Rhapsodic (The Bargainer, #1)

by Laura Thalassa

“You have over three hundred favors to repay me. By the time we’re done, you will realize that Eli and all those other men were just a dissatisfying dream. That this, and only this, is real.”

“You know,” I say, “I missed you. Every day.” It was an ache that lasted seven years. It should’ve dulled, but it never did. He’s quiet for a long time. Finally, he confesses, “I missed you too.”

Eli has lost his damn mind. He broke into my house and shifted, placing me and Des in mortal danger. And the asshole has the audacity to put me on the wanted list?

Exactly

I turn my attention back to my listing, tapping on the link. The charges include illegally using glamour and consorting with the Bargainer. It’s the latter charge that got me on the list, of that I’m sure.

Yo, just like a fucking man to get his fucking feelings hurt and because he has a little bit of power, he uses it to hurt her worse than she hurt him. What a PUSSY!!!

“The clothes were always there waiting for you. Last night, I just wanted to see you in mine.”

I made a promise to myself back when Des first left my life, a promise to be independent. Not to allow men like him to destroy my world. And now the very man who forced me to make that promise wants to burrow his way under my skin and into my heart once more.

My heart wants to give in to him even if my mind knows better.

“How did you feel, leaving me?” I ask. He holds my gaze. “Like my soul was ripped in two.” I still. Is he serious? I feel like my world’s being overturned. “And the seven years that followed?” I breathe. He stares at me, unwavering. “A nightmare.”

“Lucky girl,” I say, pushing away from the wall and him along with it. I feel Des’s eyes on me as I cross through his room. “No,” he corrects. “She won’t be the lucky one. I’ll be.”

Eli stares at Des’s wings for a long moment, looking stunned. Finally, he tears his gaze away. “I didn’t know,” he says. I look between the two men. “Know what?” The Bargainer watches Eli for several seconds. Then ever so slightly, he inclines his head. “Now you do.” “Callie told me what you did for her when she was a kid,” Eli says. “Thank you for helping her,” he continues. “No more bad blood between us, okay? I didn’t realize the situation—any of it.” Again, Des inclines his head.

Can he tell that Desi claimed her as his mate maybe and she just doesn’t know?

“Fairies only do this with their betrotheds.”

Oh shit!!

“A fairy doesn’t show his wings to his betrothed.” He slides his hand behind my neck, his thumb stroking my skin. “A fairy shows them to his soul mate.”

“From flame to ashes, dawn to dusk, for the rest of our lives, be mine always, Desmond Flynn.”

“That I’m in love with you? That I have been since you were that obstinate teen with way too much courage? That you’re my soul mate and I’m yours? Gods save me, yes, I am.”

That’s kinda weird…. The teen part.

“Callie, I love you. I’ve loved you from the beginning. And I will love you long after the last star dies. I will love you until the end of darkness itself.”

“And mountains may rise and fall, and the sun might wither away, and the sea claim the land and swallow the sky. But you will always be mine.” He runs his knuckles over my cheekbone. “And the stars might fall from the heavens, and night might cloak the earth, but until darkness dies, I will always be yours.”

“What is this magic?” he growls, peering closer at the beads. All at once, he jerks his head back. “The Bastard of Arestys,” he snarls, releasing my hand. “Guards!”