He bent his head before anyone else could speak, taking her lips in a sweet kiss. He then rested his forehead against hers, almost like he said thank you without words. Then he straightened and held her hands loosely, waiting for the service that would make him her husband.
The words were lost on her, the feel of cloth binding their hands more an annoyance than a meaningful moment. She just looked at him, spoke when required, and waited for it to be done.
And then it was. He turned and grinned and waved at the cheering crowd and she forced a smile, copying him.
They served food. Dancers and singers entertained the royal table, blocking off her view of anything she wanted to see. Emily wanted to see if either of her sisters was in attendance. She wanted to see if she could recognize any faces.
She waited, enjoying one dance with her new husband before they shuffled her off to her rooms, escorted by a maid. He hid something from her and it tore him apart.
Once in the room, she called Sparkles. She wouldn’t wait for her groom to make it to their rooms. Emily wanted her memory back and she wanted it now.
Magic was the key. Stealing a book from the shelf in Kayden’s room, she leapt to the back of her dragon. A slight drop as Sparkles aligned herself and then the rush of wind as she clung to the almost reptilian feel of the beast and the night sped past her. She needed to be alone, she needed to research and she needed to find herself.
And if her new husband needed her, she’d find the lost bits of herself so she could help.
****
“Emily?” Striding into his rooms, Kayden smiled because the help had only lit half the candles. Roses, white blooms edged in the purest gold, littered the room, their fragrant scent exploding in the small space. He might not have gotten to romance his new bride, but the palace staff had ensured he could take that time now.
Awaiting her answer, he stripped out of the uncomfortable shirt. His body temperature always ran a bit high, and in a warm kingdom he didn’t like to be clothed in restricting shirts. Dropping the shirt, he circled the room, expecting that Emily perhaps had freshened up from the ceremony.
When she neither answered him nor responded, he peeked into the washroom, hoping not to annoy her with his interruption of her privacy.
She wasn’t there.
He turned and noticed the mirror glowed, giving him a view of another room. A glance showed him Emily, sprawled on a bed and waiting.
Stepping through the glass, Kayden opened his mouth to ask her what she was doing…
****
The glade was quiet, so much quieter than the world she was used to. Finding the right spell, she set about preparing her mind, preparing her space, and focusing her power.
The ingredients were simple. Lock of her hair, drop of her blood, bound in paper—a simple spell from the book she’d swiped from his bookshelf. With that done, she lit a fire, chanted the words that should free her and dropped the glowing paper packet onto the flames. A spiral of light twirled out of the fire, like smoke but so much brighter, and danced on the air like some tiny tornado. When the spiral reached her, it spread, becoming like a fog that enveloped her.
She waited.
And then it all came in a burst so bright and fast she fell to her knees.
She grew up here. In a castle on the South Seas where gulls wheeled in the sky and the aroma of salt and fish smelled richer than the cool smell of trees and ocean of Zenith. Her mother, so perfect and strong, but never liking her.
Her mother hated her.
Knowing this, she’d stayed to herself, often hiding. She hid under tables, behind curtains, in shadows. A childhood of hiding, pretending not to be there, and overhearing things no child should know.
They planned to kill her. To kill Kayden.
They poisoned the king.
Clutching her throat, Emily blinked back tears. That was why the king was sick. Her sister poisoned him, his illness lining up almost perfectly with her increased presence in the palace before her wedding. The child Emily and the adult, memories now united, realized this and she choked on her sorrow.
She might be too late to save him. Kayden—she’d never met him before. Not before the dreams in the other world.
The other world—remembering it and Daphne, she could now also remember the child Daphne once was. Daphne wasn’t the hated child, not like Emily. She also wasn’t the one they cherished, not like Narcissa.
Narcissa…the thought of her brought up bile in her throat. She hated Narcissa. Narcissa, who cut off her braids when they were children … Narcissa, who’d plotted against her with their mother. Narcissa, who was now back in the palace plotting who knew what.
But Daphne hid with her sometimes. Daphne was the ignored one and she sometimes could find Emily where she hid. They would play games with a tied piece of rope, their childish fingers moving fast in the darkness as they hummed.
She remembered it all.
She remembered the spell catching her, even though she tried to run from it. Like a great white mist that rose up out of the box that she’d gotten as a gift from, it said, her future husband, Kayden. She’d stumbled on the stairs and the mist caught her, spun her…
And then, darkness.
She was a teenager. She was alone. She had been alone for so damned long.
She got the job at the library. She loved the books, and Cress…
Fuck, how had she not seen through that pathetic old woman bullshit? Cress was her mother, the disguise she’d used before. Her grandmother, dead when she was still a child, hadn’t been in the other world—Cress, Mother—she had been there. Watching. Waiting.
Fuck, she had their blood…
Terror dropped her back to her knees. What kind of spell could they cast with that bond to strengthen it?
Kayden.
Emily remembered her first dream of him. She closed her eyes and just wished she wasn’t alone. She’d appeared in a ring, a horse rearing up in fear at her appearance, hooves so close and she knew she was about to die. And Kayden swept her into his arms, pulling her out of the way in the nick of time. Tumbling to the ground with her and holding her so close. She’d met his eyes and known, somewhere deep inside, that she’d never be alone again, not so long as he drew a breath.
