Goldfinch (The Plated Prisoner, #6)

by Raven Kennedy

“I will find you. I will find you in that life. I fucking promise you that. But you have to go. Please, baby.”

The little moments. Like when I’d watch her without her even realizing it. Taking in the side of her face while she ate, watching her walk up the stairs, seeing her smile at something Judd said. It’s the sound of her voice as she told me her

truths. The scent of her hair when she laid upon my chest.

I was always meant to find her. To see her. This can’t be it. This can’t be all.

As long as there is breath in my lungs and a heart in my chest, I will fight for her with everything that I am.

I know what this is.

This is magic born when existence first bled into Annwyn. Magic that is rare and coveted and revered.

This is a päyur bond fusing.

Our souls are now bound together. Our lives forever connected. Our magic entwined. It means that she and I are a match fated by the goddesses. It means that we have been given the greatest gift ever bestowed on a fae. It means that she’s mine.

A golden scale.

A fucking dragon.

Deep green. The color soothes me.

You have your own light, little sun. So you must carry it with you when it grows dark.

When tears are like starfall, when bleak is like night, We remember the dawn that will bring back the light.

I might not know anything else yet, but I do know this truth with innate certainty. My name is Auren Turley. And I am stronger than the dark.

“Yes, Rissa Bell. I fucking love you.”

I’m claiming you as mine.”

“You can’t love me,” I tell him, my voice full of denial. “I can.” No argument. No added detail. Just a vow. “You don’t want me really,” I argue. “I do.” “You won’t always.” “I will.” I can, I do, I will.

“You don’t have to say anything. I hear you anyway.”

The sound of my father’s voice makes my shoulders stiffen. For a second, I think about refusing to turn around, but that would only piss him off, which I actively try to prevent. I’m in a constant state of controlling my own reactions while also attempting to regulate his so that he doesn’t lash out.

dragon-wielders of old.”

I’m my mother’s son. I’m a Ravinger.

I’ll unleash a fucking dragon.

I have to be the light, so I can break through this dark.

“King Rot! King Rot has saved us!”

I, Queen Malina Colier, fall to the ground and kneel.

I told her I’d be the villain for her, and I was. Now, I need to also be the hero she would want me to be.

Because I am Auren Turley. And I’ll do whatever it takes to save myself and break free.

There is nothing I won’t do for her.

Auren is life. I am death. That is why the goddesses paired us together.

There is no growth without rot. There is no sun without the dark sky. And there is no me without her.

Because I’d know that light anywhere, whether in the depths of darkness or in a sea of stars. Her brightness, her soul, sings a song I’d follow anywhere.

Gold bends, but stone breaks.

Seeing her aura and mine roiling together like this is a fucking gift.

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

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

“They’re back, and so are you. I’m whole again.”

“We’re quite the pair, you and I.”

We’re not two anymore. We’re one pair, and that magic is consuming.

She shudders. Lip caught between her teeth, biting down. Her nails dig into my shoulders. “Perfect. You’re thick and hard and perfect,” she purrs.

Auren has become my salvation. My purpose.

My canines sink down, plunging into the curve of her neck so I can lap at the small beads of gold.

“I love you, Slade,” Auren whispers as tears fill her eyes.