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Marriage is for humans. Suddenly, I feel all of sixteen again, and Des is asking me to prom. Prom, marriage—all of it is for that part of me that has always been a desperate outsider, a loner. That painful part of me that wants to be normal. This is Des giving me normal.
I’m going to marry Des!
Aww
“You’re going to marry me?” I nod again, and I’m smiling so hard, my face is beginning to hurt. “You’re going to marry me,” he says again, processing it. “You’re going to be my wife.” He lets out his own disbelieving laugh.
“Years I have waited for this,” he says, “anticipated it. My wife.”
“It’s captured starlight,” he explains, squeezing my hand. “I figured the Queen of the Night should carry a piece of her kingdom with her.”
Wow!
“You already had the ring picked out…” It’s such a ridiculous statement. Obviously, he picked out the ring some time ago; it’s not like he interrupted sex to make a deal with the stars on the spot. Des grins, and the sight of it just slays me. “Cherub, it would frighten you how long I’ve carried that ring around.”
“I’m going to marry you.” I get a little zing of excitement just saying the words. “I’m going to marry the shit out of you,” he agrees.
“From flame to ashes, dawn to dusk, for the rest of our lives, be mine always, Desmond Flynn.” He kisses my lips. “Until darkness dies.”
I realize then that he could’ve simply healed himself. But much like Malaki with Temper’s hickeys, he hadn’t. Never going to understand fairies.
“He can control dreams—the Thief. He called the place his kingdom.”
“And I did eventually get a version of that. And I still have her,” I say softly. Temper filled the gaping hole Des left in me, and I was there to fill the holes her family had left in her.
And I’m totally holding you to those body shots.” Tequila ones. I want to lick salt off his grossly sexy abs and have him hand-feed me limes. Why, yes, I am a freak.
Lol
Collin.”
edges accent. A scenario takes shape: a kid with promise but not a lot of options approaches the Bargainer. The Bargainer sees something of himself in the young man, so he helps him a little more than his other clients. And thus the young seer has an inspiring rags-to-riches tale and only two debts to show for it.
“The darkness…the darkness will betray you.”
Oh oh!
The Thief of Souls and I are pitted against each other, not as hunter and hunted but as adversaries. And that detail changes everything. Since Karnon’s death, I’ve been in the business of running—so much so that I haven’t truly done any chasing.
“Galleghar and the Thief share powers.”
Galleghar and the Thief share powers. I don’t know how or when or why the two of them linked up, but I would stake serious money on the two being co-bound. That would explain why Galleghar keeps popping up during our search for the Thief. He’s hooked on the same magical power line that the Thief of Souls is. So long as their magic is bound together, you can’t have one without the other.
Even if the Thief isn’t a Night fae, his life and magic is co-bound to a man who is one.
My mate gave me a piece of his night sky. I’m giving him a piece of my ocean. The siren practically purrs at the thought.
Aww 🥹
Until darkness dies, be mine always.
The Bargainer’s eyes latch on to the wedding band, and he’s looking at it like he’s Gollum and I’m holding the One Ring to rule them all. Aw, fuck.
Lol
“It’s your ring.” I take a deep breath. “Marry me, Des. Tonight. Right now.”
“I would love nothing more, Callie, than to marry the shit out of you.” He tilts my head so he can whisper into my ear, “You cannot know…”
“In all the worlds and all the ages, there has never been another like you, Callie.” He clears his throat, like he’s remembering himself. “Now let’s get married.”
My mate was right: I’m not normal. This is not normal. People don’t have claws and scales and wings and Otherworldly stalkers. But normal people also don’t get to feel their soul mate’s magic move in them. They don’t get to be part of a fairy tale. They don’t get the love that transcends time and worlds.
“From flame to ashes, dawn to dusk, for the rest of our lives, be mine always, Desmond Flynn,” I say. My wings have come out, exposed by my raw emotion. The Night King brings my knuckles to his lips. “I’m yours, Callypso.”
“And mountains may rise and fall, and the sun may wither away, and the sea claim the land and swallow the sky. But you will always be mine. And the stars may fall from the heavens, and night may cloak the earth, but until darkness dies, I will always be yours.”
“Letting you two be friends might be my worst decision yet,” Des says, gesturing between me and his general. “Now you know how I feel.” The only thing worse than Temper or Des on their own is getting the two of them together.
I may be living a fairy tale, but fairy tales aren’t just full of princes and fair maidens and moonlit weddings. They are full of monsters too. Monsters and violence and terror and death.
black blood begins to pour out.
“Dreamweaver,” the Thief says, “this is no place for you. Your sentiments might be sweet, but you cannot possibly protect your precious queen. You don’t even know where she is.”
Malaki is a dreamweaver?
“To think they call you Lord of Dreams,” the Thief continues, his gaze focused on Malaki. “Your bloodlines are weak these days.”
And…nothing. I open my eyes, feeling ridiculous. Where is Des?
“Do you know why they call me the Lord of Dreams?” he asks.
“I can spin dreams.” His dark gaze pierces mine. “I design the setting, I bring in the people, I orchestrate the activities. I can pick an enemy’s mind apart this way—learn his weaknesses, discover his plans. “Last night, for the first time ever, I met a force more powerful than my own. And not just slightly more powerful. My magic was all but useless against the Thief’s.”
“You’re not following. The Thief’s power eclipses mine—and it eclipses that of a king, a powerful one. And I fear—”
It’ll eclipse Des’
“My queen,
As I stare out at the sleeping soldiers, I notice that among them are a few casket children. I bite back my horror at the sight of their sweet faces covered in gore, their eyes filled with malicious delight. Their bodies might be young, but whatever souls reside within them, they’re ancient corrupted things.
Creepy!
I open my arms. “Take me, Thief. Right here, right now. I know you want to.” “Cherub,” Des warns.
You’re gonna give Des a heart attack baiting the Thief Callie!
“Fuck if I know—the internet is a magical thing.”
Lol
“You can glamour humans and fairies?” I lift a shoulder. “Seems that way.”
She’s not considering breaking up with him? This far into a fling, Temper is always considering breaking things off.
It’s getting serious 🤭
“Do you like your wedding gift?” he asks from behind me.
“It’s no ocean—I’m afraid there are limits on what I can do—but I figured my wife needed a place for her siren to unwind.”
Aww
“You planned all this?” He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t need to—it’s all in his eyes. Des must’ve spent ages putting this chamber together. I rub my chest. My heart hurts so damn much.
OMG! He probably worked on it the whole time they were apart 🥹
“It gets to be like this; for the rest of our lives, we get to have this: the sweet moments, the confessions, the laughter, the magic—we get to have it all.” His thumb strokes my cheek. “Cherub, you’re every wish of mine.”
That’s when I notice for the first time the ribbon of inked black beads coiling up his arm. My fingers pause. “Is this new?” His eyes seem to be smiling. “I wanted to wear a piece of you on me always.”
“My wife,” he says, his voice low. His gaze drops to my lips, and his grip tightens.
The Kingdom of Death and Deep Earth. In a world at war, who would truly win? Death would, that’s who. Do the dead ever really die?
