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June 5 - June 5, 2025
“The last person who tried to own me now lies dead,” I warned, forcing myself to meet her gaze as she tipped her head to the side and smiled at me.
“You might be oblivious to your true nature, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t creatures out there who see you for exactly what you are, girl,” he said, slipping his oar into the water. He
“Be careful what you ask for, Little Bird.” He stopped rowing, turning back to me slowly until only the glow of golden eyes came from beneath his hood as his stare met mine. “Some secrets are better left in the dark.”
“Some secrets are better left in the dark…” I whispered, my voice trailing off as the words fell from my lips.
Caldris’s eyes flashed in a moment of darkness, black bleeding through the bright blue of his stare. We didn’t know what I was; we didn’t know if whatever it was would ever stand as his equal or if I would remain a lesser next to his status as a God. His lips tipped into a smirk, confirming my suspicions that he would enjoy every second of the battle to find out.
“Besides, I never know where you’ve been, and somehow I still like you.”
“It doesn’t want me here,” I whispered, trying not to acknowledge the melancholy in my voice. It was foolish to care what something that did not live thought of me, but I couldn’t shake the stinging feeling of rejection. I’d never belonged anywhere, and it seemed I still wouldn’t.
The magic that coursed through the dirt was natural, derived from the Primordials who’d crafted the world themselves. Was it the Primordials who did not want me here? Or was it purely the result of their magic?
There was sacrificing my freedom for love, and then there was having it stolen for no reason. This was the latter, and I wanted to do whatever it took to get back to the sacrifice.
Some secrets are better left in the dark.
“What did they do to you after they took me?” He hesitated, his body pausing as he gave up on trying to roll the tense muscles that accompanied his injury. “You shouldn’t ask that question,” he said simply, his voice dropping deep with warning. I pushed at the wall he’d created in his mind, probing along the edge of it with gentle fingers that couldn’t seem to get through “And yet I am anyway,” I said. “I need to know what they did to you so that I know how much to make them suffer when I’m given the opportunity.”
“This hardly seems like an appropriate place for foreplay, my star,” he murmured gently, the slight teasing lilt to his voice confirming that whatever they’d done, he would survive it. “I think the atmosphere is perfect. Everyone wants to fuck surrounded by rats,” I said, shaking my head.
“We need to set boundaries,” he said, wincing as he realized how unfair that was. “Funny that when I use it against you, it is time for boundaries, but when you do it, it’s for my own good,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “I do it to protect you. Not to make you confess your secrets,” he said. “Perhaps it is time for you to realize that I am not the one in need of protection,” I murmured, letting the words linger between us. Silence met me in response, because neither of us had been willing to consider the fact that I may be something more. More powerful than my mate.
“I don’t know how I will ever recover from such a grave insult to my character.”
My own twitched into a smile. “How brave you must feel to spit on a chained woman when surrounded by your friends. Let me assure you, boy,” I said, smiling when he sucked in a ragged breath. I had no doubt he was older than me. “I do not need my magic to kill you.” I turned away from him suddenly, my steps continuing forward as I left him forgotten. One day, I’d remember to return the favor he’d shown me. I’d show him how it felt to be unwelcome just for existing. I’d show them all.
“Even the brightest of lights fails to shine for long.”
“What is it they tell you about the Fae in the human realm?” “That you’re tricksters who will stop at nothing to get what you want,” I answered, shrugging my shoulders as if it were inconsequential.
“Just because I love him does not mean I do not see his wrongdoings. Caldris is far from perfect. I can, however, trust him with my life,” I said.
“Faerie food can trap a human on Faerie soil for a lifetime, but I think you are forgetting one very important thing,” she said, leaning forward slightly. She rested her elbow on her knee, placing her chin in her hand as the leg crossed over the other one bounced. The delicate, cruel heel of her shoe glittered in the light, looking more like a weapon than footwear. “You, Little Mouse, are not human.”
I was not what I’d been born to believe, and all the things I’d learned about myself over the years were now irrelevant. That meant I didn’t know what was a weakness and what was a strength. It meant I had to fear things I didn’t understand but not the things I’d always been taught to fear. It meant I didn’t know who I was any longer.
