Marked (The Coldest Fae Book 3) by Katerina Martinez (novel24 .txt) 📗

but he was going to have to. I took his hand, trying to encourage him to speak without fear of… anything. He had nothing to worry about with me. I doubted if there was anything he could say that would make me run off.

“There was an attack on the castle,” he said, “My father had him fight in the vanguard… he was injured, the healers couldn’t stop the bleeding. He and my father left together one night, stole away under cover of darkness. Only my father returned days later, and he commanded Radulf be stricken from all records, all mention of his name erased.”

“He took your brother to the Veridian…”

Cillian nodded. “It’s the only logical conclusion.”

“He thought the Veridian could save his life.”

“If that’s true, then my father was clearly wrong. What happened out there, I don’t know. My father threatened to execute anyone who spoke of it or questioned him about it—even my mother.”

I shook my head. “That doesn’t explain how Radulf’s spirit… invaded you.”

“I know. I thought perhaps I would find answers in the Veridian since I sensed it so strongly on him when he manifested that night.”

“Do you think he wants you to go to it because he’ll get stronger from it?”

“It’s possible. I have no way of knowing. I’ve given deep consideration to the possibility that he’s trying to gain more power, and that by taking him to the place where this happened to him, I would only be meeting his needs. But there’s something to be said about places of power, even dark power.”

I angled my head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“If it made him… it can unmake him. It’s a risk, and I may not be able to help when it comes time to remove him. I have to admit, magic is not my best strength. My mother gifted me with healing magic, I have learned how to create portals, and I know many spells that will help me in a fight, but with an exorcism?” He shook his head, “Nothing like that.”

“The moon children might be able to help.”

“Do you really think they will now that they know who I am?”

“Probably not… I may have screwed up our chances.”

“Maybe. But they were going to find out eventually, especially if we stayed here. Better they know now than later.”

“I should talk to Ashera… Melina thinks we can draw the Veridian out through you. Maybe between the four of us we can combine our skills to perform an exorcism. But Ashera is the Alpha of this pack—if anyone around here knows how to rip a spirit out of a person, it’s going to be her. We stand a better chance with her as an ally.”

“And the Veridian?”

“I think I want to try to remove him without summoning the storm… but I don’t know if that’ll even be possible?”

“Why not?”

“Gullie suspects you’re a… sponge for magic. That there’s a beacon inside of you that’ll light up when exposed to great deals of it and that alone is enough to bring the Veridian on you. I’m pretty sure an exorcism will generate enough power to call the storm.”

“So, no matter what we do…”

I nodded. “We don’t have a lot of options, Cillian… but I want him out of you. I can’t deal with the thought that he’s in there, hurting you, trying to find a way out.”

“Our bond is his prison.”

“I know… but that won’t last forever.”

He tucked a little silver hair behind my pointed ear and gazed into my eyes. “Are you planning on staying with me forever?”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Is that a proposition, my Prince?”

A slight grin swept across his lips. “I would never do something so crass as to propose in such a manner.”

“Out of curiosity… how would you do it?”

The Prince slid off the edge of the bed and got to his knees. He placed his hands on my thighs, and I parted them to let him move in between them. Slowly, his hands climbed from my thigs up to my ribs, then he brought them down to settle on my hips. He stared at me, his big, blue eyes gleaming.

“Dahlia…” he said, and my heart surged into my throat.

Wait.

I couldn’t speak.

“Will you do me the pleasure…”

Wait… what’s happening? My heart started hammering against the sides of my neck. It pulsed with so much force, I was sure the fae in the tent three doors down would be able to hear it. I stared at the Prince, my eyes locked with his, my breathing almost completely stopped at this point.

The Prince’s hands came back up, his hands wrapping around my back, his fingers searching for the lace that kept my leather armor held in place. “Of helping me with these straps?” he asked.

I swallowed. “Wh—what?”

He leaned a little closer, his lips hovering an inch away from mine. “Were you expecting a different question?”

Trembling. “I… I don’t know.”

“We are about to embark on a dangerous mission…” he whispered as his fingers worked. “We may not make it back alive. I want to taste my mate one more time before that happens.”

“T-taste…?”

What the hell? Why couldn’t I speak?

“Yes,” he whispered against my lips, and the warmth of his breath against my mouth sent a warm, pleasurable racing into the pit of my stomach that left me suddenly aching. “Unless you would rather leave without it?”

Whatever was keeping me locked in place suddenly unstuck itself. I scrambled to pull apart the laces keeping my leather bodice wrapped around my chest, and as soon as it was free, I kissed him deeply. Cillian hooked his fingers into my waistband, and I lifted myself up just far enough for him to be able to slide them off right from under me.

In moments I was completely naked and hurrying him out of his own clothes like my life depended on it. “No one can hear us this time,” I breathed into his mouth. “They think we’re talking about really serious stuff.”

“This is serious.”

“Cillian, I mean it.”

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