Page 37 of Faerie Trials

When his lips found mine in a kiss for the ages, I didn’t stop him. I couldn’t have even if I wanted to. And I didn’t. A rush of feeling went straight to my head and on a groan I pressed against him.

He kissed the last bit of sense right out of my head and I let him.Gladly. When his tongue begged for my lips to open and tangled with mine, I swooned. He kept one hand on my waist as the other reached up to grab my hair. Kissing me like his life depended on it. I wanted more. I wanted everything.

This was the happiest I’d felt since coming to Faerie.

Happier than the first moment we kissed outside of the ballroom. Because here, it was only the two of us, with all our shadows in the open. Well, most of our shadows. As the kiss went on and on, his excitement pressing to my core and my body aching, I knew. This could really be something special.

This could be the end for me.

15

Bronwen and I ventured out into the chilly March evening with ice cracking beneath our boots thanks to a late freeze. Although the trees had begun to bloom, ice encased most of the flowers, freezing them in beautiful perfection.

With the world quiet and the murderer MIA, this would be our last late-night rendezvous.

Good. Fine by me. I’d take the extra time every week to study and maybe I’d finally pass one of the past Trials Juno kept throwing at me. She’d be shocked, and seeing the look on her face would honestly make my day.

I told Bronwen as much, surprised when she laughed. Like my academic troubles had become a joke. Still, I couldn’t help but smile at her reaction. She didn’t mean any harm. In fact, besides Melia, Bronwen was one of the most supportive people I knew, who never failed to cheer me up when my mood plummeted.

With spring around the corner, I was looking forward to the lengthening days, the sun shining much longer than we were used to. But Faerie wasn’t like the mortal world. We had seasons here, but they could change on a dime. Whatever the land wanted to do, it did. With or without the permission of its inhabitants.

Except for that one time when I’d first arrived here, I thought with a shake of the head. We’d had terrible storms for days. From what Mike told me, those storms were not natural. Faerie had its fair share of rain and snow days, but nothing like the violent derechos initiated when I came. What can I say? I didn’t belong here—and the land itself objected to my presence.

“Are you going to talk to me or stay in your head the whole night?” Bronwen teased. “Come on, girl, you’ve got to give me a little conversation. I can’t be the one to carry the whole thing. That gets boring.”

I chuckled, the sound ending on a snort. “Sorry. I’ve had a long day of overthinking everything. I’m a little tired.”

“What’s new there?” she joked.

And I was ridiculously head over heels for Mike. No matter how I tried to fight it, it was no use. I positivelyglowed. Surprised when I looked down to see my skin normal instead of lit from the inside. My mind returned again and again to our kiss and I replayed it in my head until it felt more like a dream than a memory.

We’d made out in the grotto for what seemed like hours. The magic properties of the water meant we didn’t get prune-like skin no matter how long we spent in it, and with my book forgotten, I focused the whole of my attention on Mike. On his skin, on his taste, on the scent of him, all winding through me until I wasn’t sure where he left off and I began.

I could have easily lost myself with him if he hadn’t come to his senses first. I’m still not sure how he did it. The moment his lips left mine I felt like my mind had spiraled into the water, gone forever. He’d stopped us before we went too far, and by the time we finally gathered ourselves, we were joking and giggling like we’dbothhad too much ambrosia.

One thing was clear: I’d fought it for too long, the attraction between us. The desire. The pull like a tug through the midsection. I knew falling for him was a terrible idea and something I absolutely, positively should not do. I didn’t care.

My expression must have given me away.

“Uh oh. What did you do now?” Bronwen wanted to know. Her elbow dug into my side. “Come on. I want all the details.”

I debated telling her about my afternoon but I did not want to spoil it. Then found the words bubbling up anyway.

“I went to read down in the grotto beneath the castle but Mike was there. And we…” I trailed off on another giggle and let my head drop back. “We made up. We made up in the best way!”

“Youmade up?”

Oh. Yeah, I hadn’t told her about Coral’s party. I dropped my voice as we continued walking. “Well, he and I had gotten into a major fight at a classmate’s party neither one of us really wanted to go to. It took us a few very long weeks to get on speaking terms again but he spent the better part of three hours apologizing to me.”

The memory brought with it a rush of warmth and I hugged it close to me. Cradled it against my heart like something precious. Because it was precious. Even after everything we’d been through together, I wasn’t sure we’d come back from that last fight.

We had, and stronger. After the make-out session we’d talked about everything. Before long we’d missed dinner and had to scramble to sneak something from the kitchen before Raelynn saw us. The two of us laughed and chatted like no time had passed at all as we ate the rest of the food in the library where we knew we wouldn’t be interrupted.

I took Bronwen through my day, surprised when she stopped mid-stride and grabbed my hand. Her eyes widened. She didn’t look happy.

“Tavi, think about this,” she said slowly. “I know you like Mike and all—I mean, he’s the crown prince and he’s drop dead gorgeous, two things that definitely work in his favor—but you can’t be together.”

Onyx had said the same thing and I hated it as much now as I had when he’d brought it up. I didn’t care. “Whatever problems come up, we’ve already shown we can get over them,” I argued immediately, the smile still on my face no matter how the rest of me threatened to drop. “As long as we talk to each other. Because communication, you know, is key.”

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