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April 1 - April 5, 2023
“Keep having…Faythe.”
“Do you want to know what I see when I look at you, Malin?”
“Fear. So expertly hidden behind false confidence. A name is just a word, another mask. Without a crown, without that claim to the Ashfyre name, who are you?” She didn’t leave room for answer. “The difference between you and me is that I don’t need a name or a title or a damned thing to tell me who or what I am. I didn’t come here to lay claim to a throne from name alone, but I also didn’t come all this way to deny my heritage.
I may have come from nothing, but I will rise to everything. The greatest triumph will be having you there to bear witness as I do.”
“Blood is the key to chase away foe.”
“When we recognize our mate, it’s not typically an instant love. In fact, on rare occasions, a true pairing might never find such a feeling,”
“The bond can be felt and strengthened without completing the act. We have more primal, claiming instincts than a human does. We have teeth that can puncture, and it’s through the exchange of blood that the full bond is forged. It can only be broken by death.”
“The bond can also be rejected before the mating, but if either side rejects, that also cannot be undone. The soul will sever whatever connection was there as though its mate were dead. It’s painful and can leave a permanent hollow void, but there’s no lingering bond to always feel a pull to its other half even without any romantic or friendly feeling. Without the bond, one is free to be with whomever they choose.”
Words can only cut if you listen. They can only scar if you believe.”
“Maybe it makes me selfish, but I can’t. I can’t stay away from you. I came back sooner than I usually would from Fenher because while I fear to no end that I might be incapable of protecting you, I can’t stand the thought of your safety being in the hands of anyone else.”
With Reylan here, her mind relented, just enough for her to remember there was a light in the darkness that embraced her. There was a light in him.
Reylan’s voice… It felt like home.
As though the beat of her heart were tied to his own. Yet he didn’t fear it. Not in the slightest.
Strength is in those who know when help is needed and are not afraid to ask for it. And in those who listen, even when the truth is hard to hear.”
“To have Faythe: to live like death is a game, love is a prize, and danger is desire.”
“All I ask is that you be careful and remember your destiny is far greater than what you are. It is who you are that carries the hope for this kingdom. I know you will return to us.”
“My daughter, Rhyenelle’s lost flame returned. Just like your mother…you would make a gracious queen, Faythe Ashfyre.”
she had people who were counting on her, and those she was counting on all the same. For them, she would be brave. For them, she would fight.
Reylan said nothing as he stopped a mere foot away. Faythe’s head tilted to hold his stare that fluttered a giddy tension in her lower stomach. Then her eyes widened, following him as he dropped to one knee before her. Faythe’s breath hitched when his fingers grazed her upper thigh, working on the dagger sheath she’d been in the midst of securing. When he pulled to tighten the buckle, she jerked, her hand instinctively raising to his shoulder for balance. As it did, Reylan’s sparkling sapphire eyes flashed up to her through long lashes, and Spirits be damned, she hoped he didn’t detect the
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“Why think of the ending of something that has not been given the chance to begin? Why deny yourself the chance to be happy and damn whatever the ending may be?”
His face inched closer, so tensely slow, as if he left each second as a chance for her to object. She didn’t. She couldn’t. Every impulse and instinct within her longed to close that distance. When she couldn’t stand the growing need any longer, Faythe closed her eyes and made the last move to push up on her toes and meet him. Then the sun and moon collided. A ray of the brightest light flared in her mind, shooting to her chest and bursting with a warmth so pure and safe. Faythe arched her back with a need to be impossibly closer, a want for this moment to be suspended in time. She felt
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“Why did you wait so long?”
“You were healing and needed time to adjust. We both had demons we had to face, and I didn’t want you to think for one moment that this was a distraction.” His eyes were pained, a look of terror filling them that pierced her chest. Every closely guarded emotion opened like a book before her, and she embraced each page of him. “You are not a distraction, Faythe. You are everything.”
“I don’t know what the future holds or where the path may end, but I plan to follow you down whatever perilous, reckless, adventurous road you lead, Faythe Ashfyre.” His lips curled in tender amusement. “I vow to stand by your side. I vow to protect you with my sword and my life. And I vow to bind my fate to yours, if you will have me. I’ve lived enough years in this world to know should you leave it, so too shall my desire to stay here without you.”
