Goldfinch (The Plated Prisoner, #6)

by Raven Kennedy

And then, I reach the end of the street, and I see a golden figure running toward me. My heart breaks open. Auren.

She’s a vision. Auren gleams in the sunlight, dressed head to toe in armor that melds against her body. She’s so fucking beautiful, so fucking strong.

“It’s okay,” I reassure her, my eyes delving into hers, my throat closing from joy and emotion. “I—” Liquid gold suddenly slams into my chest.

gold partially solidifies to slide down my torso and wrap around me like ropes. It binds my arms behind my back and hardens around my boots. I look down at the gold holding me in place and then back at her with a smirk. “If you wanted to tie me up, then may I suggest we do so in private?” It doesn’t escape me that her gold is riddled with roots of rot—my rot. Pure male satisfaction surges through me.

Her breath hitches. I want to wrap that breath around me and pull it into my chest. Feed her air right into my lungs. I need her with a ferocity that extends beyond anything else.

“Who are you…to me?” A smile of pure pride tips my lips, and I swallow down a lump of emotion. “Very good. Now come to me, baby, and I’ll show you.”

Together. We’re finally fucking together. She sucks in a breath, like she’s been holding it for too long. Like she’s been lacking air since we were ripped apart.

“Slade.” Our auras might’ve shattered the sky, but her saying my name shatters me.

“You found me,” she whispers, lip trembling. The relief and heartbreaking joy is so intense I have to shove it aside before I can answer. “I’ll always find you, Goldfinch.” Always.

I clasp her to me so there’s no space between us. Never again. “Slade…” “I’m here, Auren.” I’m finally here. Right where I belong. With her.

“Auren…” I choke out. “Your ribbons.” A sob snaps off from her lips, left in pieces against my neck. “They’re back,”

“They’re back, and so are you. I’m whole again.” I’m whole again. I yank her forward and slam my lips against hers. She meets my kiss like she’s been looking for me for a lifetime, and maybe she has. Maybe I have too. We’ve lived a thousand little lifetimes, dying a little bit every second we were apart. “I missed you with my entire soul,” she says, swiping her lips across my jaw. I know exactly what she means. “My heart didn’t work without you,” I tell her. She smiles and looks into my eyes. “We’re quite the pair, you and I.”

“Thanks, Wick.” It feels like every muscle in my body fucking bulges. “Goldfinch?” I grit out. She tips her head up at me, her eyes lidded, my blood surging. “I’m hanging on by a fraying thread. I really need you to not say another male’s name right now.” Her eyes widen. “Oh,” she breathes. “Yeah. Oh.”

“Lower yourself,” I demand gutturally. “I want to see it. I want to see your perfect cunt swallowing my cock. Inch by inch.”

“Look at your perfect pussy,” I say, my voice low. Bitten with lust. “We were made for each other, weren’t we, baby?”

“You are the most Divine being to have ever walked the earth,” I whisper. A pretty blush darkens her cheeks. Her ribbons curl toward me, stroking against my chest, dipping to my groin, and then sliding even further down… I smirk. “Little flirts.”

“Going to fuck your pussy so many times you’ll be aching and wet with unending slick. Going to lick you. Mount you. Take you against a wall. Make you sit on my face until you see stars. I’ll take you from behind. In my arms. Bent over, arced back. Screaming. Soundless. I’m going to take you so many times that you’ll fall asleep, but I’ll still be buried inside of you.”

She is ambrosia. And for a male who was never anything but rot and hate, Auren has become my salvation. My purpose. My other half.

“You’re mine now.” My heart squeezes at the fierceness in her words. “I was always yours, Goldfinch.” Even when she didn’t know it.

“I love you, Slade,”

“Oh, Goldfinch. My love for you consumes every part of my soul. It’s in every word, every movement. With each morning that dawns and every night that falls. You are completely mine, and I am yours, and that is all I ever need in this life and all the others.” I kiss her forehead, tears burning in my eyes. “I love you, Auren.”

We have to face these hard realities so that we can finally be free. And then, we will get our one days, our next times, our happy. One day.

“You kept it all this time?” Slade nods and slips the piece back into his pocket. “I keep every part of you you’ve ever given to me,” he murmurs. “Your heart, your soul, your mind, your bond, your body…and your ribbon.” Tears spring to my eyes and I tuck myself against him. All my ribbons curl around to wrap us up, like they want to squeeze him in a hug. “Thank you,” I whisper. “For keeping all the parts of me safe.” He kisses the top of my head. “Always,” he promises.

“First my gold sprouted roots of rot, and now I have a scale,” I say, my hand dropping. “You’ve staked quite the claim on me, Ravinger.” His grin is sinful and makes my inner beast purr while my pulse heats. Then he leans in and talks close to my ear, his words fanning me with his hot breath. “And I can’t even begin to tell you how absolutely feral it makes me to see it.”

“Who are you?” Wick shifts in his seat, but he doesn’t look away as he answers. “My full name is Wickum Almon Turley.”

“We’re related,” I say. He nods. “We’re second cousins, strictly speaking. We share the same great-grandmother. Your mother and my father were cousins. But you’re the more direct line from Saira Turley,” he explains. “Think of it this way: you’re the capital, I’m the outskirts.”

“That night in Bryol, when you were taken with the other children, I was there,” he admits, and my pulse pounds in my ears so hard it sounds like drums. “I was there, Auren, and I let them take you.”

