“For everything I’ve done.” I was clinging to him. He was clinging to me. “Everything you said to me, back at the castle.”
“I was being an idiot.”
“No. You were coming out of shock. You had blood on your hands.”
“I still have blood on my hands.”
I looked down. Always, I was hurting him. Putting him in danger. But perhaps we could change that now. Perhaps the bloodshed was ending, sliding back into the earth like the tides.
“I am not evil,” I said, looking up into his eyes. Those emerald spheres were shining like the light. But darkness is as necessary as the light, and I would draw strength from both. “I would simply do anything to protect you.”
“I know.” He brushed the hair from my face. “I understand that now. I think I understood it then. That’s what scared me.”
“Because you would do anything to protect me?”
“Yes. Kill. Die. But I would rather live.”
“We can do that together.” I lowered my forehead to his. The waves were crashing against our feet, and I imagined pulling him down to the shore.
I kissed him.
He kissed me.
It would be so easy to fall right into the sand. To fall right into his arms. To heal each other, right here, right now …
Taylor must’ve realized what I was thinking, because he said, “You know you have a room here, right?”
“It is not my room anymore.”
“Wow, you’ve slipped out of that princess role quickly.”
I laughed, touching his cheek. “This feels natural. That was the abomination.” I paused, grinning slyly. “Of course, time spent in my room was always restless. It would be a shame to leave that place behind without giving myself one good memory … ”
He leaned into me, lips tickling my ear. “If that’s what you want.”
I smiled. “You are what I want.”
“Yeah, I’m going to need to hear that about a million more times before I believe it.”
“Doable.”
“And I’d like that to be my nickname.”
“Oh my Darkness.”
“I don’t like that one so much.”
I placed my hand over his mouth, playfully, and he nipped at me. “Come on,” I said, leading him along. Once, he had led me to his bedroom. Now, I would lead him to mine. But no walls could contain us anymore. No rules could tear us apart.
Together, we ascended the mountain, climbing a staircase made of jagged rocks. Together, we ascended the rules our people had made.
The rules our families had made.
We would not spend our lives plotting new and extreme ways to kill each other, as had been my mother’s dream. Nor would we join together simply to create life, to please the Seelie Queen. We would not be mere instruments of creation or destruction.
We would be more.
“Come on,” I said, but I did not see a bedroom laid out in front of us. I did not see a single night. I saw eternity. I saw a sky filled with endless stars. And we would meet that mystery, that world of possibility, together.
Only.
Always.
Together.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Sandy Lu for her enthusiasm, insight, and belief in this project, and to Brian Farrey-Latz for his continuing editing excellence. Thank you to everyone at Flux, including Mallory Hayes, Sandy Sullivan, and Kevin Brown, for making this book shine, and for being all-around fantastic.
Thank you to Marwane Pallas for being a magical genius, and for saving the day.
Thank you to my irreplaceable, unstoppable betas, AdriAnne Strickland, Kayla Whaley, and Justina Ireland, for being the fabulous people that they are, and for helping me in all kinds of wonderful ways.
Thank you to The Lucky 13s and the folks at #WeNeedDiverseBooks, for awesomeness-related reasons.
And thank you to Chris Hauth, for always inspiring and encouraging me.
© www.cameronbrowne.com
About the Author
Chelsea Pitcher is a karaoke-singing, ocean-worshipping Oregonian with a penchant for wicked faerie tales. She began gobbling up stories as soon as she could read, and especially enjoys delving into the darker places to see if she can draw out some light. She is also the author of The Last Changeling and The S-Word. You can visit her at chelseapitcher.com and follow her on Twitter at @Chelsea_Pitcher.
The Last Faerie Queen Page 33
