare.

“How about we work on saving one of our Alphas at a time, aye?” Daire fumbles with the embroidered belt, which is inlaid with lapis lazuli. He struggles to tie his kilt at the waist. “Aurelius swore that he’d burn his world down for us. He broke me, but I trust him to break himself for you, our Omega. I won’t be the reason another king falls. I know the pain of losing my Crown. No matter the consequences, I can’t take Sin’s kingdom or his dignity. I’m sorry if that’s letting you down⁠—”

“You could never do that.” I dive across the bed, gently taking the belt from Daire’s hand. I tie it for him. “I love our Bat. We promised to be his riders. He’s the reason I can shift. How could we hurt him?”

Daire runs his fingers through my hair, drawing my head to rest against his. “I knew that you’d understand.”

“Well, I am the Omega Queen in my own right. I never had a kingdom before. But now I know that I have one to take back, I understand how shitty it is of anyone to take it away.” I pull back from Daire. Then my eyes widen. “I didn’t notice that box last night.”

“What box?”