“I realized I was not human weeks ago, but would you like to know what really solidified that knowledge?” I asked, lifting the goblet to my mouth. I took a sip of the wine, letting the bold flavors dance over my tongue as I swallowed and resisted the urge to go back for more in my thirst. “It was the moment I cut you. Listening to your people whisper about you, knowing some mortal girl could not bleed the Queen of Air and Darkness.”
“And why did he do that?” I asked, because I was under no illusion that my mate was a good male. He did horrible things, but he usually had a good reason for that kind of anger.
“You are an errand boy for an evil queen who wants nothing more than to hold the world within her grasp. You are not innocent, and I’m sure your mate was just as fucking dangerous to the world as you are.”
“Close the door, Malachi. It seems our guest is in need of a reminder that she is no longer in Nothrek, where petty humans play foolish games. Members of the Shadow Court do not think twice about violations that can damage the soul for an eternity,” Mab ordered.
“I’m fairly certain my imagination works far more efficiently than anything he could conjure up with the rocks cracking together inside his skull,” I said, pushing to my feet.
It struck me deep in the chest, knocking me off-kilter until I had to scramble to get away from Ophir’s next attempt to grab me. Never had I felt such unending rage that stripped away everything humane. For my mate to feel my pain, to know I was in danger, and to be trapped within Mab’s dungeons … I pitied whoever let him out.
Mab halted him with a raised hand. If I didn’t already hate her, it might have been a moment of respect. She’d condemned me to this, to this battle and this fate; she would at least let me see it through. I suspected it was all a test to see what I was capable of. Not my magic, but just me. If I had a line I would not cross; if I would not murder and cause harm to save myself. She wanted to know if I saw myself as the hero of my story. I didn’t. I only saw myself as the villain of hers.
“Ophir is dead. Long live the Queen,”
“Your own arrogance will be your downfall,” the male retorted, tipping his head to the side. “I will never understand why the Fates chose you for her.” “I’ve bound my life to hers. I’ve done everything I can to make sure she lives, because I cannot imagine my life without her. What more can I do?” I asked. Whatever the answer was, I would do it. Whatever the sacrifice, I would give it. “You can stop behaving as if she is the weakling and you are the savior. You see the bond of your lives as a benefit to her, but that is because you assume that your life will be longer than hers. She is no
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He paused, looking over his shoulder with a creased brow. “You think you can be trusted with that information? You, who are a slave to Mab herself?” he asked, the words landing the blow he’d intended. “How could I expect you to save her when you cannot even save yourself?”
“You’ve made your first enemy here,” she said, sipping her wine dramatically as she stood. “That was not a wise decision.” “You were my first enemy here, and we were set to this rivalry before I’d ever set foot on the soil of Alfheimr,” I explained, holding my head high as she took a few steps toward me. She stopped just out of reach, staring at the cut on my cheek and glancing down at my shackles.
“You taste like power, and I will know where it comes from by the time I am finished with you.” “I sincerely doubt either of us will like the answer very much once we have it,” I said, wrenching my head away from her grip.
But the Fates had written my story already, and nothing I could do would change what was to come. When they spoke, I would listen.
“Do you enjoy your place as a woman in this world? Trapped in the games of men and nothing more than a pawn for them to use and abuse so that they might get what they want in life? Do you think it is you whom your mate loves, or is it what being mated to you will give him?” she asked, a cold, bitter laugh escaping her. “Or do you want to be free?” I glanced at her over my shoulder. “My freedom does not need to come at the cost of the freedom of another. There is no reason we cannot all be free to live our lives how we desire.”
She held my gaze as I twisted my body, preparing for the words that would come next. They hung between us, silent and deadly. Words that I knew I would never un-hear once she put it out into the open. It was something I wanted no part in but could never erase from the deepest parts of my worst fears. She held out her hand, reaching toward me. “You remind me of myself. Young and full of life, full of wrath and vengeance, desperate for the world to know the kind of pain you’ve survived. You can have all of those things, Little Mouse. All you need to do is take my hand.”
