The Abyss (Fae's Captive #7) - Lily Archer Page 0,7

beloved. There is nothing I value more, no one I will ever put above you. You are the queen of my life, the one I was made for.”

My heart seems to have melted into a puddle of warm happiness.

I realize it’s leaking out my eyes when he wipes a tear away. “But you must promise me that you will never do such a thing again.” His stern voice is even more of a turn-on. How can I survive this male?

“Do what?” I bat my lashes.

“You pushed yourself onto that blade.”

“What?” I make a pfft noise. “That’s crazy. Why would I—”

“Your life is too precious to ever be thrown away.” His eyes are hard, his tone even more so. “Not for me. Do you understand? I will gladly go to the Glowing Lands and wait for you if that means you are safe.”

“You’d wait?”

“I’d wait forever for you.” The finality in his tone is more than I can bear. My heart leaks from my eyes some more, but he wipes my tears.

I love this male. I love him. I’ve been trying to avoid it. But there it is—this scarred changeling with a dim past and so-so future is in love with a winter realm high fae. And I will never give him up.

He is mine.

And when he claims me, I’m going to stake my claim right back.

4

Beth

Despite Gareth’s best efforts at seduction, I manage to hold him off and coax him back to the main hall. When we get there, Silmaran is sitting up as Chastain looks her over.

“I’m fine.” She bats him away. “Truly.”

“No, you’re not.” He shakes his head. “I should never have agreed to let you—”

She grabs his shirt and pulls him to her. “If I remember correctly, you didn’t agree at all. I fought you.”

“You did.” He sighs and leans down. “You always have.”

“I always will.” She meets his lips, the two of them embracing, lovers whose souls are already entwined too deeply to separate.

Parnon leans against the sand-colored wall, his clothing the only change to the palette. But even I can see the slight smile to his lips, the clearness of his eyes. He’s relieved. Silmaran is back.

Despite her words—and her tongue war with Chastain—I know her wounds cut deep, the memories that will wake her on a scream, the pain that comes and goes, the anguish that threatens to well up and drown her. We share all this and more. Her sacrifices started a rebellion. I only hope she finds the cost was worth it when she’s alone, in the dark, her thoughts like a funeral shroud, and her scars in sharp relief.

Gareth shifts closer, his arm wrapping around my shoulders. Can he sense my thoughts? One look in his eyes tells me he feels something. His first instinct is to protect. I lean into his side, taking comfort in his strength.

Silmaran finally comes up for air, and the room cheers, the sound erupting so quickly I jump.

She gets to her feet, standing on the table as she looks out at the slaves amassed inside Chastain’s fine house. Holding her hands out to quiet them down, she says, “This is just the beginning. We must gather—”

A boom rocks the city, and perhaps the very center of Arin. I lose my footing, but Gareth keeps a tight grip on me. The wall behind us begins to crack, a harsh zigzag cutting through the sandstone as tiles fall from the roof and crash all around us. The ground is still shaking, and Silmaran darts down from the table and out into the street.

“What is it?” I hold onto Gareth, the only thing that seems solid as the world continues to quake.

“I don’t know, but it isn’t good.” The cracks continue to snake across the ceiling, and with a loud snap, the back wall splits down the center. Gareth raises his voice and yells over my head. “Everyone into the streets! The house is going to fall. It’s not safe here.”

Some of the slaves rise, but others struggle to help the wounded from their makeshift cots.

Gareth pulls me toward the still-shattered door.

“I can help.” I dig in my heels.

He stops and looks at the rapidly-expanding crack in the wall. “No.”

I glance at the terrified high fae children in the back of the shattering house. “Gareth, let me help!” I try to yank my arm free.

“I need you safe.” He keeps pulling me.

Parnon grunts, curses, and then stomps over to the huddled children. They seem to collapse in on