Twisted Fate
Page 23
Now, more than ever, it was vital that he remained alive. Knowing the truth had changed everything. I had never really blamed him for poisoning me, for throwing me out, but now that I knew the reason, I could hardly wait for him to wake up. To talk to me. To tell me his story himself. I wanted to know the details, just like Hiss.
I needed to know the details.
But he still slept.
Hiss and all my friends from Earth were with me. They’d insisted they wanted to remain in the castle until they knew exactly what was going to happen, before they took off. I suspected they thought they were fooling me. They weren’t going to leave—that much was obvious to me by now. And they thought I would force them, and so they were buying themselves time. I let them.
We were all fed. There was a greenhouse behind the castle that I’d never seen before—and barracks, although not nearly enough to house all my army. But House Heivar was close, and we’d already gotten most of our supplies to both build more space and to sleep outside the castle, inside the Shade barriers.
The Shade was with me, too. It didn’t need to keep me warm now that it was almost summer, but it kept me company. It would protect us if the sidhe tried to break through the Gateway. Most of my army was stationed outside of the cave, and inside it, there were as many elves as the cave would fit. If those sidhe were coming, we’d be the first to know.
But nothing was done yet.
We needed a plan. We needed new weapons, new gear to protect our eyes, new armies. We needed to find the Stone of Creation before the sidhe did, and we needed to find Rezan and every one of them who was still in Gaena.
But all in due time.
“What’s taking them so long? I’m bored,” Lola said. “I want to go out exploring.”
“You’re not going exploring,” Mandar said.
“Why not?”
“You’re in a different world!”
“Exactly!”
“Not a word about this, Pumpkin. Stay put. This isn’t a joke.”
“But—”
“Your father is right,” Faceless cut her off. “This is no time for exploring. It is the time to be smart.”
She’d changed somehow. She was no longer as rigid. She no longer hesitated to participate in conversations. She’d even told Julie and Charlotte a story about soul splitting while we’d eaten breakfast. She felt more comfortable after the battle, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine why seeing all that death didn’t freak her out.
“What’s on your mind, Elo?” Hiss whispered from my lap. Until then, I’d thought he was sleeping. He hadn’t moved at all since I sat down.
“Everything,” I said, running my fingers over his scales. I was sitting at the head of the room, where Mace used to sit, because Orah thought it more appropriate. I wanted to be down on the benches with the rest of my friends, but he was right. The lords and ladies of the elf Houses that were coming liked shows of power. A stair up wasn’t much, but it was the best I had.
“You did well. You took control of the Gateway. Things will fall into place,” Hiss said.
“The sidhe are still here. We need to find them fast.”
“And you will. Remember: it takes patience. It takes time,” he said.
I sighed. I didn’t have patience. It felt like I didn’t have time at all. “At least I am home.” And that felt like a small victory.
“It’s beautiful,” Charlotte said to me from the bench across from me. Her smile was something worth fighting for, and her pink cheeks made me want to hold her in my arms and protect her, just like I’d done with Elid all my life. Neither of them needed protection, though. She’d already survived three battles with the sidhe. She was elf, through and through. “Just like you said, Elo. It’s beautiful here!”
I returned the smile, though I didn’t feel it. “Wait until you see what hides beyond this castle.”
I’d barely finished speaking when the door opened with a loud thud. Two elf soldiers rushed inside, and I stood up on instinct. Hiss spread his wings and landed on the floor next to me.
“Are they here?” I asked, but the soldiers looked terrified.
One of them shook his head. “No, my Lady. There’s a fae that demands to see you. He—”
Someone shouted outside. I had stepped away from the table and closer to the open door to see better, when an elf soldier was thrown inside the dining room, the chest plate of his armor covered in ice.
I didn’t know what to think, so I only waited. Another three elves flew up in the air and hit the floor on their backs before I saw him.
He came through the doors, dragging two elf soldiers who were trying to keep him back, his sword in his hand. The others who’d been thrown inside were already on their feet, their swords raised his way.
“Stop!” I said with half a heart, and they all did.
Mace stopped, too.
He looked at me like he couldn’t believe his own eyes. I looked at him the same way.
Mace was here. How?
He tried to step forward, but the soldiers kept holding him back.
“Let him go,” I whispered, and when they did, I realized that I might have made a mistake. The last time we’d seen each other, he’d killed me. This time, his sword was at the ready.
He stayed in place for the longest time and just watched me while I watched him. Nobody made a single sound—only my heart that was galloping in my chest. He looked so good. Even the dried blood on his skin and clothes, and the dirt, suited him. I breathed and I hurt with need to touch him.
When he started walking, I was halfway between terrified and the happiest woman in the world—until he threw his sword to the floor. It clanked against the stone, shaking me to my core, but Mace didn’t stop.
He kept moving until he was right in front of me. All I could do was watch and hope and pray.
His hands framed my face, and in his eyes I saw everything I was feeling—the fear, the desperation, the happiness. I held onto his arms, afraid I might fall if he let go of me.
Instead, he kissed me.
Everyone could see me—Orah, my friends, the elf soldiers whose lives revolved around killing fae. And I couldn’t have cared less. Let them watch. Mace’s mind was his own. Whatever his father had done, it was over. He was healed. His heart was mine, just like mine was his.
And I’d be damned if I let him go a second time.
* * *
—THE END
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Sincerely,
Dori Hoxa
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