Celine opened her portal next to Dagan, who was sitting on his castle wall, gazing out at the ocean. She glimpsed him through the portal before she stumbled out of it, covered in her own blood and as dizzy as if she’d been running in a circle. He instantly leapt to his feet, his eyebrows raised to his hairline.
“Celine!” he cried out.
The portal closed, and she stumbled into his arms like he was the one Fata who could fix anything. Dagan didn’t panic; he acted. Celine could barely stand upright, so he sat down and pulled her gently to him. He put one hand on her hand that had a stab wound right through it. If it weren’t for his magic, the wound would have caused serious permanent damage.
Celine closed her eyes and rested her head against him as he trailed his fingers from her chest, between her breasts and down her stomach – where the cut from the knife was. Dagan’s touch was as soft as an angel’s wings, and the wound tingled as it closed and healed. Celine’s heart beat a little faster, and she felt dizzy at his touch. It must be due to the loss of blood.
Dagan stroked all over her until every scratch and bruise was gone. Celine didn’t move out of his arms. He hadn’t given her any blood as she hadn’t burnt out and did not need magic. How had she not burnt out? Was she growing stronger?
Celine closed her eyes for a moment and pressed her head against his shoulder. A warm ocean breeze played with her hair, and she listened to the waves crash and break. For a moment, she just froze there and wished that time would stand still. It felt as if she had never hurt Dagan, and as if he was the one Fata who would always be there.
But then the questions began, and she was pulled into sudden epiphany.
“Who did this?” Dagan growled. If someone hurt Dagan, he saw it as a game. He would take his time, calculate, and make good moves to win the game. If someone hurt Celine, it sparked a boiling rage inside him, and he would want nothing more than to make that someone suffer. She loved having him care this much about her.
“The Elf Prince Basil,” Celine confessed. There was no point in hiding that she had gone to Moon World and had left Dagan behind. The truth must come out sooner rather than later.
“You went to Moon World.” The unspoken words, without me, hung between them like deadly gas. Dagan was not a needy faerie, and she had never heard him whine before, but leaving him behind had clearly hurt, even if he would not admit it.
“There was only one way to beat the Elf Prince in a fight,” she said. “It was risky, and you would never have let me do it.”
“So, you decided shutting me out is the answer,” Dagan growled and moved away from her.
“I’m letting you in now.” She reached for him.
He pulled away as if her hand was a venomous snake. It would take him time to forgive her – if he ever did.
“I am sorry,” she said, “but at least the plan worked.”
“You nearly died.”
“But I got an audience with the king,” she said.
“When?”
“Whenever I return.” A moment of silence followed. She had made Dagan feel excluded, unneeded, and unimportant. But she could change all those feelings if he’d just let her. “I would like you to join me.”
“What for?” Dagan asked bitterly. “To heal your wounds and do all the cleaning up?”
Celine rose, suddenly irritated by his pettiness. He was a rational adult. Surely, he must understand that she liked doing things alone, like he did. “If you don’t want to come, don’t come.”
“You better take me with.” The threat in his voice was undeniable. Then he mumbled, “I should never have given you so much freedom.”
Those words made her turn all her attention on him. She tried not to become too emotional and lose her temper since he had undoubtedly said it to piss her off. It was working. “I am not your slave.”
“You’re human,” he said. “You could be.”
Celine slapped him hard across the face. He had overstepped an invisible line they both knew existed. Humans and slaves were a sensitive topic. Dagan had tricked her and never freed his slaves. He knew how much she hated it.
Dagan bared his teeth in a snarl, and for a moment she wondered if he would attack her. If she were a faerie, he would not have hesitated. Male and female faeries often had physical altercations. It wouldn’t be frowned upon if a male were to slap his female and vice versa.
Dagan didn’t slap her. He just looked at her with those emerald-green eyes, and for once she could see through him. She had hurt him. Her words had hurt him. How could they not?
I could never love you.
It was because of his pain that he was lashing out. His emotions had intensified as soon as he began to form a bond with Celine. They were connected, and it was incredible, intense, and terrifying. Dagan turned to walk away but Celine stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him. It was such a human thing to do. Dagan clearly didn’t know how to react, and he let his arms hang awkwardly by his sides.
“I’m sorry, Dagan,” she said. “I’m sorry for what I said, and I am sorry for leaving you behind.”
“I understand why you said what you said.”
I could never love you.
But he didn’t understand. He thought she had said it because it was true, because he was unlovable. She had said it because she wanted to push him away before she hurt him too much.
