Page 157 of Never Kiss a Fae
We collapsed in a bedchamber I never used.
In a kingdom I rarely visited.
The cascade of falls graced my vision, a fountain running in the corner with renewed vigor at my presence, as an unconscious Claire lay in my arms.
Crashing booms echoed outside the chambers, the guards sensing the presence of a powerful fae and rushing to defend their territory. The doors flew open, a Water Fae with broad shoulders and thick thighs plowed inside.
“Who are—” His mouth actually fell open at the sight of me on the floor with a nearly dead female clasped tightly to my chest. “My Prince.” He dropped to his knee, head bowed. Most referred to me as theirking.Here they called mePrincefor my water birthright, one I’d rejected. But today I neededhishelp.
Everyone followed suit, their dismay clear.
But none of them possessed the presence or power I needed.
“My father,” I rasped. “I need my father.”
Chaos erupted around us. Shouts ensued. But all of my focus was on the too-cold woman in my arms.
Guilt pounded through my thoughts. I should have known Mortus wouldn’t lead me to Exos so easily, that he knew I was following him last night.
Damn it to the Elements!
“Claire,” I whispered, rocking her helplessly and feeling her life escape between my fingers. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Exos trusted me to guard her, toprotecther, and I’d led her to her own fucking slaughter.
And I still didn’t know what caused it or how that shadowy thing had sucked the life from her. The death fields embodied so many nightmares, but nothing like that. It had reminded me of a vampire, something so starved for the elements that it’d hooked itself into Claire and drank freely of her power.
How?
What monstrosity had Mortus created? And why had it only attacked Claire?
“Son?” My father’s voice held a note of concern, his confusion written into the lines of his face. His formal attire suggested I’d interrupted something important, but the way he came to his knees before me said he didn’t care. “Is this…?”
“Claire,” I breathed. “I took her to the death fields, looking for Exos, and something attacked her. It sucked the elements right out of her. I don’t… I don’t know what to do.”
He placed his palm on her forehead and closed his eyes. “She’s weak,” he agreed.
An understatement. I could see the tendrils of her soul threatening to leave her body, the fear etched into her essence palpable.Hang on, little queen,I whispered.I’m going to fix this.
Somehow, some way, I would uphold that promise to her. I had to. Exos was counting on me. Claire, too.
“Your bond is strong,” he marveled, tilting his head to the side. “Very strong for being so fresh.”
“It was an accident,” I admitted, ashamed now more than ever. She deserved so much better. “We briefly kissed and it formed.”
His blue eyes—the same color as my own—focused on me, his brow crinkling. “You’re in the third stage, son.”
I blinked. “What? No. We just… It’s new… I mean…”What?I checked the connection, mortification and horror swimming through my veins. “Oh, Elements…” He was right. When I grasped for her element to mist her here, we’dbonded. Irrevocably binding our souls, proclaiming unspoken vows of eternity.
It was deeper than her link to Exos.
He’s going to kill me.
Fuck,Claireis going to kill me.
“You must finish it,” my father urged. “It’s the only way. I can feel the others she’s reached out to, but there’s no time to bring them here. She’ll die.”
“Finish it?” I repeated, my heart skipping a beat. “Finish the bond?”Without her permission?
“She needs your strength, Cyrus. Without the lifeline, she’ll never recover. It might already be too late.”
