I sit up straighter on my stool. “They’re coming here? As in to the Goblin Kingdom? Do you know them?” Questions streak through my mind at lighting speed and I try to stop them from spilling from my lips. Will they tell me how they knew? How long it took? How will I talk to them without Dare or anyone else knowing?
“Yes, here to the Goblin Kingdom and yes I’ve met them a few times. They should be here in a few weeks.” Amren takes another sip of tea and narrows his eyes at me. “I thought you’d be happier about the news.”
“I-I am. I’m just in shock. I never thought I’d get to speak to them. I have so many questions. And I’m also a bit nervous. What if they tell me that I’ll never be mates with Dare? What then?” I frown at Amren.
“Then you either listen to them or you listen to what your heart tells you. Keep in mind that every couple is different. What was true for them might not be true for you, lass.”
I nod. “That’s true. But a lot of the signs are the same for all of the recorded couples.”
“Yes. But after the Declaration, a lot of couples were no longer recorded. A lot of leath cine went into hiding and stayed there.”
“I know. I’m just trying not to get my hopes up. At this point, I’m not sure that I can take any more heartbreak. I need more time for all the damage to heal.”
Amren lays his hand over mine on the table. “I wish I could say that I think it will get easier for you, lass. But from what I can tell, this battle is just getting started.”
I bite my lip. “What if I’m not strong enough, Amren? What if I fail everyone I’m supposed to protect?”
“What if you change the world as we know it?” Amren tsks. “Self-doubt is a good tool for keeping your feet on the ground, just make sure it doesn’t bury you, lass.”
I exhale a breath and look over my shoulder at Arela and Brodie. They’ve got their heads close together as they both grind herbs and do whatever else Amren has tasked them with. “How is Arela doing? Has she talked to you?”
“She hasn’t spoken much to me. I’ve noticed she’s a bit quieter now around large groups, but mostly she seems to be adjusting and healing.”
“And Brodie? What are his intentions?” I raise a brow.
“His intentions are pure if that’s what you’re asking. For right now, I think he’s protective of the girl. They both feel the connection but know that she’s still got healing to do before she can open up her heart to anyone.”
I try not to tumble into the dark hole in my head that keeps shouting at me that it’s my fault that Arela has to protect herself from anyone. “So long as he’s not taking advantage.”
“I’d skin the lad alive myself if he did.” Amren chuckles before finishing off his tea. “I’m going to lift the cloak of silence so they can hear us again. Any other questions before I do?”
“No, I’m good for now. I’ll have to think of what I want to ask the couple coming. And how I’ll talk to them alone. Any ideas?”
“I’ve got a few. But I do think you should be open with Dare and tell him. He might have questions himself.”
I nod and stand up from my stool. He’s right. It wouldn’t be fair for me to talk to this couple alone and not tell anyone. Dare is probably in the same boat as me. Wondering what the eff is happening between us and if some man or woman is going to walk into our lives and pop our happy little bubble.
“Thanks, Amren. I appreciate it.” I swipe my jar of herbs off the table and head toward Arela and Brodie. “Isn’t it time for you to be getting to bed, young lady?” I clear my throat behind them, making them both jump apart a bit. I smile inwardly.
“Ever, it’s a weekend. And we’re going to stay up to watch the sunrise! It’s on my list.” Arela turns her big, hopeful magenta and teal-colored eyes my way and it’s all I can do to not give in right away.
“You okay with that, Amren?” I call over my shoulder.
“So long as no homework is missed and you two aren’t getting up to any shenanigans, by all means. I hear that it’s going to be beautiful.”
Arela clasps her hands together in front of her and says the one word that will do me in. “Please, Ever?”
I cave like a mine shaft during an explosion and roll my eyes at myself. “All right. But you’d better be at breakfast so you can check in with me. Make sure you let one of the guards know what you’re doing so they don’t attack you thinking you’re an intruder.”
“Yes! Thank you, thank you!” Arela springs forward and hugs me tight.