“Our Vulmin guards never got us out of the city. They were attacked by a group, I don’t know who. But while the fighting was happening, everyone was distracted, and I…snuck away. Without you.”

was standing right next to you, Auren. I could’ve just taken your hand and run. I could’ve gotten us both away. But I didn’t. I looked at you, and I just…went.” His voice rasps. “I left you.”

“You’re still the same. Just like when you were a little girl. Forgiving me. Smiling when I deserve to be shunned. No wonder they all called you little sun. You have the warmest heart I’ve ever known, Auren.”

Kidnapped for coin. I was taken away from everything I knew. Ripped from safety. Abused, used, destroyed. All for coin.

Then I walk away, leaving him to rot. Because that is exactly what he did to me.

“I’ve learned a lot of things. But I believe it just taught me one of the most valuable lessons of all.” “Which is?” “That one kill can actually lead to life,”

“And that something that seems so cold can actually be the warmest thing you’ll ever feel.”

“What are you doing?” “I’m kissing you properly, Queenie. The way you should’ve been kissed and adored before shitty men came into your life and took you for granted. Took you for their advantage. Took and took until you felt like you had to be cold to protect that shattered warmth.” Tears spring to my eyes and flake off against my cheeks. “May I have permission to kiss you, Malina?” His formal question makes my chest squeeze. “Yes,”

“Will you give yourself to me, Malina?” Such a question. One I’ve never been asked before. One I never even thought I was allowed to answer. If there was ever anyone I would willingly give myself to like this, it’s Dommik, for he’s the only one who has ever truly understood me. The bad parts and the good.

Malina,” he says against my ear as he thrusts up deep, seating himself completely, rolling his hips in a way that nearly makes my eyes roll back. “You are beautiful. Strong. And so fucking warm.” His hands grip my face, forcing me to look him in the eyes, while his shadows dance around us. “You are good, Malina. And I’m proud of the woman you are.”

“Who is that?” I squint, and I just barely make out two things: a banner of two converging suns and another one of the serpent king’s sigil. “First and Second Kingdom?” I ask breathlessly. “I didn’t know they were coming to help!” “They weren’t,” Manu admits, glancing down at me with surprise. “We didn’t know they would be here. We sent missives to Second Kingdom, but we didn’t know… The prince must’ve sent soldiers on ships and met King Thold at Breakwater. And they must’ve just come straight here.”

“It’s happened, Lady Rissa,” Manu says beside me, his voice strangled. “What’s happening?” I ask, just as tightly. “We don’t need a rotting ground,” he tells me as he looks over with the ghost of a watery smile. “Because Orea has finally united. We’re fighting…together.”

Osrik catches me beneath my arms. He lets me hang there in front of him awkwardly while he looks me over, his expression intense, brown eyes wild with worry. “You okay?” “I’m fine,” I say with exasperation. “I was trying to leap into your arms!” “You are in my arms,” he says, giving me a little shake. “Stop holding me out like this! This is the way you hold a stray cat you’re worried is going to claw you!” “I’m filthy,” he warns. “I don’t care.”

“You exasperating fucking woman of mine,” he mumbles against me. “Always trying to see if I’m okay.” I tug at his beard. “Well, stop putting yourself in danger and I won’t have to.” His hand squeezes my ass, making my stomach spin. “That’s the end goal, Yellow Bell.”

“Commander, I also tracked another group. Stragglers that fled back toward Sixth Kingdom. And there’s still the fae who took Highbell.” “Then we take it back,” the serpent king declares, his expression firm. “We go to Highbell and then to Seventh Kingdom too. We chase every fae all the way to the edge of the world.”

“We’ve won three battles,” Lu announces, her dark skin streaked with bright blood. “Now, we have to win the war.”

“You are magnificent,” I tell her. Her pulse quickens. “I’m just me.” I nod. “Yes.” Exactly.

Her ribbons trail behind her like the fabric of a gown, though they twist and twirl, lifting around her—and me. One of them is always touching me. I smirk down at one as it wraps itself around my wrist, tugging me closer. I watch her ribbons, watch her, seeing her smiling at the fae and them smiling back.

Because this is where she belongs. She was always glorious, but here in Annwyn, it’s as if her soul sings, lit up by the sun and gleaming from the inside out. People in Orea either wanted to exploit her or suppress her. But seeing her here, this is where she fits. She deserves to breathe in the air of home, to walk amongst fae who are in awe of her. She deserves to have the land sing just from her presence, and the sun stream down upon her gilded skin. Auren was always too bright for Orea.

But she didn’t succumb. Against all fucking odds. Against Oreans and fae alike, against monarchs and cruelty, she’s here. She’s not only survived, but overcome. And now she burns brighter than ever.

The king thought he could burn down this city? Burn her? She burns brighter than anything else ever could.

Lyäri Nōhcra. No longer the golden one gone, but… The golden one who rules.

“Wait until the others see your dragon,” I say with a grin. “Judd is going to be the first one to ask for a ride.” Slade chuckles and I feel his amusement rumble through my back. “I have a feeling this creature will only ever tolerate you and me.” “Judd will be very disappointed.” “So long as I never disappoint you, Goldfinch.” “You never could,” I reply before looking back at him teasingly. “And I’ll tell you a secret.” His eyebrow cocks up, waiting. “I’ve always loved hearing you call me Goldfinch.” His hand tightens around me while his eyes soften, gaze delving into me with meaning. “Believe me. Being able to call you Goldfinch means more to me than you know.”