Shadow Cursed by May Sage Page 0,53

move faster. He pants as his hips fly in and out of me, filling me deeper than ever. I feel my toes curl, and my core is on fire. Abandoning my back entrance, Drusk titillates me with his fingertips, harshly. Unbelievably, for the third time, I’m gone over the edge of the precipice. My release triggers his, and as promised, he thrusts in deep inside me one last time.

I fall forward, and Drusk joins me. We breathe in unison, lost to the world.

Then I start thinking.

I can't deny how much I like feeling him warm my insides. We fae don't reproduce like mortals; it may take a thousand days, a thousand years of him planting his seed inside me before I bear the fruits, but I still imagine my mate's child. A little girl taller than me by the time she can fly. A boy with his midnight eyes.

And the third born I will have to give to the sea.

I think I might cry if I let myself.

Instead, I get up.

"I'll call for a bath. We have to make ready to go north.”

March North

Drusk

We agreed to bring two of my rangers along with Ina. I call for a meeting in front of the runes of what used to be our base, and give my orders. I can tell the moment I see my sister's glare that there'll be hell to pay for my choices.

I left Erdun in charge of training, shadowed by Neb. With me, I'm taking Ive and Jules, because they're competent enough and they can both be spared from Whitecroft.

I'm not surprised when she follows me back home, silently fuming as she watches me pack.

I lost the right to feel protective over my sister sometime in the last decade, at least according to her. Once, the ten years between us were an ocean; now, she’s sixty-three, and as capable as anyone I’ve ever trained. More so. I’m man enough to admit that I demand twice as much from her than from anyone else.

But she’s still my sister. I remember the day she was born. Ma put her in my arms and told me she’d called her Nebula because I loved watching the void of the sky.

So when she demands to be included in our mission, I can only laugh. “You’re kidding.”

I don’t say it as if it’s a question. She must be kidding.

She plants herself right in front of me and glares. “You’re the one who’s kidding. You're taking Jules. Jules! I can wipe the floor with his face.”

That’s certainly true, and I take no small amount of pride that my sister can take a gentry twice her weight in single combat.

“Jules has been trained to follow a trail. That’s valuable and relevant to the objective.”

I don't add that we're going to the Court of Ichor, his home. I trust my sister, my walls have ears, and we've learned a thing or two about treachery of late.

These facts were accurate, though they weren’t the reason why I'd accepted the boy and not her. Jules is disposable. Others would say otherwise; he's the son of the king of the Court of Ichor, and could succeed him. But he isn't my only sister.

"You're being sexist," she accuses me, gritting her teeth.

I have to consider her words, for a fleeting second. Then I decide she's wrong. If she'd been a little brother of mine, my answer would have been the same.

"Ive's coming, too," I point out. “So are Queen Ina, and the high queen." Nebula's eyes widen. I hadn't specified that in front of everyone. "And if another female with relevant skills volunteers, I won't turn her down. I'm not sexist. You're not qualified."

Being my sister will always disqualify her for any position that puts her in danger.

Neb crosses her arms on her chest. "What qualifications could Ive possibly have, except for an enormous—"

I lift a brow. "Who's sexist now?"

There was only one thing of Ive's that could be seen as enormous, and it wasn't her brain. The buxom half-aven had human roots that allowed for curves unusual for the folk. I'd noticed, though I wasn't interested. I'd also noticed that Ive wanted me to notice. I could have saved the girl some time and told her she wasn't going to go anywhere with me. No one was, except for Vlari. Not after today.

I’ve enjoyed many women of every rank, every shape and color. It's never been like that. With Vlari, sex wasn't an indulgence as much as a need. A