I wrap my arms around her, squeezing her back. “Just be safe, okay?” I whisper the words in her ear before pulling back and meeting her gaze.
“I will. Promise.”
“Okay. Well, I’m beat. So I’m headed off to bed. Wake me up if you need anything.” I clap Brodie on the shoulder harder than I needed as I walk past him, and he winces. Point made. Don’t make me regret this.
“I’ll keep her safe. I promise,” Brodie’s deep voice rumbles behind me.
“You better!” I wave over my shoulder as I leave their little corner of the library and head toward my bed. Each step I make feels like I’ve got blocks of cement on each foot and every bone in my body is weary. Family drama, stopping a prophecy, figuring out if I’m mated with the man who’s seemingly made for me, and parenting a teenager. It’s exhausting.
I round the corner leaving the library and run smack into a familiar chest. Dare.
He wraps his arms around me and instantly every worry that was flooding my brain leaves in a rush and all I can think about is how addictive his scent is. Crisp earth after a rainstorm and sinful male.
“I was just looking for you. Where were you? I was worried.” Dare drops a kiss to my forehead before leaning back and locking gazes with me. I could get lost in his autumn-colored eyes.
It takes me a moment to unscramble my thoughts and pull myself out of the lust-filled fog that overtakes me every time he touches me. “I was with Amren, Arela, and Brodie.” I smile up at him.
“Ah. What’s that you’ve got there?” He nods at the jar of herbs in my hand.
“Some tea Amren gave me to help me with my stress.” I hate lying to him, but I’m not sure how he’d feel about me stopping us from having kids. If it’s even possible.
“Good. I hope it works.” He runs one of his rough hands under the hem of my shirt, making me shiver. “Headed to bed?”
“Yeah, you coming with?” I wink at him before breaking out of his hold and walking backward.
“You couldn’t keep me away if you tried.” He lunges for me and I laugh, turning and running a few steps before he catches me. He swings me up in his arms, my legs resting over one arm, my back against the other. He leans down and nibbles at my neck and I sigh in pleasure.
“Mmm, I like it when you nibble on my neck.” I turn my head so he can have better access as he walks toward our room with fast strides.
“Mo grá, you’ll like what I’m going to do when I get you behind closed doors even better.”
I put my hand over his firm chest, stopping it over his heart. “Then hurry up and get us there so you can show me.”
He opens his mouth to respond but closes it with an audible click at the sound of voices around the corner. I wiggle in his grasp but he only grips me tighter, keeping me in his arms. He stops just before turning the corner headed to our suite of rooms and raises a brow.
“Who is it?” I whisper.
“Your mother and uncle.”
“Put me down so I can break it up and they can go to bed.”
“Wait a second. Let’s hear what they’re saying.”
“Spying, Dare?” I poke his shoulder with a little giggle before straining my ears to hear what’s being said.
“Callista, you have to come home with me. Think about how this looks. My own twin staying in the Goblin Kingdom when I’m about to change history. I need you by my side.”
My gaze snaps to Dare and I mouth one word. “Twins?” How did I not know that they
were twins? I store my questions for later and keep listening.
“I must protect Ever, Caddox. She’s in danger from Cashel and this Order. She should have been safe with MECA but it all changed when Cashel tried to blackmail me.”
“You should have come to me. I could have helped.”
“You’re the King of the Light Elven Kingdom. You would have had to put me to death under your own kingdom’s laws.”
“You know I wouldn’t have done that.”
Callista sighs. “No. I don’t know that. And I couldn’t risk Ever.”
“How did the Order infiltrate MECA? They’ve sworn to kill any and all leath cine. Why would one team up with them?” Caddox asks the same question I’ve been asking myself for weeks and I lean toward the wall to hear better.
“I don’t know yet. I’m still looking into it.”
“How can I help? She’s my family too.”
“She should have been safe!” Callista whisper shouts. “We created MECA so they would be safe. We knew our father was insane, and we did what we could to keep them all out of harm’s way. How did this happen?”