“Until the end of days, Reylan Arrowood.” His smile—warm, genuine, and heartbreakingly rare—had become the light in her eternal shadow. “Maybe even longer, Faythe Ashfyre.”
“Gods, I objected to being sent back to High Farrow—I really did. Only because I knew even then how dangerous it was for me to be close to you. To get to know you. I feared… More than anything, I feared I wouldn’t be able to stop myself, to keep my distance from you beyond making sure you stayed alive.” His smile was partially broken, cleaving her heart. “It was a futile fear because I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you I wouldn’t be able to stay away. Even if you weren’t who you are, if Agalhor didn’t send me back, at some point…I would have gone back to High Farrow myself. Even just to
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“Now, I am yours. This kingdom is yours. Freedom is yours to take and do what you want with. On my life, you will always have that.”
Dammit Reylan !
“I am yours too, Reylan.”
“I have more than everything I could have asked for in this life. I should be a better male. I shouldn’t be selfish and should let you go to find someone far more deserving of you,” he said fiercely. Faythe opened her mouth with a string of protest, but Reylan powered on. “As it turns out, I am not that male. I choose you, Faythe. I will always choose you. And I will always hope, as selfish as it may be, that you will choose me too.”
“Thank you, Faythe.”
“What for?”
“For choosing me too.”
“Do not pray to the Gods who have left you at the mercy of monsters like us.”
“You are right to fear, Nerida. I tried to warn you…” Zaiana’s gaze drifted to Maverick just as he pulled away from the body he had nearly drained dry. “We are made only of nightmares.”
“Come here,”
“I’m horribly sweaty.”
“I’m only envious I’m not the one to have caused it.”
Reylan you cheeky bastard 😂😂😂
“You are so perfect, Faythe,” he groaned against her skin. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for you.”
“That’s it, Faythe,” he whispered, feeling her tighten around him. His other hand left her breast, coming up to curl around her throat. He guided her mouth to his, swallowing her muffled cry of pure pleasure when release shattered her mercilessly.
“In Ungardia’s darkest hour, when all shall burn and fall, only the Phoenix Queen can find a throne from the ashes, and rise it true for all.”
“I know why you did it.” He broke the silence. “He took a life in your name, and it was your revenge to be had. I couldn’t take that from you. But please, if it means expending yourself and risking your life, let me be your sword.”
If my man ain't like this I don't want him!!!!
“Now, I’m not afraid to tell you I’m not sorry. That I would do it again. That I would kill every single man or fae who dares to look at you the way he did. And I would not be sorry.”
Period 👏🏻
“You didn’t kill him, Reylan,” Faythe whispered. He opened his mouth to counter. “I shattered his mind seconds before you snapped his neck. I felt it. You didn’t kill him…because I did.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re not the monster in this story, Reylan. We’re all someone’s villain.” His brow pinched, and a dose of treasured wisdom from a dear lost friend echoed past her lips. “It’s not the act but the intention that separates the good from the evil.”
Faythe!!! 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
“But I’ve come to realize tomorrow isn’t my promise to give. What I can promise…is me. Until the last tomorrow comes. I want you to know every broken piece of me belongs to you.”
“I was going to say I love you…” She took a short pause. Pain swelled in her chest, stealing her breath. “But it’s not enough. Not for what I feel for you.” Faythe shook her head, unable to voice what this was between them because it was so much more than that single mundane word. Love.
“You are my heart, Faythe Ashfyre. When you lose yourself to anger, when you are consumed by passion, when you risk yourself defending… Gods, do I love every impossible, reckless, and fierce part of you.” Faythe released a laugh mixed with a cry. Her eyes blurred, but elation kept her tears from falling. “And I will spend the rest of my days showing you when words fail that you are everything. In this life or the next, I will always find you.”
Cries in single 😭😭😭😭😭
“I plan to worship every inch of you. Again and again, until you believe it. My love and desire for you knows no limits.”
“You were made for me.” Reylan glanced down between them, watching where he pulled back and entered her anew with the release of a harsh breath that scattered down her stomach. Faythe whimpered in bliss. “Gods, you feel incredible.”
