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“Your soul is bound to mine,” I breathed against his mouth, even though I knew he was no longer there to hear my words, but a dark and unknown energy seemed to stir the air itself at that vow. “And I won’t rest until I make every star in the heavens fall for trying to cleave us apart.”
When all hope is lost, and the darkest night descends, remember the promises that bind. When the dove bleeds for love, the shadow will meet the warrior. A hound will bay for vengeance where the rift drinks deep. One chance awaits. The king may fall on the day the Hydra bellows in a spiteful palace.
My throat thickened as I recognised the expensive lace of the dress I’d worn to marry the man who now lay dead out on that battlefield. The man who I had stolen back from the stars only to have them spit in my face as they tore him away again so much more permanently than before. Married and widowed in the same day.
I wouldn’t leave him here either, no more than I would say goodbye. Because this wasn’t goodbye. I would never utter that word to the keeper of my heart, and I would never relinquish the promise I’d made to him with the blood cut from my veins mixed with his own, which I’d taken from the wound that had stolen him from me.
“Darius Vega is the greatest Dragon who ever lived,” I spoke loud and clear, making Lionel fall deathly still.
“He married Tory. She is more powerful than him, so that made him a Vega,” I said, relishing this final blow I could land to him, feeling Darius’s defiance humming through the air and knowing Lionel could feel it too.
“We must feel the bad as deeply as the sea, for then we are able to feel the joy as high as the moon.”
“Use me then, Cal,” Seth panted in submission, the want in him peeling me open and making me come undone for him. “Take me and use me and make me forget all the shit in this world for a little while. I’ll be a good pup for you if that’s what you need. Just promise you’ll be rough with me while I’m yours. My heart can’t take tender right now.”
“Too much,” he breathed. “I want you too fucking bad and I can’t help it. Can’t stop it. I’m yours to do whatever you want with. I’m your fucking Wolf, Cal, and the thought of making you mine is too much to bear.”
“It is time for my end. My death is the gift of Fae, a gift all stars offer in their demise. It is why magic lives in your world, for my magic is your magic.”
“It was the only way to break the curse,” he said. “I had to offer myself to her in flesh, bone, or blood. Knowing I would free you within three months and that I would be free too…it seemed like the answer we needed, even if it isn’t the one we wanted.”
“Listen to me, Blue. I loved you when your soul shone with all the starlight in the night sky, and I’ll love you now when your soul is the blackest you’ve ever known. I will love you whole and I’ll love you in pieces. It doesn’t matter, light or dark, I am here. That is what mates are for. It’s what I’m made to be for you by the stars themselves, so stop trying to shut me out.”
“It’s okay, beautiful,” I promised her through a crazed smile that made her pause, her eyes searching mine as she took in this renewed strength in me. “She can’t have anything more from me than pain. I’m all yours. She can’t touch my soul; it’ll be whole and waiting for you when this is over. So let me bleed for you, my Queen. It would be a fucking honour.”
“My surname isn’t Columba anymore. I’m not a dove, I’m a hunter. An Orion. I am your family whether you want me or not.”
“You are no Orion,” I snarled. “Family loves without condition. I’ve forged my own family through determination, sacrifice, and dedication. They aren’t my blood, but they are bound to me deeper than you will ever be. You don’t just get to love me and expect that to be enough. True love is built on everything that exists outside of the word. It’s showing up when you’re needed, no matter the inconvenience. It’s knowing someone, truly knowing them, and accepting everything they are even where you differ or clash. It’s making effort despite the differences, it’s apologies when they’re owed and
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“Please, you don’t understand. I’ve lost e...
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“The difference is, you’re the reason you lost it all. You’re the one who pushed away the light and embraced the dark, Stella. I may be tainted, and I won’t ever claim to have a pure soul, but I’ve owned every single one of my sins and never tried to make out that I was anything but what I am. You’ve spent so long convincing yourself that your actions are justified, that maybe you really believe it. But I know the truth of you. You’re corrupted by power and greed, and of course you love Lionel Acrux, because he is the epitome of those things. My father was worth far more than your superficial
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“He probably even knew you’d stand before me one day and would still expect me to find a scrap of love in my heart for you. But there’s nothing here, Stella. And now you know you’ve lost Lionel too, and you’re all alone with nothing but your insufferable self for company. You think you can come crawling to me now and fake that you care? You think that I’ll seek comfort from you after everything you’ve done?”
“You can forgive me, just give me a chance,”
“No. And I hope you live a long, arduous life all alone, with no one but yourself for company, because there’s no greater curse that I could wish on you but that.”
“Baby, please. You’re my boy. My little hunter. I love you. I know things have been difficult, but I’ll make it right. I’ll get you out of here.”
“And then what? Sign me up to your Acrux fan c...