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
My whole world goes quiet at her words. I feel like I’m looking at myself from outside of my body. I’m numb. Completely numb.
I push at Dare’s chest, my mother’s words ringing in my ears. We created MECA. Who did? She and Uncle Caddox? That’s not possible. “Let me down, Dare.”
Reluctantly, he lowers my legs until I can touch the stone floor, and without a second thought, I round the corner, meeting the shocked looks of both my mother and my uncle.
“We created MECA? Who’s we?” I cross my arms in front of my chest in reflex, as if it will stop me from feeling any more pain.
“Ever…” My uncle looks between me and my mother before shaking his head.
“Answer me!” I scream the words in frustration. It’s not possible. It can’t be. There is no way that my whole life has been a lie. That the institution I was raised in and taught that it protected against those who would harm us was created by my heartless mother.
Dare rests a hand on my hip and I don’t shrug him off. His presence is like a shield around me. I know that he won’t let them hurt me for overhearing their conversation. And there’s no way this will be a he-said, she-said game. I know what I heard. Dare heard it too.
“You wouldn’t understand, Ever. Times were different then.” My mother runs a hand through her hair, pulling some of the sea-green strands loose from her braid.
“Times were different twenty-three years ago? Or do you mean three hundred years ago when the Declaration first came into existence? Be specific, Mother.”
“Yes, three hundred years ago. Our father was still ruling. If only barely. His followers were blind to his madness.”
“So you threw me away. To some place you created to corral all of the people displaced by your father. That’s the best you could do?” My lungs are tight, as if I can’t pull enough air into them. “What if someone had found out I wasn’t really leath cine? Did you think about what would have happened to me?”
“Ever. Now is not the time.” My mother’s gaze flicks over my shoulder to Dare standing behind me.
“Now is the perfect time, Mother. Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of Dare. I’ll only tell him later.”
“I had contacts within MECA. I always knew how you were and what you were doing. Just because I wasn’t there doesn’t mean that I didn’t know what was happening with my own daughter.” She huffs a breath and I barely restrain myself from slapping her.
“No, Mother. That’s actually exactly what happened. You had no idea what was going on with me.” I shake my head in exasperation. “Did your contacts tell you about how I cried myself to sleep every time you missed an event? Or how about when my abilities weren’t developing? How I was scared that I’d be kicked out?” I wait a moment for her to interrupt me. To prove me wrong, but she stays silent. “No? I didn’t think so.”
“Ever, we never meant to hurt anyone. In fact, we were only trying to help.” Caddox speaks up, his voice low and calm like he’s talking to a spooked horse.
“I understand what you were trying to do. But you failed.” I laugh mirthlessly. “You created an entirely new environment where leath cine children are taught that they are unwanted and lesser than everyone else. That the pure-blooded Fae all hate us. Think we’re dirty. It’s no wonder Head Guard Frederick joined up with the Order. He only wanted to equal the playing field.”
“That’s enough, Ever.” Callista slashes her hand through the air. “We don’t need to explain ourselves to you.”
“You’re right. You don’t owe me an explanation. I know the truth. You owe every other person one though. And you’re going to come out with the truth after you nullify the Declaration. Or I will.”
With those final words, I turn my back on my flesh and blood and I walk away. I won’t listen to their lies or platitudes anymore. I’m done.
*
I slam the door to my bedroom behind me, the angry sound only calming me momentarily before I start pacing in a tight circle. My mind is a tornado of thoughts. Flashes of my childhood, my hopes and dreams, what I sacrificed for MECA, what I would have done to have my mother with me. All of it swirls around and jumps to the forefront before being whipped away and replaced by something new.
I hiccup a breath and press my palms to my temples, trying to ease the pressure in my head. I’ll never understand what I did to deserve so much pain in my life. I’ll never grasp how a mother could do what she did to me. I’m not Arela’s birth mother, but I can’t imagine doing half of the things my mother did to me to her. It goes against every fiber of my being to even think about any of that happening to her.
