Page 79 of Seduced By Darkness
One year later….
It’s been eight months,twenty-nine days and seventeen hours since I last saw my wife.
I feel every single one of those days as I stand in the Hallow at Hammerdale and wait for Adaia to arrive with my wife.
“She’s coming,” Thalia murmurs, laying a sympathetic hand on my arm. “Stop pacing. Maren is watching.”
“It’s nearly evening.” They should have been here by now. I can’t help thinking that Adaia has one last trick up her sleeve, and this delay only tightens my nerves.
The last time I saw Vi she told me that she loved me.
Those words were hard-won by months of sweet kisses and quiet conversations, but also by the growing feelings within me. I’ve always carried her in my heart as a sign of hope, but I never realized that having her would be more than mere fate. I fell in love with her over those months, and in the end, I was the one who said it first.
They were the very last words she spoke to me.
“Relax, Your Highness,” Lucidia says, laughing under her breath. “You will have your wife by your side soon enough. Adaia cannot thwart the entire alliance.”
Maren says nothing.
That only makes me feel more uncomfortable.
The Hallow starts to pulse with light. Bells ring as the servants who rope off the Hallow cry the bells in order to alert anyone within the vicinity—the portals can be dangerous magic. Fae who have been caught within the stones when someone ignites the portals have disappeared in the past.
“Here they come,” Finn says, clapping a hand on my shoulder.
Light blazes and a shadowy party appears in the center of the Hallow. The bannerman comes first, the red pennant of Asturia snapping straight in the wind, revealing those mocking roses and the crown of thorns. Servants pour through the stones. And then the lords and ladies of Asturia, and finally, finally, the queen and her royal family.
Edain stalks out first, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword as the Asturian guards spread out. There’s something in his eyes as our stares meet—I don’t know what to name it. Pity, perhaps. Or maybe disdain. He’s hard to read.
The crown princess alights at his side, but I barely bother to give her a glance.
Because Vi is there.
One hand tucked in her mother’s arm as if she’s old and infirm…. Or no, it looks almost like Adaia has one hand shackled around her wrist.
“Vi.” I can’t take my eyes off her, letting my gaze run hungrily over her.
I can’t see any sign of bruising, but there’s no smile on her face. Only dark circles beneath her eyes, and the same starburst gown she wore the first time we met.
I start toward her, but Eris plants a hand in the center of my chest. “Wait.”
“I’ve waited long enough.”
“Then look at her,” my general snaps. “There’s something wrong. That doesn’t look like Vi anymore. Adaia’s done something to her.”
My heart starts to sink like a lead weight.No. Adaia promised she wouldn’t harm her. She swore she wouldn’t threaten her or punish her in any way….
“Vi.” I push past Eris’s restraining grip, intent on only one thing: taking my wife in my arms and ensuring Adaia hasn’t hurt her.
“Mother.” Vi’s face pales and she curls her fingers into her fist as she turns to her mother imploringly. “Please. Please don’t do this—”
“That’s enough.” Adaia jerks her arm out of Vi’s reach, her lip curling. “You will do your country proud. You will sacrifice yourself as tribute to keep the peace.” Her smile turns sinister. “That’s what you want, isn’t it? Peace?”
The words are a blow.
I slam to a halt, barely feet away from my wife.
But she’s not looking at me the way she always has.
