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Luc nodded. “I’m ready if Astraea is.”
I nodded. There was a tension in my shoulders as I took a deep breath, knowing that the king wouldn’t have denied me my wings unless there was something urgent that needed to be seen to in the human world.
My hand came to my necklace, praying that my father was all right.
Jacques turned to Adrian with a sigh.
“I suppose since your brother is now under my command,” Jacques said, “I’ll have to see more of your face from now on.”
Adrian smiled and winked. “Looking forward to it, mate.”
Jacques frowned and walked off. Adrian turned to me.
“Shall we say yet another goodbye, princess?” he asked me. “We’ve said so many of them.”
I couldn’t even bring words to my throat as I looked at him. He leaned against his crutch with a cocky smile, as if he hadn’t almost died while helping us. I couldn’t say anything. I could only wrap my arms around his neck in gratitude. He embraced me tight with one arm.
“Whether or not it’s from a spell,” he whispered in my ear, “a piece of me will always love you for saving me.”
He released me from the embrace, a proud smile on his lips. Luc cleared his throat. Adrian met his eyes and took a step back, his cockiness slightly dimming.
“It was quite the adventure,” Adrian said with a huff of air. “I look forward to our next goodbye.”
He smiled. I smiled back.
I looked over his shoulder toward the entrance. He turned to look back with me, sighing.
“I told him to come,” Adrian said. “But he said didn’t have the courage to look all of you in the eye.”
I nodded, understanding.
“Then tell him that I look forward to seeing him when I return to the den,” I said.
Adrian nodded. “I will.”
“Perhaps I will see you as well,” I said. “So don’t forget me, Captain.”
“Not even if I wanted to, princess.”
I smiled, the bittersweet reality being that he would forget me eventually.
Before I could say another word, I was pulled into someone’s arms and swept off my feet into the air. Luc looked at Adrian coldly, holding me close to his chest as his wings pulled us off the ground.
“You too, Luc?” Adrian said with a laugh. “I suppose that’s understandable.”
“She was mine first,” Luc replied. “I mean…she was ours first.”
Adrian chuckled. “Sure. That’s what you meant.”
Luc grunted, going higher into the air. I tightened my arms around his neck as we flew toward the den entrance.
“You’re being petty,” I scolded.
“Just because I let him live doesn’t mean I like him,” he returned.
There was silence between us; Jacques and his siren carrier came up from behind. We bolted from the docks into the caverns before the den, zigging and zagging until we made it out the other side into the sunlight.
I automatically shielded my eyes, the fresh sunlight feeling completely new and foreign. My back and my heart both ached as the den got farther and farther away, turning into a small spec in the middle of the ocean.
