Of Thorn and Thread (Daughters of Eville #4) - Chanda Hahn Page 0,107
I kiss you forever?” he asked, pulling away at the last second.
“Only if you marry me,” I teased.
“Are you proposing?” Liam asked, his green eyes suddenly serious.
“No, I . . . uh.” The question rattled me. Heat rushed to my cheeks in embarrassment.
“I accept,” he said firmly.
“Wait, I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to work?”
“So, you don’t want to get married?” Liam’s brows furrowed in confusion. Then I saw his lip twitch as he held back his smile.
She’s so cute when she’s flustered, he thought.
“Am not.” I playfully hit his arm.
“Are you going to kiss me? I’m still waiting.” Liam grinned.
Not letting anything or anyone interrupt us, I wrapped my arms around his neck, and we kissed. My heart that had once broken apart was slowly being repaired.
I love you, Aura. His unshielded thoughts drifted to me.
And I you.
When we broke apart, he wasn’t ready to let me go. Nuzzling the top of my head, he breathed into my ear. “Look.”
I turned and looked at the setting sun and how it cast a halo around us, making the yellow daylilies look like fields of molten gold.
It was just like Liam’s dream. He’d imagined this very moment before it even happened.
“You saw the future?” I whispered in awe.
“No, I see our future.” He left a trail of butterfly kisses across my cheek and threaded his fingers through mine. We turned to face the many fairies, pixies, and hobs that had gathered around to watch our reunion.
Sneezewort was wiping his eyes, and the pixie brought him a large leaf and he loudly blew his nose. The pixie patted his back awkwardly before Sneezewort bowed his head in respect. The female hob and pixies followed. The trees moved as I saw the dryads bend low; the grass shifted as the cù sìth dogs bowed. I even heard Hack cough in response.
“What’s going on?” I asked, confused.
“I may not be able to give you a kingdom, but that doesn’t mean you’re any less a queen to the fae.”
“But I don’t want to be queen,” I whispered.
He chuckled. “You’re the missing heir,” he repeated back to me.
“I’m not ready.” I panicked. “What if I make mistakes?”
“Don’t worry, you will.” Liam wrapped his hand around my waist giving it a squeeze, and I felt his calmness wash over me. “And I’ll be by your side for each one of them. You can’t live in my world, but I can live in yours.”
Epilogue
I couldn’t move. Something trapped me, and I could feel the heat racing across my body. I coughed, my lungs filled with hot air, and I knew I would either bleed out or be killed by the encroaching mage fire. Even now I could feel the fire singe my feathers.
Kraa!
My voice was too weak as I tried to call out to Aura. She had to hear me. She would come after me. I moved my wing, and pain ripped down my side. I saw it was bent at an odd angle which meant it was broken—and that made it dangerous to shift. If I did, there was no telling if I would survive the transformation.
“Well, if this isn’t a surprise?” a deep voice spoke from the darkness. A young man with dark hair and eyes leaned over me, his back silhouetted by the green mage fire.
Kraa! Kraa! I screamed until my voice went hoarse and I could no longer cry out. My vision filled with smoke as two more hooded figures drew near and lifted the body of the dead queen off of me.
I shuddered. Once I was free, I tried to stand, but only collapsed to the ground, unable to rise. I lay there, my heart beating wildly as I waited for them to kill me.
“Is this the one you had the vision of?” the young man asked.
“Yes, Aspen, she is the key. The one whose anger burns like a never-ending fire,” a man with dark green hair said. “She’s the one who called down the mage fire and killed the innocents when the roof collapsed.”
No, I thought weakly. I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt.
“She’s the one I want. Bind her and bring her with,” the man with dark green hair ordered.
“We must hurry. The fire is spreading fast, and our way will be blocked.”
The one called Aspen leaned forward and clipped a band to my leg. As soon as the cold metal touched my clawed foot, I could feel my power drain with its spell.