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He stares at me for a long time, his eyes growing distant. “I’ve been pulled here for reasons that have long mystified me.”
“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.” ***
“The clothes were always there waiting for you. Last night, I just wanted to see you in mine.”
I can’t believe I’m about to say this. “How did you feel, leaving me?” I ask. He holds my gaze. “Like my soul was ripped in two.”
“Something you should know about fae,” he says over his shoulder. “The only time our wings come out is when we want to fight or fuck.”
“That also happens to be why the Night Kingdom is considered the most romantic of realms. Not only do lovers meet under the cloak of darkness, darkness is the most eternal of all things. To declare your love until the end of night is the most sacred and undying of vows.” More quietly, he adds, “It’s the oath I will take when I bind myself to my queen.”
“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.”
His stares into my eyes. “I am the scariest thing out here. And if anything tries to touch you, they will reckon with me.”
“Fairies only do this with their betrotheds.”
“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.”
“Your last one. On the night of the dance—‘From flame to ashes, dawn to dusk, for the rest of our lives, be mine always, Desmond Flynn,’” he says, quoting the binding verse I spoke long ago.
My face heats. “You never granted that one.” “Are you sure about that?” My skin goes cold as his words sink in. “You…you granted it?” “I did,” the Bargainer says, his eyes moving to my lips.
He’d agreed to be mine. My brain is expl...
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“A favor as large as the one you requested requires steep payment,” the Bargainer continues. “Do you think my magic would allow you to buy yourself a mate so easily? That kind of favor requires a good dose of heartbreak and years of waiting—seven years, to be precise.” Seven years. Oh God. The Bargainer’s
“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.”
“My land’s version of a vow.” He still hasn’t dropped his hands from where they cradle my face. “I’ve wanted to say those words to you for years.” He leans his forehead against mine. “Humans aren’t the only ones with archaic lovers’ vows.”