Chasing adventures, lying close together under a blanket of stars and a moon that hung far closer than the one of the daylight hours, whispering secrets and laughing.
Kayden.
Always her friend. Always her partner. Always her secret love.
Suddenly, Emily hated his brother. He kept them apart when they should have had a thousand of those moments, sun shining on their backs. They’d had so much stolen from them.
The wedding. She was his wife now, his bride. Together, they really were destined to save this place, her home. They needed to talk. She could tell him things, all sorts of things he never knew about the South Seas court and their plans.
She needed to get to him, now.
Tugging herself up on Sparkles’ back, Emily steered the dragon to face the castle, large wings beating on the air as if Sparkles understood the urgency.
She had a kingdom to save and she could do this.
She was born to do this.
Chapter Sixteen
“Don’t speak.” Emily’s whispered words and the finger she placed on his lips silenced him and Kayden snapped his mouth closed. Something about this didn’t feel right. She moved to his side, the scent of her rich and tempting in the darkness. “Kayden.”
As she touched his face, the soft tips of her fingers resonated with his soul. He closed his eyes, leaning into her touch, and found her lips raised to meet his. The kiss was jagged, unfamiliar, but tasted of her. He waited for his blood to ignite with the fire just the sight of her caused.
Emily stepped back, gesturing he follow, and the robe she wore slid off her arms to pool at her feet with a soft rustle of fabric. Her generous curves, all tasty enough for him to want to nibble, to capture her and plunge deep i
nto her waiting warmth, enchanted him.
But her hands, tracing up her sides to capture her own breasts, didn’t make his cock stiffen as he expected it would. He stopped following her to shake his head. The shake left the room spinning dizzily and he couldn’t quite figure out what was wrong.
He was with his bride, it was their wedding night and he wanted nothing more than to claim her. To bond with her and become one. But something wasn’t right. She moved close again, the brush of her breasts against his chest feeling almost too pointy. Her hips, under his hands, almost too small. Breakable.
Closing his eyes to control the dizziness, he again captured her mouth. He tried to drown in her taste, tried to lose himself for a moment in the bond they shared.
In the bond he wanted to complete tonight.
It felt so very wrong. Bile rose in his throat.
Kayden backed away, pressing his hands to his eyes. What was wrong with him?
He blinked and tried to make sense of it, but dizziness left him catching his balance on the cold stone of the wall. The icy chill of it calmed him some. He reached out, calling her.
Emily.
I’m coming.
Her voice, clear and like a brilliant light in his mind, washed away the rest of the sickness churning in his belly.
He turned and blinked rapidly, looking at her. The shape of her shifted, just a little. He rubbed his eyes again and he could see, clearly, a naked and smiling Narcissa.
“What the hell?” The image blurred, becoming Emily again. He pressed both hands to the wall, trying to pull that voice in his head to him.
Emily?
What? Are you actually talking in my head? This is weird.
The essence of her, in that voice. And the person in the room with him snapped into clarity. Narcissa. “Kayden?” she whispered, reaching for him.
He spun away from her, heading for the mirror.
“The magic between you is very strong.” Narcissa sounded disappointed and he swallowed hard at the acid still in his throat.
“A spell? You cast a spell?”
“Should have worked, too. Blood magic is strong magic. Perhaps your princess will be more receptive.”
He pounded on the glass, but could only see his room and not enter it.
Sparkles landed on the wall outside the bedchamber, her long reptilian neck twining into the room and depositing a windblown Emily. She spun, looking for him, her gaze not resting on the mirror.
And then Kalli entered the room. Kayden pounded harder on the glass, but she couldn’t hear him, couldn’t see him, instead rushing into his brother’s arms.
****
Emily ran to him, leaping into his arms. “I remember! Kayden, I remember it all.”
Kayden didn’t answer, instead closing his lips over hers, demanding a response. The silent force of it stunned her. She tried to relax into his arms, but his hands were groping, tugging at her clothes.
“Kayden?” she attempted to back up, get some space, but he pulled her closer.
“You’re such a round thing, such plump breasts, that round ass. Would you like me to spank that pale moon until it glows, princess?” The words, so graphic, chilled her. Kayden’s lips formed them, Kayden’s smell surrounded her, but the words weren’t something she expected from him.
“Let me go.” She demanded it, glaring at him. “You’ve been acting weird today.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m finally getting what I want, princess. With you by my side, the kingdom is mine.” He palmed one of her breasts, tugging hard on the nipple through her shirt and she tried, again, to spin away from him. This time he allowed it, using her momentum to bend her backwards and press his dick against her ass.
“Do you want me to fuck you like the bitch in heat you are, princess?”
Just moments earlier, she would have sworn she heard his voice in her head, calling to her. Now, she would give anything to be able to get away from him.
Kayden, why are you doing this?
The mirror. His voice answered her and she looked up at the glass from her position, pushed down so he could rub her ass against his cock.
