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Ilet my shadows deposit me outside Draven’s castle. Blending in with the night as I stand between the pines, but I can feel him. The way the bond between us flares stronger, pulsing with a spellbinding need to erase the distance between us.
The scent that is only him comforts me and soothes the nerves that have been growing from the thought of confessing my secret. Admitting the betrayal I would have committed if I was still lost in the sea of my darkness.
As soon as I go to cloak myself once more and follow his scent, I suddenly feel warmth searing through my clothes behind me. Cedar and maple wrap around me, flooding my senses so strongly that my eyes want to roll in the back of my head.
His hand reaches for mine that’s hanging near my hip, intertwining one of his fingers with mine. “Little demon.” His velvety voice sends tingles down my body. “You came back to me.”
“I can’t seem to stay away,” I say, my voice thready.
A chuckle rumbles from his chest, and I can’t help the small smile that lifts on my face.
“We are all in the library. The others are waiting since I told them I felt your presence.” He fully grabs hold of my hand now, spinning me around to press our fronts together, and only then do I retract my shadows from my hood. A smirk settles on his lips. “There you are.” A whisper on the wind.
I lift my eyes to him, letting them change to grey, only a second long enough for him to see it. The sight has his eyes flaring from blue to silver, darting back and forth between mine. His large palm grabs the back of my neck, pulling me closer until we are nose to nose. He goes to speak but I coil my shadows around us before he can and pull us into the dark.
A heartbeat later, we’re standing in the library with three sets of wide eyes staring back at us. Kye halts his pacing, Fynn smiles kindly, and Cora leaps from her seat in front of the fireplace, sprinting towards me. Only to halt a foot away, her blue eyes scanning me and looking deep into my eyes. She’s unsure of how to proceed, and I can see the question filling her eyes, wondering if I’m me at the moment. I don’t blame her. To ease her worry, I open my arms and spread them wide, a wobbly smile breaking free.
“Cora,” I say with all the warmth I can put into my voice.
She chokes on a sob and crashes into me, causing me to stumble a few steps back. Her arms squeeze tightly around me to the point of not being able to breathe. But I do the same to her, thankful she’s here, alive, and breathing.
“Fuck, Em,” she cries into my shoulder. “Don’t you dare scare me like that again.”
I can feel her tears soaking into my clothes, but I don’t care. I just hold on tighter. “I can’t promise that,” I huff out as she playfully smacks me. “But I will do my best.”
She continues to hold me as each minute ticks by, the room otherwise silent as she sniffles. Eventually, Cora pulls back to wipe her face clean with the back of her hand and takes a deep breath. “We’ve been so worried about you.”
Guilt eats away at me like it’s starving, and I drop my gaze down to my boots.
“Princess.” The deep voice caresses the organ racing in my chest, gently urging it to slow down.
I peer up to amber eyes that are glowing golden from the flames of the fire reflecting off them. Relief takes over Kye’s features as he takes in every inch of me, checking for injuries no doubt. Always the protector.
A long, shaky breath helps hold back the tears burning behind my eyes. “I’m not a princess anymore,” I muse.
He smirks, causing the scar on the side of his face to curve with the movement. His cheeks lift, and the corner of his eyes crinkle. The long, wild hair of his has been left down, just grazing his shoulders.
“You will always be a princess to me.” His steps eat up the distance before he pulls me in, smashing my face into his firm chest and all I can do is giggle as I hug him back. I can hear the rough pounding of his heart against my ear, and the rush of air filling his lungs as he holds me. “Glad to have you back.”
A sigh leaves me as I bury my head further into his chest. Then, I suddenly feel the air softly ripple near my leg and I kick out my foot on instinct, abruptly blocking Kye’s leg. I pull back with my hands clutching his arms as I look up at him to find he’s grinning.
“Had to make sure you still got it and haven’t forgotten all our training.” He winks, and this lighter side of Kye, a more carefree version, is causing my heart to swell.
I huff annoyingly even though I can’t stop the stupid grin that stretches across my face. “Your training is so engraved into my mind, I could recite every move, every defensive position in my sleep.” He laughs right alongside me, and it feels like no time has passed between us. As if I haven’t been lost in hell for three months.
“Miss me, darling?” A chipper voice snags my attention.
I snap my neck around to find Fynn standing behind the sofa, leaning back with his elbows bent and his hands firmly gripping the frame to hold him upright.
“Oh, hey. I didn’t see you there,” I tease.
He pushes off the sofa with fluid grace and saunters towards me with arms wide open. “Ha-ha. So, in other words, I was the first one you saw because of how infatuated you are with me, but you didn’t want to make the others feel bad about it. I can understand that.” One of his eyebrows raises as he wraps me in a welcoming embrace.
All I can do is shake my head and muffle into his shirt. “You’re unbelievable.”
The small scar on his lip stretches with his wide smile. “Actually, that would be your broody dragon over there.” He jerks his head towards Draven. “He’s been a drunken mess that I have had to help clean up every day with you gone. Such a sensitive dragon.”
I hear Draven curse under his breath.
