Page 151 of Rising Out of the Darkness
“That’s my girl.” Declan tenderly kissed my forehead, nipped the tip of my nose, and finally devoured my mouth where he lingered for a while before letting me come up for air. “I made something for you.” He rolled off the bed and bounded over to a tray that held several silver lidded platters. He was practically bouncing up and down like a child as he placed the tray in the middle of the ruffled sheets.
“Who are you, and what have you done with my grumpy, brooding Shadow Lord?” Feigning a swoon, I placed a hand against my forehead.
Declan scowled while he placed two of the covered platters on the bed in front of us and poured us each a cup of coffee. He stuck out his tongue at me, which further led me to believe he had lost his mind.
“Careful, my prince. Do that again and I’ll find more productive uses for it.”
His eyebrows shot up to his forehead before a mischievous smirk spread across his handsome face. “Oh, Wildfire,” he purred, “that’s a promise I intend to make good on.”
We both smiled as the tension between us began to sizzle. Unfortunately, my beast of a stomach decided to growl. I couldn’t help but snicker at myself as Declan opened the lid to my breakfast and tossed me a fork. “Suppose we better feed the beast.”
“Watch it, Shadow Lord, you just handed me a weapon.” I giggled as I twirled the fork between my fingers.
The spread before me was full of eggs, bacon, and a very well-done looking piece of bread. When I looked back up, I was met with Declan’s rosy cheeks. Was he blushing?
“You made this by yourself, for me?”
“Of course. I’d do anything for you, Lena. Anything to make you smile.”
Gods, I loved this man.
Grabbing the fork, I piled on some eggs and shoveled them into my mouth.
Dear gods!They tasted like they had been marinating in the ocean. He was watching me intently, so I tried my best to not gag as I swallowed it down. After he’d done something so sweet for me, the last thing I wanted to do was hurt his feelings.
A cough made its way up my throat before I could stop it. Seeing me struggle, he reached for the cup of coffee and handed it to me. Without a thought, I knocked back the liquid.
Oh, Hells, it’s not coffee!
The thick concoction slid over my tongue and assaulted me with its horrid soil-like taste. It took everything in me to swallow that down, and I felt sick to my stomach.
“It’s for, you know…” He cleared his throat, obviously a little uncomfortable. “It helps prevent little Elena’s and Declan’s from coming to fruition.”
I reached over and squeezed his thigh. “Thank you, Dec, for all of this.”
He dipped his head as we both clinked our cups together and downed the rest of the vile ingredients.
“It’s funny, I used to make these for people in my town all the time, but I never knew how horrible they tasted.” I laughed. “I’ll definitely have to work on making it more palatable for the future.”
“Future indeed.” He smirked. Redness flooded my cheeks. “How were the eggs?”
“Amazing,” I whispered as I placed another bite into my mouth.
After we finished breakfast, we snuggled back under the covers for a while. Neither of us wanted to leave the comfort of the bed.
“As much as I want to lie here with you all day, all week really”—Declan smirked— “we must meet with Liam, Nayla, Clara and Killian. There’s something we would like to tell you.”
“I believe I already know,” I whispered. “How long have you all been in the Rebellion?”
A smile warmed his lips. Cupping my chin, he pressed a kiss to my temple. “You’re a brilliant woman. I shouldn’t have kept this from you.” Intertwining his fingers with mine, he continued. “There’s more to it though. Those letters you found, they were from my mom and one of our allies. We built Oria, the Rebellion City, together. We’ve been helping humans and Elysians escape the tyranny of my father and the violent acts of the Nightshades.”
“Who’s in charge of it all?”
He cleared his throat. “A man named Fallon oversees Oria now. He was my brother’s best friend. Shamus is our ally in the west in Atheling, and…”
“And you?” I breathed.
He gave a nod. “And your father.”