And she saw Kayden, Narcissa in his arms, kissing her with a lost look on his face.
The image shifted, like a movie on fast forward, and she saw the reflection of him behind her, face twisted in lust.
But it wasn’t his face.
Kallicrates.
The motherfucker who cast the spell, robbing me of memories, and sending me far away from my prince.
Power rippled inside her, deadly power, strength she never knew she possessed and instead of trying to free herself of his grip on her hips, she clutched his hands and let the power free. It zinged out of her, tinting the air blue, and Kalli flew into the door, landing with a thud and a gasp.
She turned to face him, hands glowing azure, igniting the room in deadly fire. “Where is my husband?”
As if her words removed cotton from her ears, she could hear a pounding. At first, she thought it was her heartbeat, so loud she could actually hear it, and then she realized the sound came from the mirror. Rushing to the glass, she pressed a hand to it. Again, it rippled, and this time, the image of her husband appeared.
“Kayden,” she whispered. Catching his hand, she pulled him into the room.
As one, they spun to face off with Kalli, who … wasn’t there…?
“What in the hell is going on?” she whispered.
Kayden closed his arms around her. “I don’t know. I was here, you were here, but then it was Narcissa.”
“You kissed her?” She smacked his chest.
“I thought it was you.”
His simple words rang with honesty. She felt his chest under hand, solid and warm.
“We need to talk.” She shook her head. Was all of it a hallucination or a spell?
“Yes, I’m sorry. We need to talk.”
“You rushed me into marriage. I only just got my memory back. You haven’t told me what’s going on, or—”
He cut her words off with a touch. “Emily.”
She looked at him. He looked so damn tired. Everything else could wait. “We should sleep first.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to sleep. I want to hold you.”
She took his hand, leading him to the bed. Stripping first him, then herself, she pushed him onto the mattress and joined him. “First sleep. Then talk.” Exhaustion from the spell she’d cast washed over her, as if bidden by her words.
“I’m not sure I can sleep and not want you,” he said but his words were interrupted by a jaw-popping yawn.
“Hold me, and we’ll see.” She smiled, feeling him warm and safe against her.
She had demons to fight and needed his help. But neither would be useful if they were so exhausted they were having hallucinations.
She stared at the mirror as his breathing became even, waiting, half expecting to see her sister appear in the glass.
****
“Your spell worked no better than mine. Blood magic…it would work, you said. All we managed to do was fumble around and accomplish nothing.” Kalli held her by her throat against the wall. She refused to struggle, refused to give into the fear that choked her as surely as his hand.
“That was step one. They don’t even realize what happened. The magic did blur the images, confusing them. I need more time…”
Kalli let her drop to the floor, the stone hard when her knees and hands made contact. She gasped for air and fought not to cry out in pain.
“We don’t have time, Narcissa. We have to destroy them before father dies. The healers say there isn’t much time and their magic gets stronger by the moment. I—”
Standing, she caught him with her magic, slamming him into the wall. The spear that hung there, a decorative thing, now punctured his lung. She watched her husband wriggle, until he choked on blood.
“You don’t have much time, Kalli. You dare lay a hand on me? Your family has betrayed mine time and again,
not understanding the power we held. I will take the throne from your ignorant hands.”
Kalli feebly tried to get off the spear, to free himself, even as he coughed out more blood. He opened his mouth as if to speak and still more blood bubbled out.
She turned away from him, calmly moving to the mirror. A touch, and she looked into the prince’s bedchamber where her slut of a sister curled peacefully in the arms of her handsome prince. “I’ve put up with your insanity long enough, husband. You were useful, for a time. We had good times but, I must say, those times are gone.”
Allowing the surface to again show her own reflection, Narcissa touched a fingertip to the bruising he’d caused. Just that touch, glowing red, and she wiped away the marks.
Her hair, though, was another matter. Picking up the brush, she began to remove the tangles caused by being held against the wall. “I let you think you were in control, which is my own fault, but those days are gone.”
His sputtering slowed, so she cast a glance his way. He lifted a hand to her, a plea or a curse, hard to say which. “I killed your father. He’s been slow to die. I’ve killed you, Kalli. I think I should have made it clear by now that nothing will stand between me and the throne.”
Thinking of her sister, Narcissa glanced back at the mirror and shook her head in regret. Poor princess. She wouldn’t know what hit her.
“Nothing.”
Chapter Seventeen
Kayden gasped awake. His hand clenched at the sheet, searching for a sword that wasn’t there. The adrenaline calmed as he took in his bedroom, the early morning light just slanting to paint the silvers with pinks and purples, coming through his window.
He’d slept the whole night. Uninterrupted. The sheer novelty of the idea amused him. With his nighttime love and the stresses of his responsibility, he’d not slept for that many hours at once in a very long time.
Probably years.
The difference lay in his arms. She was here. Not fading with the glittering rays of daylight, but warm, soft, and breathing slow. He knew dreams still cloaked her. Her hair, always a fascination for him, lay in its fat gypsy curls, framing the pale oval of her face. Dark lashes rested on cheeks pink from sleep and her Cupid’s bow mouth slightly parted as she inhaled.
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