Page 19 of Fractured Souls
“Just giant, man-eating wolves,” Adriel said dryly.
I blinked because he was totally serious. “Well shit. Anything else I need to be worried about?”
“No worried, per se.” Adriel pulled me against him. “But you should be prepared for a formal introduction tonight. The minute we get within reach of the castle, people are going to want our attention. I’m going to do my best to get all of us to our private chamber together—I know your siren will be pissed if I don’t come with you.”
I smirked because he wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t just my siren that’d be upset if he wasn’t around.
“And then tonight I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
“No pressure,” I grumbled. “Just a friendly ‘hey guys, no biggie, but here’s this chick you’ve never met who’s going to be your queen.’”
“Bit more formal than that.” He kissed my shoulder. “In fact, I’ll have to mark you.”
Turning sharply, I felt my eyes widen. “Mark me? In front of everyone?”
His eyes filled with heat. “Yes, princess.”
Why did I love the sound of that?
CHAPTER7
Adriel
The Kingdomof Night was built upon the ruins of an ancient kingdom that once flourished on the western edge of our realm. It had been inhabited by star elves, and their magic had left a permanent mark, changing the kingdom itself so that it existed in a permanent state of night.
It was one of the many reasons I’d started to explore the ruins so long ago and why when I decided to leave, this was the place I’d chosen to build something new. A kingdom that rejected the perverse darkness that infected the Kingdom of Day, and instead sought to be a place where one could lead a normal life—or as normal as an elf could be.
Even I could admit that we were far from any standard of normality. Our magic celebrated chaos in both its natural and unnatural forms, and it was easy to become addicted to it—to crave it.
I’d worried that it would be the downfall of the Kingdom of Night until I realized that the chaos was far simpler than the insanity celebrated by most of the realm. All of my citizens, as far as I could tell, were perfectly content with their existence, the busy, chaotic nature of daily life. With the exception of about four individuals, no one had left once arriving. It was something I was proud of.
In fact, I was proud of the kingdom as a whole, and I couldn’t help but wonder what Lorcan thought of it.
I knew she thought it was beautiful, her eyes darting from the bright stars that hung over the castle to the snow-capped mountains far in the distance. There was a blatant curiosity painted on her face, and as the wind brushed over her, her blue and blonde hair shifting over her shoulder, her skin seemed to light up under the moonlight. It didn’t just light up, though, it almost appeared to shimmer, like her incorporeal star travel form was trying to make an appearance.
I craved to see it in reality, outside of our magical travels. I craved to be able to touch her like that, to run my hands over her soft skin and watch the stars twinkle in and out of existence in response. I knew it probably wasn’t possible, but as she turned to offer me a confused look—probably at the rumble that escaped my throat—I couldn’t help but want it all that much more.
“What?” she asked softly, moving towards where I was sitting. We were still on the roof of the carriage, our arrival at the castle approaching quickly. In the carriage, most of the others were awake and preparing to depart. I had warned them that it would probably be fairly busy at first, but I hadn’t mentioned that to Lorcan, wanting her to focus on enjoying herself. It was selfish because this was really about her wanting to visit here more often, which meant me showing her off to everyone more…but I’m sure she’d caught on to that.
Or maybe she hadn’t—maybe she didn’t realize just how fucking obsessed I was with her. If she didn’t know now, she would soon.
“Just looking,” I mused lightly.
“Decided you’re going to explain yourself?” she asked hopefully, her brow arched in a sassy fashion that I fucking loved.
“About the marking thing?” I chuckled. “Not yet, princess.”
Mainly because I didn’t trust myself to not pin her to this carriage and fuck her if her reaction to being mymaité anamwas positive. It wasn’t a term she was familiar with, so while she understood there was a strong connection between us, the marking process for the connection was a bit more intense.
“When do I get to know?” she asked.
“When we’re in the castle and I know you’re safe,” I said, looking towards the edge of the approaching city. Already, citizens were leaving their houses, and while it wasn’t a long ride to the castle, I couldn’t help but feel a level of possessiveness over her as I considered the concept of her being seen by so many elves.
Lorcan held an appeal that was shared by almost everyone who had eyes, but elves would be specifically affected because her magic came from this realm. Even the natural draw I’d felt to her at the beginning, before I understood my feelings towards her, was intense.
“Get ready then,” she said, looking forward to the dark stone castle that sat in the center of the city. Around it sat villages filled with quaint homes and marketplaces to sell and trade. But the castle was a fortress, built for exactly that purpose. I didn’t need a castle as far as I was concerned, but if the Kingdom of Day ever decided to cause problems, I wanted to be able to shield my people.
I had promised them my protection, and I didn’t break promises.
