Empress of Fae (Blood of a Fae, #3)

by Briar Boleyn

My wife was gone. I smashed my fist into the black marble pillar. My wife was gone.

“You're all I think about. You're all I see. I'm so tied to you, I barely know who I am anymore.”

Both choices had been mine. And make no mistake, I would make them again. I hadn’t been able to save Nodori. But I had saved Morgan.

Clever, wicked, beautiful woman. Brilliant, brave wife.

Rarely did I allow myself to dwell on them at all. But it seemed fitting to consider the three women I considered my truest family together. Now Morgan.

She was a brilliant enigma born of starlight and fire.

Without her, I was a void once more. Missing her with an ache that gnawed at the very core of my being.

I had stood so close to her fire, I had thought I might ignite as well. I wouldn’t have minded if I had.

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t bring the roof down on our heads while I was here,” Odessa said. “Common courtesy.”

“So step the fuck up and stop the bullshit. Morgan is gone. You are not. Deal with your people. Put your house in order. Make arrangements. And then…” She paused. “Yes?” “Well, you are going after her, aren’t you?”

“I’ve waited my entire lifetime for Morgan,” I said simply. “I’ll go after her even if she doesn’t want me. Even if she runs in the opposite direction. I’ll follow her to the ends of Aercanum, and I’ll never stop.”

So when I looked down the staircase and saw the other woman I had sworn my entire life to protect, my heart skipped a beat and red flared up before my eyes. Morgan Pendragon. The bitch who had left me for dead.

There was just one small problem. I wasn’t sure there was a me without him.

Tyre leaned forward to look at me with interest, then winked. “I think we all know who the Three take their marching orders from, and it’s certainly not me.”

My heart sped up. “Whitehorn. Agravaine’s man.” My uncle grimaced. “Not that dimwitted brute.

Draven. They were speaking about Draven. My Draven. My… husband.

“I serve the throne of Pendrath. I serve this kingdom. I serve the best interests of our people. Do not tell me you have ever believed your brother had those interests at heart, Morgan.”

Pendrath. Pendrath is my mistress. And Morgan Pendragon is the one who should be seated on that throne, not her treacherous, traitorous whelp of a brother.”

“Don’t look at me, milady. I was not asked to perform the nuptials, and believe me, I thank the Three for that every day. I believe I would have vomited all over the bride’s gown.”

When the truth was… What was the truth? We were all to blame. Beks should never have been out there.

“I won’t take risks with my person if I don’t need to. Not yet. Not if it means I risk not getting to Morgan,”

“I stay by her side,” I said automatically. “Whether she wants me there or not. She’s not getting away from me again.”

And if anyone dares to hurt her, I’ll burn them to the ground without a second thought.”

Lyrastra’s face hardened. “Just let them fucking try.”

Oh, I’d felt true happiness a few times in my life. Always with the same person.

My protector? Always. Whether I wished it or not.

“My father… he’s that bad then?” “He makes Uther Pendragon look like a soft kitten and your brother Arthur, a puppy,”

His mesmerizing green eyes held my own with an intensity that pierced my soul. I felt myself being beguiled as always, spellbound and intrigued by this man who always seemed to remain tantalizingly out of reach—full of secrets I doubted I'd ever fully be able to claim.

That dark, monstrous, dangerous man who was now my mate.

I would have known my… husband’s… touch anywhere.

I nearly snorted. Hellcat? I thought of Nightclaw. My brother hadn’t seen a true hellcat yet.

Nestled against his chest, I felt his warmth and strength enveloping me. A sanctuary amid the storm.

In that moment, cocooned within his protective hold, I realized I was in the arms of the man who was not just my husband but also my refuge.

my little silver one.”

You were lying there, dying, Morgan. And even before I’d spoken the words, I knew.” “Knew what?” “Knew you were already my mate.”

“There are no limits to my love for you, Morgan. When Myntra and Eskira and every place in Aercanum have crumbled into oblivion and the universe itself dissolves into nothing, my heart will still beat for you.”

And yet, here I am, a thousand miles away, because I’m a fool and an idiot, and I love you and yet I left you.”

“I’m on a ship. More than halfway across the Kastra by now. I’m on my way to you, Morgan. Did you really think in a million years and a million lifetimes that I’d ever be able to stay away?”

“There has never been anything dull about you,”

I couldn’t wait any longer. I kissed her.

“Glad for what?” She sounded breathless and happy. It was a start. “Glad we’re not enemies anymore.” She smiled briefly. “When I next see you, who knows. The impulse to murder you might return.”

“You can kill me, but my soul will come back and find yours.”

Let the world go up in flames around us. Let her brother sweep the world with his war. I’d let all of Aercanum burn before anything harmed her. That was my silent vow. The one I’d secretly been saying to myself since I’d met her that day in the training courtyard.

But I couldn't take her like a Siabra. I could take her only in the way I knew how. As my mate.

“I’ve brought you a fleet. One hundred Siabra war ships.”

But I didn’t have to walk at all. Not when I could simply fly to my wife on the back of an exmoor.

“In case you’d forgotten, I’m not interested in being married off,” I snapped. Besides, I was already married. That made it rather complicated.

“Fine. I’ll do my best not to vomit all over his feet while I sing his praises.”

I felt choked with how much I missed my mate,

As I gazed at the painting, my love for him grew. My husband had painted me. My husband, my mate.