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“No,” she whispered, inching closer and tightening the silencing bubble around us. “I’ll free you and find a way to return you to your fr...
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“Don’t you dare speak her name,” I snarled viciously. “I’m in this cage for her. I’m here to break the fucking curse your shadow quee...
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“What is the curse?” she asked throu...
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“She’s bound to a Shadow Beast. A fucking monster that’s draining her power and will leave her wasted and mortal when it’s done with her. So Lavinia will torture me in any way she sees fit for three moon cycles before she frees Darcy from it. I would rather there was a chance for us than give up and accept the fate the stars seem so fucking insistent upon offering us. I owe her that. And I can bear any pain to the ends of the earth and back for Darcy, but regardless, I entered a Death bond with Lavinia to ensure I don’t fight it.”
“No.” Stella stilled in horror at those final words, her hand going to her mouth as it trembled, and fat tears spilled down her cheeks.
I remained silent, not knowing what to say, doubting myself for being sucked into what could easily just be another charade. But something told me this was the real deal, and I had no clue how to respond to it.
“You and Clara were the best thing I ever had,” she croaked as she managed to compose herself a little and look me in the eye. “I wasted so much time being elsewhere as you got older, plotting and scheming, working out how you could both fit into this world Lionel and I were creating. I got lost in dreams of the future we were building. And for every inch of power I claimed, the deeper I fell into that fantasy land. I thought that once I seized the world with Lionel, everything would slide into place, but instead it’s shattered into a million pieces. Lionel holds no love for me, and now I look
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can see that there is no apology deep enough to fix us,” she breathed, a dark acceptance veiling her eyes. “It’s like you say - words mean nothing. I’ve failed in loving you. And now it’s too late to be the mother I should have been. You’re all grown up and full of sharp pieces because of me. The stars have offered you an Elysian Mate only to demand a terrible sacrifice from you. An unimaginable sacrifice.” She squeezed my hand, looking at me in despair. “You may not be mine any longer, but you are Azriel’s son through and through. I know he is watching you from beyond the Veil, and he’s been
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“No,” I agreed. “You wouldn’t have.”
“Darius, if you’re watching all of this, then I really hope the stars have told you their plans, that this is all just a storm that’s about to clear up so I can see blue sky again. And if that’s true, is there any chance you could send me a sign?” Silence. Grief welled in me, my fists tightening on the bars, my fear for Blue pressing down on me too. I felt so fucking helpless in this cage, but I had no other option. Darcy had to be saved, and I had to find a way to get her back to Tory, because together those two were the only answer Solaria had now.
“What will happen if I turn mortal?” she whispered
“You won’t.”
“Will your mate rings fade too? Or will you be stuck pining for a mortal you can rarely visit?”
“Blue,” I growled, furious that she would even voice such a futur...
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“What if it’s already too late?” she said in fear. “Then I will find a way to tear my own magic from my flesh and join you in the mortal world,” I said, the words falling easily from my tongue. “Where you go, I will follow. Have I not made that clear enough to you yet?” I bit her lower lip and my fangs ...
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“This is a bad idea. I’m angry, Blue, so fucking angry at the world. I’ve got a whole lot of pent-up energy in my veins that I want to let out.”
“I can handle it,” she growled. “Show me the devil in you.”
“Look at me. And don’t stop looking until I’m finished with you. Forget this place. It’s just us, beautiful. You and me.”
“When we get out of here, I’m going to have you like this every damn day,” I said heavily. “Because I spent too much time at the academy being cautious, letting time slip by where I didn’t see you at all. We’re gonna fuck, and laugh, and love each other, and I’m gonna make you smile from the moment you wake up in the morning to your last moments of wakefulness at night.”
“I want that more than anything,” she breathed.
“We’re gonna make it to that future, beautiful.”
“I never thanked you for offering yourself up to break the curse,” she whispered, her mouth falling against the space below my ear as she curled herself into the arc of my body. “I hate you for it, but I love you for it too. I love you so much, I don’t know how my heart contains it all.”
“A queen arrives at precisely the right moment, no matter the preferences of her subjects,” Geraldine quipped, and the corner of my lips quirked in amusement.
“As you well know, most of the people in this room do not recognise Roxanya and Gwendalina Vega as our monarchs,” Tiberius replied firmly.
“If that’s the case, then why do you care so much for my timekeeping?” I drawled.
“Because certain members of this group refused to so much as begin discussions of anything vital until you had arrived,” Tiberius said tersely, the weight of his irritation colouring the air and I arched a brow at him as his emotions pressed at mine.
“Are you unable to control your Order form or are you purposefully trying to rile every person in this r...
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“I think we would do better to question your capabilities of controlling your gifts after witnessing that outburst of them at the Acr...
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