feeling safe, protected. Like I want to stay there forever, and lay down the burden of queen, if only for thirty seconds.
“When I saw you just sitting there on Cerberus, with all those swords…” he begins in a whisper, but then, he grits his teeth and doesn’t continue.
I pull his head down and kiss him, shutting the words out. His lips are soft, warm, and so very much Torak. I close my eyes and just breathe in his scent, and part of me feels so complete. The moment is over too soon with so much still left to do. I pull back and look up into his eyes and we share a silent conversation. Later. Later when everything relaxes and calms down, I’ll be in his bed.
He lets me go reluctantly, sliding his hands over my hips in a promise of more to come.
But I no more step away when I’m caught in yet another embrace, just as strong as the first two. It’s Mirk’s silver eyes I’m looking up into now. They’re narrowed into slits.
“That’s not a sight I’ll care to ever see again,” he whispers.
“You saw me, didn’t you? On the roof? I—”
He cuts me off with a kiss, all heat and spice, a kiss that draws me away from the crowd, of what I need to do, and sweeps me into a whirl of sensations. It’s like his lips are charged with an energy that burns to my soul, branding me as his match. I kiss him back with a hunger I can’t control. I need him. All of him.
His tongue slides over mine, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. When he pulls away to look at me, there’s lust in his silver eyes. I smile and return the look.
With a deep chuckle, he drops his lips to my ear and sucks the lobe into his mouth. After giving it a little nip, he whispers, “Oh, you’re not ready for me yet.”
I roll my eyes as his hands fall away from me.
Around me, my people are rounding up Clay’s men under Hailey’s orders. Cerberus is standing guard as Nefeli circles above, keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings.
“How did you do that?” Ladron asks, stepping into view. His gaze is locked on the ground where a pile of ore glitters in the torchlight.
“I didn’t,” I say truthfully.
He cocks his eyebrow in confusion and I laugh, the truth of what happened finally starting to sink in. We did it. We freed ourselves from Clay’s control. I grin and spread my arms wide in an encompassing gesture. “My people did it, Ladron.”
“They’re not the ones I saw facing that line of swords.”
“It’s the people and the land, that’s how this intention works,” I explain. “When they finally started believing in me again as their queen, the land listened. The land follows the intention of the ruler, but it judges who is the ruler by listening to the hearts of the people who live here, who they believe rules over them.” I give a sheepish grin and then reach up to pet Cerb’s shoulder. He played a huge part in showing my people I could be a fearless leader. “I just had to show everyone I’m worthy. I had to get them believing in me again.”
“Well done,” Hailey says as she joins us. She cocks a brow at the glittering ore at our feet. “Never have I been so glad to see days of labor go wasted.” She looks at me, face somber. “You must know Lily, I would have never forged the weapons if Clay hadn’t—”
“I know,” I say, putting my hand on her shoulder. “You did what you had to in order to protect the people.”
“Could have forged a weakness into those chains though,” Mirk says, rubbing his wrists. “Just a thought.”
Hailey shakes her head, then twists her lip in a wry smile as Cora steps out of the crowd, her freckled face beaming.
“My lady, I’m so happy to see you safe,” Cora says, grabbing my hands. “I’ve been so worried. You just vanished that dreadful night. I feared the worst.”
Her words draw me momentarily back to the turmoil, to Ladron’s confession, to images of the gods dying. But it’s all over now. I squeeze her hands and focus on the future.
“Yes, I’m back, and it’s off to the palace now. We’ve got to put everything to rights.” I read the expressions on the faces around me, and I don’t say what we’re all thinking: we’ve