The door clicks shut behind me and I know Dare’s caught up to me. I turn to face him, expecting pity or even anger. Instead I only see concern. He’s got little lines of worry between his eyebrows and his gaze searches mine. I don’t know what he’ll find. Anger. Hurt. Hopelessness.
“Mo grá…” He opens his arms and steps toward me and I fall apart. I let myself find shelter in his embrace, and for once in my life, I don’t worry about being the strong one. I know he’ll protect me.
I jump toward him, knowing he’ll catch me, and I let his muscled arms envelope me in warmth and protection. “I-I don’t understand h-how they could do that…” I trail off as I sob into his chest, my fingers digging into his back like I’m afraid he’ll let go.
“I wish I could say that I understand, little tine, but I don’t.” He wipes a tear from my cheek and one side of his mouth goes up in a regretful wince.
“I can’t think about this right now. I’ve got too much else going on. I just can’t.” I sniffle and pull back from him, my hands sliding over his chest. “I need to forget for a little while. I need to feel something other than pain, Dare.” All I want is to depend on someone else for a while. I want to pretend like every choice I make doesn’t impact others. I have to show Dare that I need him like I need my next breath. What’s between us is real and tangible and no one can take it away from us. I need that reassurance right now.
Dare narrows his eyes as he looks me over. “Are you sure, Ever?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” I wipe my face with both palms, drying my tears and hoping that I’m not blotchy before I reach for the hem of my shirt and pull it over my head. I back toward the bed, unclasping my bra as I go, and watch as his muscles tense while he looks at me bared before him. “You coming, goblin?”
“You first, mo grá.” His lips tilt up in a wicked grin, and before I can blink, he’s tossing me up on the bed and pulling off my jeans. He finds my neck with his lips and that first thrill of bliss rushes through my veins.
“Mmm, I love it when you kiss my neck.” I pull at his belt, unfastening it and unbuttoning his fly. Our hands tangle as we rush to get each other’s clothes out of our way.
“I know you do.” Dare
’s voice is low and gravelly, the vibrations against my skin going straight to my core. “I know it makes you wet for me.”
“Yesss.” I hiss out the word as his hand slips under my panties to find my folds damp and ready for him.
“I love it when my pussy is wet and ready for me.” Dare slips a finger inside me and my hips arch up off the bed in pleasure. My skin flickers with light as he builds my pleasure but this time I don’t pay it any attention. Instead I’m focused solely on grounding myself with Dare.
“Your pussy?” I ask between moans.
“Yes. Mine.” Dare looks up from removing my pants and panties and pierces me with his gaze. “You’re mine, Ever. Every inch of you is mine. Mine to take, mine to pleasure, mine to love, mine to protect.”
I lick my lips and try not to choke up at his words. “Then take what’s yours.”
Without another word, he parts my legs with his hands and sinks into my needy cunt with one thrust.
“Dare!” I scream his name, my nails digging into the back of his neck as he sets a hard pace.
“That’s right. My name is the only name that will spill from these pretty lips.” He bends his head to nip at my pebbled nipples before barking out another order. “Say it again.”
I sigh his name as pleasure crashes through me. “Dare.” Each thrust pushes me closer to the stars, closer to that moment of rapture. Together our skin casts shadows on the walls. I’m lit up like a chandelier and I could care less. Every thought starts and stops with each thrust of his cock in and out of me.
“Oh, mo grá, I can feel your tight little pussy fluttering around my cock.” He bites at my lips before trailing over to my ear. “Not yet. Not until I say so.”
“Please,” I beg. My heart’s pounding, my breath sawing out of my chest as I try to hold off from falling over the cliff into that bliss his touch promises.
Dare grabs my thigh, pulling my leg up higher on his hip, and his thrusts go deeper, hitting a spot inside of me that sends dots of white through my vision. “Wait, Ever. Wait until I say.”
Throne of Secrets (Wicked Kingdoms Book 3) Page 11
