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This was real. I was Fae. I was a vampire.
The sound of a voice clearing at the back of the room broke the silence. “Well, I suppose if no one else is going to say it, then I will. You look downright fuckable, Saeris Fane.”
“The damned thing has mood swings worse than a Faeling whose balls are about to drop.” Ren laughed, nodding up at me. “Funny you mention balls. Ask him how his are.” I groaned, leaning up against the table in the center of the room. “Gods alive, are you going to tell everyone?” Lorreth frowned. Stooping, he collected a mug of beer from the floor at his feet. “Tell me what? What’s wrong with your balls?” He took a swig.
“I love you, Fisher.” It was the first time I’d said it. “I love you, and nothing else matters beyond that. Wherever you are, I’ll beg the gods and all the fates to let me be there, too,” I whispered.
“I don’t crave the attention of the sun. The snowcapped mountains, the forest, the frozen river… those places are my home. You are home.”
“I despise the gods, Saeris. I’m Oath Bound by this land and the blood of kings. I swore I would never offer up a word of gratitude to them again, but you have made a liar of me. You’re a gift that cannot be ignored. My heart…” He swallowed, giving a tiny shake of his head. “I’ve killed more people than I can count. I lost the parts of myself that knew how to feel anything other than pain and sorrow centuries ago.
But for better or worse, you have brought me back to life.”
He made a face. “You kiss my commander with that mouth?” “I’ve done far worse than kiss him with it.”
“Go on,” he said. “Ask.” It was beneath me to pretend that I didn’t know what he was talking about. So I asked. “Are you in love with her?” He let his head drop, laughing quietly as he pulled out a chair at the table and sank down heavily in it. Stretching his legs out in front of himself, he rested his hands on his stomach, one on top of the other, and looked up to meet my gaze. “No,” he said simply. And then, immediately, “Yes?” Heat flared up inside me, making my throat close. “It’s not a simple thing, Fisher. She’s… well…” “Spectacular,” I whispered.
No, I couldn’t blame the male for seeing what was obvious. I could only pity him that she wasn’t his and be fucking thankful that she was mine.
“The most unique, most beautiful creature in the entire realm, on her knees in front of me, looking up at me like she’s feeling feral and might just like to fuck me? Yes,” he said, “I’d say I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself.”
Thank the gods, I chanted in my head. Thank the fucking gods. Don’t thank them, came Fisher’s low, resonant reply. Thank me. I’m the one who’s about to make you scream.
“Every part. I love all of you.” He blew a dark curl out of his eyes. “I’d spend the fortunes of the universe to protect you. I’d drain the seas dry. Fell every tree. I would sacrifice the sun from the fucking sky and surrender the stars, too, if I could. But those things aren’t mine to give. All I have is my life. It isn’t much, but I’d spend it and consider the price small if it meant keeping you safe.”
“You’re a wildfire, Saeris Fane. There’s no controlling you.”
“Oh no. I’m just surprised that you’re so confident on a dance floor.” He leaned into me and spoke, voice low, his breath fanning warmth over my neck. “Dancing is like fighting, Osha. It’s also like fucking. And I pride myself on my skills in both of those arenas.”
There was no voice in my head. No chiding from the small thread of quicksilver it contained, nor from the gods who had made it, nor the warrior who possessed it. The faintest smell of juniper tickled the back of my nose. I heard distant, playful laughter on a breeze that wasn’t there. And then, simultaneously, the god sword in my left hand formed a pillar of blazing white… and the god sword in my right erupted with a wall of shadow and smoke.
“Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate, I hereby call you by your true name. I declare all oaths you have sworn null and void. Rise, Khydan Graystar Finvarra, in honor of the name you were given at birth! Rise up and fight!”
THE OBVIOUS… KHYDAN GRAYSTAR FINVARRA I FUCKING HATE dragons.
