Page 71 of The Barbaric Fae's Soul

They all just watched him, and he watched them too.

I stood next to Aev, with his arm wrapped around my waist, holding me to his side. His fingers rested securely on my hip, and I was fighting the urge to lean my head against his shoulder and let myself fall asleep.

“Can you make an agreement with them?” Summer asked me, looking just as exhausted as I felt.

I shrugged. “I can try.”

Honestly, I had no idea if it would work. But it was worth a shot, wasn’t it?

Aev’s fingers pressed into my hip a little harder. I knew he wouldn’t like the idea of me taking more of a risk, but I also knew he wouldn’t argue with me about it. Not when I was the only one with this connection to the klynnas—the only one who could do it. I had made it clear to him when we set boundaries that I was going to do whatever I felt like I had to, to help keep everyone safe. And he had respected that since then, even if he didn’t like that.

He wouldn’t let me do it alone, though. Not if he could help it. And I appreciated that immensely.

“If you can convince them not to attack us, you can have any damn thing you want,” one of the unseelie council members muttered. I thought it might’ve been Korrik, but didn’t acknowledge the words, since I didn’t think I’d ask them for anything.

What more did I need? Now that I had a house, and Aev…

I bit my lip as I glanced over at the king. He stood straight, his expression neutral, but he held onto me tightly enough that I felt like his lifeline.

Maybe I really was an anchor for him.

Aev looked back at me, and his neutral expression softened into something kind. Maybe even sweet. His lips curved up slightly, though I could still see a little uncertainty in his gaze. “It’s your call, Thorns.”

Pride swelled within me.

He trusted me.

Believed in me.

And if he could, why shouldn’t I?

I looked back out at the crowd. At the fae men and women, at the ex-humans. My gaze collided with Nev’s, and he gave me a tiny nod. He and I had never been anything more than friends, but that one look told me that he believed in me too.

That he knew I could do this.

I lifted my chin a fraction of an inch, lowering my shoulders as I called out, “If it’s possible, we’ll make peace with the klynnas. We’ll make sure all of us are safe—that our lives can go back to normal.”

I wasn’t sure there was really an establishednormalin our society of lonely fae men, uncertain ex-humans, and wild female fae, but anything was better than the fear we were currently struggling with.

“We’ll classify the new humans as soon as the moon allows, in case you fail,” Fovea said from beside Nev.

That was a little negative, but probably a good call anyway, so I agreed.

Then, I looked to Aev. “Ready?”

“Not really.” He flashed me a tired grin, and I couldn’t stop the matching one from breaking out on my face.

A few whoops and cheers erupted from the unseelie side of the crowd, and someone yelled, “Kiss her!”

I laughed, and Aev’s grin widened.

Waiting out the bond no longer felt that important, but I was going to do it anyway, just in case. When I promised myself to Aeven, when I connected our futures permanently, I wanted to be certain that I would never have regrets or questions about that connection.

He pulled me up onto his back as he shifted forms and took off into the trees, with more cheers echoing behind us from the fae who weren’t scrambling out of the way of the klynna that launched into the sky. I found myself staring at the gorgeous gleam of the klynna’s scales as I buried my fingers deeper into Aev’s fur, holding tightly to the sabertooth I’d begun to trust more than anyone else in both Vevol and Earth combined.

Though I could’ve flown with the klynna, and part of me wanted to, I was so comfortable on Aev’s back that I simply snuggled deeper into his fur as the day progressed, wrestling my eyelids open every time they closed.

I must’ve fallenasleep at some point, because it was dark outside again when Aev stopped. The lack of motion roused me, and I opened sleepy eyes, blinking rapidly as I looked around the forest. There were massive trees on every side of us, different than the ones I’d seen before. These ones were loaded with huge fruits, the same ones Summer had brought back for me from one of her trips with Remmo a few weeks back.

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