“No, you don’t.” She angled her head up so that she could look at him.
The familiar desire filled her, and she knew it was wrong. She could not jump between two territorial Fata males. Dagan and Caynin would rip each other apart.
But she could not help herself. There was something about him that intrigued her. He was intimidating enough to keep everything thrilling.
She stood on her toes and slowly pressed her lips against his. Dagan finally wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. Their bodies pressed together as if they were one, and their breathing got louder. When Dagan ended the kiss, they were both panting.
“I didn’t expect you to do that.” His eyes were lighter, happier.
“That’s what makes it so much fun.” She winked.
They smiled at each other, but there were more pressing matters than their romantic lives. Celine stepped away from Dagan, as he wouldn’t like what she was going to say next.
“I am going to take Caynin with us to Moon World,” she stated.
Dagan observed her with an unreadable expression.
“He has as much right as us to go with. Besides, the Prenumbras are in his kingdom.”
They regarded each other, and it felt like this kiss had never happened. Dagan’s tense body made Celine put up her guard.
“Say something,” she pressed.
“What’s the point? You’ll never do what I say anyway.”
She managed a grin. “We should eat something and then we leave.”
Dagan slowly followed her to the kitchen, where each of them ate pasta. Celine was glad Tybalt hadn’t eaten anything yet. By the time they had finished, Celine felt energetic and ready for anything. Dagan’s magic had replenished her. She was finally getting somewhere and doing something right. Celine and Dagan both got their swords and daggers.
She easily opened a portal to the throne room in the Everwhite Kingdom. Dagan took a moment to study her before stepping into the portal. Once they were in the throne room, a guard welcomed them and then went to inform Prince Caynin of their arrival.
Celine and Dagan did not wait long before Caynin, followed by Rane, entered the throne room. If it were a meeting with anyone else, Caynin would have gone right to the throne. But now he approached Celine and offered her a chill, grudging gaze.
The last time she had seen him was when he had dragged the corpses from her family’s house. She had closed the portal, thereby preventing him from returning. She’d been focused on her family in that moment, and not on him. He had helped her as much as he could have, and there hadn’t been any need to keep him in the human lands. Was he angry because she hadn’t let him comfort her, or because he felt excluded?
“I didn’t expect to see you,” Caynin said coldly, his eyes fixed on her, as if Dagan was not present.
Celine was not going to apologize. He didn’t have to like or agree with every decision she made. “I have come to ask you to join me in Moon World to ask the Elf King for more swords that can kill Prenumbras.”
“Before anyone speaks with the king, they have to beat the prince in single combat,” Rane said.
Celine’s grin was wide. “I already did.”
Caynin and Rane stared at her as if waiting for her to tell them she was joking. Dagan sighed dramatically.
“You’re not joking,” Rane realized.
“How did you do it?” Caynin was not able to keep the astonishment out of his voice.
A powerful Enerly couldn’t beat an Elf, yet Celine, a human, had. How had Caynin ever been stupid enough to think her weak? How had he thought she needed protection?
“It’s a long story,” Celine said humbly.
“That ended with her returning to me covered in blood,” Dagan said bitterly. Maybe he thought that if he had been there, she would not have been hurt.
Celine said, “I don’t want to waste any time. I assume it will take some time to convince the Elf King to help us, and it will take time to make the weapons.”
“Then we should go.” Rane had evidently invited himself along, and Celine did not mind. Caynin was healthy again, which made her wonder how he had explained that to Rane – who would most certainly have asked what had changed. Rane hadn’t come with them to save her from Severin, and she assumed that was not by choice. Rane had taken a sword in the shoulder for her, and he would have helped her again. Caynin must have left him behind, and Celine couldn’t help but wonder why.
“Get your weapons,” Celine said.
Caynin and Rane did so, and although they were not intending to fight it was good to be prepared. They were going to a world where they were not welcome.
“I have not been to the throne room,” Celine confessed. “Usually, I can only open portals to places where I have been or if I have a picture and know what it looks like.”
But Severin had used her power to open a portal between two worlds. If he could do that, she could, too.
“You’ve grown a lot with your power,” Dagan said. “Just focus really hard, and you can make your magic do whatever you want. You are in control.”
Celine closed her eyes and felt her magic. It was there, deep inside her. It was a living thing, and it was a part of her. She could move it as if it were an arm or a leg. Without pushing or overthinking, she could open portals. It happened naturally.
Celine opened her eyes to see the portal she had just opened. She knew it would take her to the throne room in Moon World.
Celine stepped through the portal first, and her companions followed.