Page 23 of Veil of Night & Flames

“Part of what?”

“It’s just—I mean, don’t you see? This is my world, and I miss it. So much it’s like missing a limb.”

He looked at her for a long moment, cursing the longing in her eyes. A longing that wasn’t for him or for his brother. Instead, it was a longing for something he couldn’t fight.

“I know,” he said. And he meant it, though it cut him to speak those words. He knew exactly what it felt like to ache for a world you couldn’t reach. “Are you telling me you’re staying?”

She shook her head. “I’m going back with you. For now.”

“Are you?” He tilted his head, letting his gaze slide over her as he took her hand and brushed a kiss over her knuckles. “I’m glad. I would hate for you to abandon me on our betrothal night.”

He saw the smile before she dipped her head to hide it, and a fierce wave of possessiveness crashed through him. She wanted him. She wanted him at least as much as she wanted Chase. Petty, perhaps, but he didn’t care. She was his bride. His. Not his brother’s.

“We’re going because we should be at the party,” she said, tilting her head so she could look straight into his eyes. “And,” she added, “because I really want to see Chase.”

Chapter

Eight

The reception was still going when they returned, the court seemingly unaware—or unconcerned—that he and his bride had vanished for one glorious hour. The music had shifted to something slower, and the silver fire had dimmed to a steady glow. Courtiers and representatives from all realms except the Real milled about in clusters, drinking wine the color of midnight and murmuring in all the various languages of the realms.

Adric stepped through the arch with Cora at his side and felt the room turn toward them as a single body. The court had been waiting for them to come back. He saw it in the way conversations paused, the way drinks lifted in subtle salute, the way Vorian, his general, caught his eye and inclined his head.

Cora stood beside him at the edge of the hall, once again in her gown, the vial of his blood resting against her throat. She glanced up at him, her smile soft but genuine.

“Thank you,” she said, the words warm against his heart. “It meant a lot to see them.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that.”

“Yes, I do,” she said. “That was your first moment of freedom in pretty much forever. You could have gone anywhere—any realm, any corner of any world you’ve been locked away from—and yet you took me to a college campus in Florida.”

“I took you where you wanted to be.”

Her smile quivered, and he saw the tears well in her eyes. “It was kind of you.” She drew in a breath. “Now I want to ask you to do one more kind thing—let me take Finn back with me.”

He stiffened, realizing only then the silent hope he’d been clinging to—that she had decided to stay with him after all. That the Real visit had been a sweet farewell to mark the beginning of a wider life they would build together.

“No,” he said, his voice harder than he had intended. “Your uncle stays.”

Something cold flashed in her eyes, and the space between them seemed to grow even though she didn’t take a single step back. “You’re punishing me.”

“That is not my intent,” he said, working to keep his tone level as he fought the urge to get down on one knee and beg her to remain.

“Dammit, Adric, you have what you wanted. The curse is broken. You’re free. You can go anywhere, do anything—so why the hell do you insist on keeping my uncle here as a hostage?”

“He is a guest. Not a hostage. And he stays.”

“Why?”

A few courtiers had begun to drift closer, as if sensing scandal. He took her elbow and steered her across the room to the tapestry he had commissioned with Soren’s image. Perhaps some of the dragon’s loyalty would rub off on his cantankerous bride.

“Why?” she repeated.

“Because you are leaving me.” The words came out with a snap.

She took a step back, clearly noting the tone. He was not a man with a quick temper—it behooved a king to remain calm and level—but around Cora, that was proving difficult.

“In other words, you’re punishing my uncle because you’re pissed at me?”