Page 226 of Fallen Stars

Enzo scowled. “No, I’m not nervous. Is my hair okay?”

Leo chuckled. “It looks fine. What do you have to be nervous about? Your soul is literally tied to El’s. This wedding is about the easiest thing the two of you have ever done.”

“I know,” Enzo said as an excited but nervous energy washed over him. “It’s just, I can’t believe I get to be her husband. That in a few hours, I’ll be able to call her my wife.”

Just the thought… He already felt aroused. There was something primal in the phrase, possessive, and his blood heated a little just thinking about it. His wife.

“Remember when you came to me after you’d first met her?” Leo laughed at the memory as Enzo rolled his eyes. “You said, and I quote, ‘Leo, I am being forced to train the most insufferable woman I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting. And it’s a damn shame that she is so beautiful. Beauty is wasted on a woman like that.’”

“Yes, yes, mortal enemies and all that. I remember.”

“And remember what you said to me after you’d rescued her from Ariete?”

Enzo’s stomach somersaulted just at the thought. “Yes,” he said, a soft smile on his face as he dabbed some amber oil to his neck. “I said, ‘Leo, I am in love. And I don’t care if she can’t love me back. It’s enough just to know I have theprivilegeof loving her.’”

“I could always see you looking for her in every room, even when you claimed you hated her.” Leo stood, coming before Enzo. He helped straighten his collar. “And now, my brother is marrying one of my best friends.”

Enzo slapped him on the back, the two embracing. “Well,” Enzo said, “I suppose it’s time El made an honest man out of me.”

Elara waited at the beginning of the path outside her cabin, drinking in the sight before her. The Goldfir Forest was a place that Elara could not believe existed—a forest that spanned the border that stretched across Helios and Asteria. She raised her head, looking to the sky. It was dusk, a time where both she and Enzo thrived.

A wave of emotion engulfed her as she saw her moon low in the sky, and across, reaching into Helios, Enzo’s sun. The two were at a perfect distance from each other, gazing across at each other. And she felt so grateful at that moment, for this mortal form. For this ability to have a silly human celebration, to commemorate their love in ceremony. How long had she waited for this—this union between their two heavenly bodies? How many lifetimes had they chased each other to be granted this one simple act?

She heard the rumble of a carriage, turning to the sound with a frown. It rocked against the uneven forest floor, pulled by two grey mares. Merissa came out of the cabin at the commotion, half-dressed. The carriage was grey and black, two entwined serpents snaking around the carriage door as Elara’s eyes narrowed to it.

It swung open, an impeccably tailored trouser leg coming into view.

“Eli?!” she gasped, racing towards the carriage as the god himself stepped out, in a perfectly fitting charcoal suit and bow tie. Elara threw herself into his arms. “I can’t believe you came. I thought you were in the heavens?!”

Eli waved a hand. “They’re all as bitter and bloodthirsty as they were before. They can wait for a few days. Do you really think I’d miss my queen’s wedding?”

Elara’s eyes widened as Merissa came forward, tears in her eyes. She looked between the two, her lip trembling.

Eli smiled, patting Merissa’s arm. “Merissa may have threatened me too.”

“What!?” Elara exclaimed.

“I just told him that if he didn’t make it, knowing how much it meant to you, then he’d have me to deal with. It was a very strongly worded letter.”

She crossed her arms, and Elara burst into laughter at her best friend, who wouldn’t harm a fly.

“Adorable,” she said, kissing Merissa’s cheek as Merissa rolled her eyes. “Thank you.”

She turned back to Eli. “So, as you can probably guess, the guest list is very small. No one knows we are here, not even the Asterian citizens that live in this forest. Adrian’s in the clearing down that path if you want to stay with him while we finish getting ready?”

Eli tutted. “Why would I do that? I’m here to give you away.”

Elara’s heart faltered. “What?”

“You were going to walk down this path with Isra and Merissa behind you, and you need someone by your side. And El, that’s where I will always be. By your side. I was in a past lifetime, and I am now.”

“Oh gods, Merissa, this makeup was an absolute waste of time,” Elara remarked before bursting into tears.

Isra appeared from the cabin. “Making a bride cry? Just an average day for a Star like you, isn’t it, Eli?” she said.

“He’s giving me away,” Elara said, her voice shaky.

“I know,” Isra grinned. “I also threatened him in that letter, though my threat was a bit more crude than Merissa’s.”

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