AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A throat clearing makes us snap our heads to find Fynn staring with an expectant look, both eyebrows raised. “I’m hurt. I thought I was all you need.” He delicately places a hand over his chest with a dramatic gasp. Cora giggles into his shoulder.
“What you are is a thorn in my ass,” Draven growls out.
Fynn’s lips tip up with a jolt of laughter. “But it’s a big thorn, right?” He raises both eyebrows up and down seductively.
Draven mumbles under his breath, “Insufferable bastard.”
Once the silence falls back over the room and the laughter tumbling from my lips fades, a weight starts to pull in my chest. Something heavy that burrows deep, like guilt.
Tipping my head back, I wait for Draven to look back down at me. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault Whiro was hunting you down.” His head tilts to the side with a crease in the center. “He never would have known of you being a chosen if you weren’t with me in the forbidden library or needing to save me from his cell. Because only his power could undo those locks. Nothing else.”
Draven seems to ponder that for a moment, but then his lips curve upward. “Then it’s fate I was there or else who knows what he would have done to you and your mother if I couldn’t free you.” The soft plush of his lips press against my forehead. “You seem to forget that I will do anything to keep you safe. Fuck the consequences. You are all that matters to me.”
“He’s right,” Fynn chips in with a bright smile. “You could have even tried to bind Drav up to a chair before we left for the forbidden library, but he’d still have found a way to be there for you. Even if that meant flying with a chair strapped to his ass.” Fynn’s chest shakes. Draven gives him a sharp look, which causes Fynn to burst into a fit of laughter, with Cora following suit.
I bite my bottom lip back as a silent laugh rattles through my body at Fynn knowing about that, but the reminder of that night causes my cheeks to heat, knowing they are blooming to a bright pink. Turning my head, I stare at the very spot where I bound him as I took my pleasure, the feel of his shadows filling my—
I shake my head to clear it. This is not the time.
But when I look to Draven, I find his eyes already on me, darkening every passing second with a knowing look. “It’s my turn next, little demon.” His voice fills my mind, traveling through our bond. “You are going to look so pretty tied up,” he smirks.
My mouth parts from the image he’s creating in my head, and suddenly, I can’t breathe, my pulse quickening.
Before I can think of a reply, the door creaks, ripping me away from my lust-filled haze I was starting to get sucked into. Queen Zoraida waltzes gracefully in with Emil on her heels. It looks like she’s floating, the way the hem of her navy dress sweeps the floor.
She passes Fynn with a wink and says, “Time has healed.” I watch as his mouth falls open before it’s replaced with a smile as he shakes his head.
She reaches Draven, pulling him in for a hug.
“I’m sorry I yelled,” he says softly.
“Shh. Nonsense.” She pats his head before pulling back to look at him with a wide smile. “I’m your mother; I expected it. You were suffering from immense pain.” Her smile softens and then turns, those deep ocean eyes locking onto me. “Welcome home, my dear.”
Home.
My eyes begin to well as I stand, needing to feel the warmth of her motherly touch as she opens her arms for me. “I know, dear. I know.” Her voice brushes over my hair. I drag in a long, slow breath to try and steady myself. As if everything I just went through hasn’t fully hit me until now.
Emil crushes into Draven’s chest, holding the Dark Prince tightly to him and it swells something in my heart. To see how much his little brother looks up to him and how Draven helped take care of him when their father passed.
In that moment I remember Irad’s final words for them. With soothing strokes, Queen Zoraida drags her fingers through my hair, my heart thumping wildly in my chest at what I need to tell them. “I have a message for all of—”
“We have a visitor,” she cuts me off as she turns quickly to face the door. In the span of a full breath, chills lick down my spine and the hair on the back of my neck rises. The door opens and that’s when I realize my body was trying to warn me of who was lurking within the castle.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Emma
Aguard with broad shoulders and covered in armor steps over the threshold. He claps the heels of his boots together with his arms pinned to his side. “My apologies, but Prince Aiden is here and has requested your presence.”
A grunt with a nod is all Draven offers, along with a twitch of his veins in his neck.
As we all take a moment to process why Aiden might show up, Queen Zoraida grasps my elbow and leans towards me. Her whispered words skate over my ear: “Sometimes, pretty hearts filled with lies need to be crushed.”
Confusion etches my features as I stare at her with a pinched face. “What does that mean?”
A humming grows in my skull as I wonder if she knows of the guilt I carry from the hearts I have already crushed. How the pulse of their life still lingers on my hands… But the gentle tone of her voice makes it sound as if she’s reassuring me, letting me know that even fate believes death is deserving to some who have run out of chances.
“That you do not need to bear the weight of one’s life when it's the right thing to do.” And with that, she kisses my cheek before doing the same with Draven. She then takes Emil’s hand to escort themselves out of the room. “Sorry to cut our visit short, but we will take our leave so you can attend to your…other matters.”
