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“Oh, come on, Lacey. We all know I’m no match for you. Fae are fast and strong and use a little naughty magic, but we can’t do anything against the likes of him, not what you did.” She turned and pointed to Ryan. “Even he did nothing to help you.”
“Naughty magic,” I said, narrowing my eyes at her.
“Yeah, I can’t use it. Some more powerful fae can manipulate people,” she said. “And some can sift.”
I nodded my head. “Manipulate people and sift,” I repeated.
“Are you feeling okay after using your magic, Lacey?” Ryan asked.
I felt fine, but I hadn’t used what I now knew was my goddess’ magic. I’d only used my queen magic, which wasn’t as powerful. In fact, come to think of it, I’d only used my goddess magic against the dark king.
Did that mean the man flying in front of me only fifteen minutes before was not the dark king?
Because all I thought as he roared closer and closer and gave me his cocky grin was that he was, in fact, the dark king, and hiding behind the guise of a dragon prince. But it wasn’t just the grin that I could imagine would be the same as the dark king’s. Or the wings that looked very much like the ones that spanned out from the back of the man in my dreams, the same person who flew over me when I drove back home on the Christmas break.
And it certainly wasn’t the way he conceded right at the very end. As though he planned all along and it was as though he tested me, made me use my magic against him and seemed pleased I did—as he asked me to.
But it was the words he used.“What makes you assume I wish to kill you?”he’d said. Nearly the same words the dark king said to me once.
I glanced out at the skyline once more. Nothing, but then he seemed to disappear as though he’d never been there.
“Should we get out of here and get a coffee?” Zena said, joining me at the window. “I feel I need something to calm my nerves. Bring your knight.” She turned to Ryan and back to me, raising her eyes. “I might even call our feisty vampy friend and invite her too,” she said with a curl of her lip.
I giggled at Zena, turning her nose in the air. Her words and her look were not in tune. “Ah, you and her are finally getting on. I never thought I’d see the day,” I joked.
She shook her head and squirmed. “No, I still don’t trust her, or her boss, but...” She raised one eyebrow and stared my way. “There is a saying that is definitely for Safir. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer because she is more an enemy than a friend.”
“And you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Zena wrapped her arms around me. “I thought you were going to be a stuck-up bitch, but you’re not. Considering who you are, you are one of the nicest people I know.”
“Aww, you too,” I said. I looked at the carnage all around, the broken glass on the floor below. “But I still have to forgo the coffee shop. I need to visit the Principal and explain what happened.”
“Yep,” Ryan said, pushing his things into his bag. “And Kane just sent a text. Everyone is meeting back at the house in an hour.”
“Everyone,” I said.
He nodded.
Ryan and I walked into the hallway of the house we now shared. I glanced into the family room and Kane and Seb were chatting with their backs to us. Blake and Jack were sitting opposite. Both glanced and smiled.
A hand seized my wrist. I looked to my left.
“I need to speak to you,” Carter said, pulling me back out of the house. “I don’t want the others to hear.”
“Carter, you shouldn’t be here,” I said, glancing up at his beautiful but pained face. “You should go home. Being here isn’t safe for you.”
“Lacey, the day you fight him, I’ll be there with you,” he said. “I’m not abandoning you because I fear losing my life to him. I’m doing as he asks for now, for when you’re ready to fight him. That’s when you really need me and I know I wanted to be your only bind. I wanted it all with you, Lacey. But I know that won’t happen. But what I do want is for it to be over quickly because every day I’m away from you is another day he is slowly killing me.”
“Carter...” I whispered as tears threatened to break from my eyes. “He will kill you, Carter.”
“If he kills me while I’m protecting you, then so be it. You don’t need me right now, I can see that,” he said. Waving a hand toward the house. “But please don’t forget me.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. “I could never forget you.”
“I love you, Lacey, and if he takes my life because I tell you how I feel about you, then so be it.” His eyes were begging for a response as they flitted around my face, landing on my eyes.
I tiptoed and held his face and kissed his lips. “I love you too, Carter, and I won’t forget you. Hopefully, one day it will all be over,” I said. “But, go home.”
