Page 53 of A War of Three Kings

I scrub tears away with frustration.

“In the end, it was Caitlin and Diarmuid who found you. They manipulated the guards into revealing where you were. I had no idea the enchanted cells for holding fae even existed before that. I’m so sorry, Aldrin. I wasn’t smart or fierce enough to save you. You may never forgive me, and I understand that. Our trust is broken on both sides. If things can’t be the same between us?—”

Aldrin grabs my arm and tugs me out of my seat, forcing me to stumble the distance between us and land in his lap. His strong arms wrap around me and press me into his chest. I melt, burying my face into him. The floral scent of spring combined with leather and a hint of masculine sweat floods me.

I feel like I have finally come home.

He kisses the top of my head lightly. “They told me you never wanted to see me again. That you hated me.”

I pull back from him and peer into his face. “No, Aldrin! I could never hate you.”

“You see how they have twisted the truth, do you not? How they put a wedge between us? They had me believe you turned your back on me without a fight.”

I place my hands on either side of his face. “That is not true.”

There is a raw vulnerability in his eyes. “I am struggling with the fact that the black-market trade of fae flesh is still very much alive in this realm. That you lead hunting parties to kill fae, then invite your king to festivals to feast on them.”

“The beasts were too much of a danger to let live, Aldrin.” My voice is gentle. Pleading. I let my hands slide from his face. “We only killed threats, not innocents. There is no benefit in letting the meat rot. Have you never eaten Cú Sídhe?”

“Of course I have, Keira!” He looks away, then drags his eyes back. “It doesn’t make this any less triggering. Gods, you are now a priestess of an order that sneaks into my realm every cycle to kill our nymphs for their heart-stones and steal our babies. It slices a knife through my heart every time I see you in the white of the Mothers of Magic. I know the blood of these atrocities is not on your hands, but your family are their greatest supporters. The magic they steal is ours, and we need every drop of it.”

I stiffen as horror washes through me. It is true. All of it. Those amber eyes seem to pierce down to the depths of my soul.

“Maybe that is why my people cling to the prejudice that the fae were our slavers and abusers. That they are all cruel monsters,” I say. “Because the realization that we humans are the villains here is not an easy thing to stomach. I am sorry, Aldrin, for all of it. If I could end the pilgrimages and the division between our people, I would without a second thought. I want to do it together, if you can ever forgive me.”

It isn’t a fair thing to ask of him. Especially not when my forgiveness has been so slow in coming.

“Ah, Keira, call me a fool, but I already have.” He runs his thumb over my lips. “It is not an easy thing, to question the indoctrination of generations.”

A single tear drops from my eye. “I don’t deserve you, Aldrin.” Guilt rolls through me anew, heavy and oily in my stomach.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” He grips my chin, tilting my face up to his, while his other hand slides up my thigh. “Are you still angry with me?” His voice is low, sultry.

“Are there any other secrets you are keeping from me?”

“None that come to mind.” His eyes heat as they focus on my lips.

I elbow him in the ribs, but smile. “Aldrin. Take it seriously. Are you holding back anything else? Secrets, lies, half-truths or prophecies?”

His eyebrows shoot up. “That’s quite the list. No. There was just the one huge, ugly truth that I had no idea how to approach. Do you want a blood oath?”

I shake my head. “I shouldn’t need one to trust you.”

“Then do you trust me?”

I gaze into his eyes as that layer of ice coating my heart melts. The rage, betrayal and soul-deep guilt all fall away from me. “Aldrin, I?—”

A high-pitched sound whizzes past my ear. A gash of red blood appears in an arc across Aldrin’s bicep and he cries out in pain, immediately jumping to his feet and taking me with him.

Everything happens so fast. We suddenly stand apart as another arrow embeds itself in his thigh. Two others whistle past us and lodge into the ground, standing erect.

We are under attack.

Chapter 13

Keira

Aldrin shoves me behind his huge body. Roots whip out of the ground and catch arrows flying toward us. An air shield rises around us, its surface rippling as more arrows bounce off it.

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