“The Fae operate under their own set of rules. Some of them will apply to you, others will not—now that we know you are not human in the least. As a Fae, do not say something three times unless you mean to hold true to your word. The law of three makes it binding, and the only way to break that vow is through death. The same goes for blood vows. They hold more meaning now and are unbreakable; you will owe a favor, and that is not something you ever want to owe anyone here,” she said, her voice trailing off as she glanced toward the door.
“Never accept a gift from a Faerie, and if they give you one by force, do not, under any circumstances, thank them for it. It implies gratitude, and that is something they can use to call upon a debt in the future.
“You tainted my soul with your will long ago, and I’ve lost hope of anything but Helhaim waiting for me in the afterlife. But the soul of my mate is the most valuable thing in the world to me, and I will not aid you in condemning her to the same fate. Even your magic has boundaries, and I think it is high time for you to meet your match,”
If I’d learned one thing about Mab in my centuries at her side, it was that she thought all men wanted power. They all wanted to use. They all wanted to be stronger than their female mate, because that was the way of males in the world. I didn’t care if Estrella was more powerful. I didn’t care if she ruled over me, and I was the figurehead at her side. All I wanted was to stand beside her in all her glory. All I wanted was to love her for eternity. That meant loving all of her. The powerful parts of her that possessed magic so strong it coated my tongue. The sweet parts that were so
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No matter how much I might long for the freedom she promised, I wouldn’t become a tyrant to achieve it. My freedom would not come at the cost of the freedom and lives of other innocent people.
“Who did this?” he asked me, the promise of retribution burning in his gaze. He would murder anyone who hurt me. He would make them feel every bit of pain I experienced tenfold. Because I was his, and he was mine.
“But love is a weakness, and I would not allow any to use my bond with him against me. You would be far better off if you followed in my footsteps.”
He held my gaze, his icy stare capturing mine as he leaned forward and touched his mouth to my forehead. I turned my attention back to Mab before I spoke. “You can hurt me. You can try to break me. But I will never give him up. I know what awaits is worth all the suffering you’ll cause.”
I leveled him with a glare, repeating the promise I’d made to kill him in my head and only pausing for a moment to question that humanity I wanted to cling to. That deep well within me seemed to throb with need, like it was thirsty for the blood of those who wanted to harm my mate.
“If you suffer, I suffer too. If you bleed, I bleed as well. If you die, then I will follow,”
Estrella needed to keep her strength for when she was being watched, never allowing Mab to see her crumble beneath the weight of what was coming for her. She could only do that if she had a safe space with me, a place where she could be herself and reveal all the weaknesses. All the doubts and the worry, all the pain she would undoubtedly suffer.
She knelt at my feet, staring up at me through her lashes as she untied my boots and shucked them off my feet. She tore my pants off my legs, reminding me that her human sensibilities had likely fled. She was still human in upbringing, those notions of inappropriate behavior that I’d worked so hard to unravel still existing within her; but she was also something other. A creature driven by her nature, with a mate bond to encourage her to claim what was hers.
The faint pink stain of blood that had soaked through her dress tinted her stomach. The sight conjured a vision of her bathed in blood, her nude body covered from head to toe as she strolled through a field of bloodshed, her enemies lying dead at her feet. Any normal male would not have craved the sight of it so much as I did. Yet, I wondered how much of what I saw was real, and how much of it was a vision from the Fates or the man whom I could no longer see in my memory. A gift, a token of our future. I hadn’t wanted to corrupt Estrella, believing her to be my balance in a world that had long
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I swallowed, stepping away from my mate, knowing that I would love her until my dying breath. No matter what she did, who she was, or the crimes she might commit in her path of vengeance. Stepping into the tub, I turned back to look at Estrella as she watched me.
“Sometimes, it is far easier to see the good in others than it is to see it in ourselves. Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is understand that while we are not perfect, the way we defend ourselves is not an indication of our character but purely of our will to live so that we might do the right thing when given the freedom to do so.”
