Page 77 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen
He nodded, his lips pursing. The usual chill that emitted from him was nowhere to be found; in fact, she didn’t feel anything. “The same thing happened to me. One second I was watching the half-elf hand you the sword, and the next …” He waved to their new surroundings. “Do you think it’s linked with the sword?”
“I do.” She frowned. She had touched the sword and had been transported here, but why was Blár here too? Did the sword need something from them both? Or was this something Vidar had orchestrated? Or was Blár here because their souls were bound to one another? The latter seemed more likely.
“What should we do?” Blár asked after a moment; he stared off at one end of the hallway, his scowl darkening. “I passed by a group of fae guards, but they didn’t even notice me.”
“Same. My hand went inside a guard.”
He turned to her sharply. “Yourwhat?”
“Sorry, I worded that weird.” She grinned at his expression and the fact that she had blurted out such a strange sentence. It was definitely the stress of the situation that was getting to her. “I tried grabbing a guard to ask him where I was, because he kept ignoring me, but then my hand slipped through him. Like I was a … a ghost.”
His jaw locked and when he glanced at his surroundings again, there was a hardness about him that hadn’t been there before. The look of someone who was ready to fight. He swore softly. “You don’t think we’re both …dead, do you?”
“No, I don’t.”
“To add to our … situation—” He held up his hand. “My magic isn’t working.”
Dread filled her in seconds. She reached for her own mana, pulling it to the surface, but just as Blár had said, she felt nothing. Were they inside a rune-marked realm like in the tower, or the ruins?
For a moment, they both stood there, staring at one another, an awkwardness that shouldn't have been there enveloping them. Then, the sound of someone giggling and conversing with someone else filled the hall once more. They both straightened and turned in the direction of the noise.
“We should try to explore, at least,” Kolfinna said uneasily. “Maybe we can find a way out, then.”
“It’s like we’re back in the ruins,” Blár said when they continued down the hallway. He cast her a quick glance, and his blue eyes shone against the bright firelight burning in the gilded sconces.
They had been transported into a different realm back in the Eventyrslot ruins, too, and had had to work together despite their distaste of one another. But things were so much different now than they had been back then. She had loathed him and been terrified of him. Now, when she looked at him, her heart ached for another reason. A longing was nestled deep within her. She didn’t know when it had sprung up, but she knew that she didn’t want to separate from him.
Kolfinna’s fingers brushed against Blár’s as they approached the laughter and chatter; they were drawn to it, as if nothing else in this castle mattered except the people who were conversing and chuckling. Blár’s pinky hooked onto hers and she jerked her head in his direction. His smile was faint, and she blushed despite herself.
“You were beautiful out there, you know.”
Taken aback, she shook her head. “What are you talking about?”
“Your fight,” he said like it was the simplest thing in the world. “I was waiting to see you wipe the floor with that giant fae, but even when you were losing, you appeared … graceful. You’ve gotten better at everything, Kolfinna. I think it’s yourconfidence that’s making you glow so much; you’ve changed from the first time we met.”
Heat spread up her throat to the tips of her ears. She couldn’t meet his gaze, even as a giddy excitement rushed up her spine. “We really should focus on getting out of here, Blár.”
“You don’t believe me?” She didn’t need to look at him to know he was scowling; she could practically hear it in his voice. “Youarebeautiful, you know.”
“Blár, we don’t have?—”
“Time?” He grabbed her shoulders and spun her until she was facing him. He peered down at her; his arctic eyes appeared a deeper, darker shade of ice-blue in this lighting. “Don’t brush this under the rug like you’re so accustomed to doing. I want you to know that I think you’re the most beautiful woman in the world, Kolfinna. And I want you to believe it, too. Because in my eyes, there is no one else who shines brighter than you.”
Her face warmed again and she couldn’t rip her gaze away, not when he was staring at her so intently. She didn’t think she was as beautiful as he was making her out to be, but when he spoke like that, with so much authority, so much assurance, she wanted to believe it too. The backs of her eyes burned and she opened her mouth to deflect the compliment once more, but Blár seemed to anticipate it, because he leaned closer and pressed his lips against hers.
The kiss was unexpected. Gentle. And she wanted to push him away and tell him that now wasn’t the right time for this, that they were in the middle of a strange dimension, and they needed to escape—but she could already hear his dismissal. And for once, she wanted to let go of all the baggage weighing her down. All the stress to escape everything. To win. To gain freedom.
Kolfinna’s eyes fluttered shut and she kissed him back softly. For a moment, she could forget everything. And she did. Shewound her arms around his neck and breathed in his scent. His hard, muscular body felt right against her soft one.
When they pulled back, there was a feral gleam in his eyes. “One day, you’ll believe it when I tell you you’re beautiful, and you’ll shine even brighter than you already do.”
“You’re talking nonsense,” she whispered, despite the fact that his words warmed her down to her toes.
“I thinkyou’rethe one talking nonsense.”
She opened her mouth to refute him, but the sound of chattering grew once more, and they both were reminded that they had a purpose here. Kolfinna sighed, her fingers skimming over his cheek. She wanted to remain like this, in his arms, with his whispering, sweet words. But reality was too harsh, and she knew this moment couldn’t last any longer.
Kolfinna motioned toward the gilt double doors a few feet away from them. “The noise is coming from there.”
