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I stumbled, stopping behind them, disappointment clawing my throat. “We lost.”
Dagda gripped me about the waist and spun me around in his arms, his eyes light. Clearly, he wasn’t disappointed. “When I saw the crossbows… I thought… but you were…” he said between his own gasps as admiration lit his gaze. He settled me in the grass. “How did you learn to shoot?”
I flicked my braid behind me, casting him a clever grin, a glow in my chest at his enthusiasm. “Please. I grew up in Idaho, where your average male hordes guns, crossbows—anything that can shoot. If there is one thing my dad taught me, it was how to hit a target.”
Roisin, Palon and Keelin approached, grinning.
“Next year, we will have Her Majesty trained in some hand to hand combat and you two will be undefeatable,” Keelin said.
Next year. The excitement of the moment turned to lead in my gut. By next year, my sisters would most likely have the Otherworld rolling in blood.
Dagda stood close, studying me. His brows pulled together, and I forced myself to shove the feelings aside. He was always so damn observant. Whenever he watched me, it was like I was stripped bare and he could read my every thought and emotion.
I gave him a grin that I hoped wouldn’t count as one of my fake smiles.
The crowd gathered around us, pressing closer. I realized most of their eyes were on their king and queen. Now was the moment. We hadn’t won the tournament, but there was another way I could show Dagda my support.
A soft fluttering of nervousness moved in me—and a bit of surprise. Surprise at the hungry curiosity that had returned at the thought of what I was about to do.
I slid my hand around Dagda’s neck and stepped close.
His eyes widened. “What are you…”
I nodded toward the crowd of faeries that were staring at their king and queen. “This is for them, not for us.” I said in a low voice. “To prove our unity.”
Understanding dawned on his face. His chin squared, even while desire hid behind his gaze. “You do not have to—”
“Don’t make such a big deal about it, Dagda.” I stared up into that handsome face and that hungry curiosity became a steady beat within my pulse. I didn’t let myself think further as I rose onto my toes and pressed my lips to his.
His lips were molten. My whole body heated, that pulsing beat becoming a pounding in my ears. I was melting. I was burning. His lips moved against mine. My hands tightened on his neck and there was the faintest trickle of his fingers brushing over my arms. I kissed him harder, that hungry curiosity had morphed into a beast seeking to tear its way from my heart. To claim him. I wanted more of him. I needed all of him.
I shoved away, only because of the shock pulling through me at how quickly that simple action had sucked me in, even with so many people watching. Dagda’s chest rose and fell and an electricity sparked through me as our eyes met.
And the crowd roared their approval.
Chapter 21
Afterthetournament,Ispent three days holed up in the library researching demons and deals, the breaking of bonds, and anything related to it. I also devoted some time to reading about court politics, since I was sure that was what Dagda thought I was doing. If he asked, I wanted to have an excuse. We’d had dinner each evening and each night I’d invited him to my room to sing me to sleep. After allowing him to search me, he’d do just that.
I tried not to think about the kiss after the tournament, but every time I saw him, something warm and insistent lurked under the surface. Something I constantly fought to hold back.
Despite that, between the research and time spent with Dagda, my world settled into a nice routine. The trauma and turmoil of the first week occasionally reared its ugly head, as would my sisters, but those moments were fleeting and passed quickly.
I sat in the library, books laid out on a large table, shelves around me reaching to the ceiling. The place was as silent as the dead. Nobody besides me was here today, at least that I’d seen. I reached into my dress and drew one of the two tokens stashed between my breasts.
They pulsed with a shallow, warm glow. Dared I use them? The vision of the battlefield filled with lifeless faeries, elves, and demons was disturbing. I assumed that would be Badb’s doing. What if I might stop it? Stop it all.
What would Ornan order me to do in exchange? I couldn’t allow him to ask about the future. To learn my secret.
But would it matter if I found a way to change it?
I either needed to transform the future, or let it unfold. It was time to risk everything. “Ornan,” I whispered.
I looked around, expecting him to pop out from behind a bookshelf, with that easy stealth I’d witnessed when I first met him.
Silence filled the library. I waited longer.
“Ornan, please.”
