Shadowborn Queen - G. Bailey Page 0,24

he asks me. "Gold suggested we wait to ask you about it, and you don't have to answer me if you don't want to."

I stare at the fire as I wonder how to explain how I'm feeling. "My mum being gone doesn't yet seem real. I fear seeing Willow and my step-dad and facing the truth. I keep thinking she is out there, just waiting for me, but I know somewhere deep down she isn't. I won't hear her laugh again. One day I will have a crown on my head, a kingdom to run, and never be able to ask for her advice. As much as she used to drive me insane, I still love her and miss her."

I pause, looking up at Luke, finding comfort in his eyes. "Then sometimes, I want to scream with how angry I am that mum never told me who my father was until the last moments she was alive. I hate that I never really got to meet my father and my only moment with him was him dying in my arms."

"Royal fae breed pain and cruelty. There is no kindness in the blood you have," he warns me. "But it can be changed. We can change the future of the royal fae."

"You want to change it all with me still?" I ask him, leaning up so we are face to face. "I would understand if it's all too much. I've asked so much of you since we met."

"I will always be at your side, saving you, loving you for as long as you want me. Throne or not, I don't care. I only want us," he promises, cupping my cheeks with his hands. "Tell me you want the same. Tell me you love me like I fucking love you, Izora Dawn."

"We bleed together. We fight together. That's our choice and mine. You are mine," I tell him and he kisses me, sinking his lips onto mine like he is branding my soul and I never want him to stop.

A warm heat fills my back, like a tingling sensation and I break away from Luke, turning around to see my mates surrounded by hundreds of wisps. A wisps floats around us in a circle, magic filling the air effortlessly.

“I think the forest is on our side,” Scott comments as we all stare in wonder. Wisps guide those who are on the goddesses path.

And if this isn’t a sign she is watching and helping us, nothing is. I run to my mates with a big smile on my lips, knowing everything is going to be okay.

We have a goddess on our side.

Chapter 11

Izora

The wisps are as beautiful as Luke described. I remember my mother telling me about them when I was a little girl and that when you see a wisp, the gods are guiding you somewhere magical.

Luke holds my hand as we stroll after the wisps, our boots crunching on the dead leaves that litter the ground.

"Where do you think it's taking us?" I ask quietly.

Luke shrugs a shoulder, his eyes trailing after the magical wisps. "When I was a kid, they only took me to fun places, or guided me away from danger. Wherever they're takin’ us, I have a feelin’ we'll like it."

I nod and hide a yawn behind my hand. Apparently running away from Titans and trying to win a war is beginning to take a toll on me. Gods, I really miss sleeping in a bed. Sure, the one at the palace had been nice, but I didn't feel safe there, not even with Gold at my side.

I close my eyes briefly and imagine myself with Luke, Axel, Scott, and Gold. How wonderful it'll be to spend the day in bed with them. Once this is all over, we'll live in the forest, eating, fucking, and laughing together without the shadow of war looming over us.

"I think we're here, jaybird," Luke whispers, dragging me from my pleasant reverie.

I open my eyes and look around. Overgrown weeds and grass surround a beautiful, if not slightly run down, house. Some of the windows are broken and their white shutters hang off them listlessly, but for the most part, the building seems to be in good shape. And more importantly, safe. I definitely didn't expect the wisp to take us here, but I guess this is what I do desire most right now: a safe place to be with those I love.

“It’s a house,” Luke whispers, a grin sliding over his