Kira turned her face toward him then, her eyes opening with such a fierce look of sadness that Drake found he couldn’t look away. What passed between the two of them then was unspoken, indescribable. Without even thinking, Drake found himself leaning forward, raising a hand to her cheek as he pressed his lips against hers. In the moment his eyes closed, he saw hers fluttering closed too. Even with his eyes closed, he didn’t miss the blue spark of electricity that passed between them. It sizzled against his lips, causing him to stiffen with shock.
It was only the sound of someone clearing their throat behind Drake that caused them both to suddenly jump apart. An agitated Rudy let out an aggressive groan and pounced from Kira’s lap as Drake and Kira looked around guiltily at a frustrated Menion, who stood with his hands on his hips and his brow furrowed.
“Blake told me to come back and fetch you two,” he grumbled at them, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “We found a better place to stay for the night.”
It turned out the better place to stay was a large cave where, as luck would have it, Menion and Blake had managed to find some dry wood to start a fire. It was already burning brightly, casting long shadows against the walls of the cave, when Drake and Menion guided Kira inside, each holding one of her hands to help her navigate the ice and snow outside. Kicking snow and mud from their boots at the entrance, they all stopped to gaze around for a moment, marveling at the natural wonder of the place.
Blake was already crouched beside the fire, pulling supplies from his pack. The way his jaw was moving suggested he’d already shoved a piece of rabbit jerky into his mouth and was chewing it like a mad man to try and get it down. Drake half expected Menion to let Blake in on what he’d witnessed out on the mountainside, but the prince was silent as he released Kira’s hand and wandered over to join the king beside the fire.
It turned out Menion need not have said anything. The moment Kira and Drake joined the two of them, sitting down opposite them to warm their hands over the flames, Blake asked, “What’s going on between the two of you?”
He glared, first at Drake, before turning his full attention to Kira with a raised eyebrow. Drake cursed himself, knowing he should’ve guessed his brother would be able to sense there was something going on. Yet even as Drake watched his brother, he could sense something similar from him. The way he looked at the oracle, the tension coming off him in waves, was fueled by desire.
“I thought we all agreed to keep our hands to ourselves?” Blake added when neither of them said anything.
“We never said anything about our lips,” Menion grumbled, almost as if he hadn’t actually meant for anyone to hear. Blake threw the prince a glance before looking expectantly at Kira and Drake once more.
“It was just a kiss.” Drake shrugged his shoulders, but even as he said the words, he realized they were a lie. That kiss had felt more real to him than any he’d ever felt before. Nor could he forget the brilliant blue spark that’d passed between them. He’d heard tales of it before, of the blue sparked kiss of fated mates, but he’d never believed it. And how could he believe it now? He’d kissed Kira in a heated moment of emotion, feeling that she’d needed to be touched, needed to be kissed. It should’ve been a fleeting moment, born from the desire to help the oracle ease her feeling of loneliness, and yet now it was all he could think about.
“Drake, since when do you start the party without me?” Blake demanded, and before anyone could question what he meant, he’d crawled around the edge of the fire to sit on the other side of Kira. The jealousy was obvious in his tone. Both Drake and Menion watched with open mouthed shock as Blake took Kira’s face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers.
What the hell? Drake’s breath caught in his throat as he imagined what his brother must be feeling the moment the blue spark erupted between them. Blake and Kira pulled away from each other, their eyes widening in shock. Then Kira turned to look at Drake as if she were thinking exactly what he was. What in hell’s name just happened?
“W…what was that?” Blake asked as Menion jumped to his feet and yelled, “That can’t be!”
Kira and Drake continued to stare at each other, unable to speak.
“That’s impossible!” Menion continued breathlessly, gaping at the three of them in astonishment, “You can’t both be her fated mate.”
Blake’s gaze, which had fallen lustfully on Kira, suddenly snapped to Drake, and he glared at his brother with obvious confusion.
“What’s he talking about?” the white haired brother demanded.
“We…We shared the same spark,” Kira whispered in a husky voice filled with disbelief.
Blake’s eyes darkened further, and Drake became fearful his brother might suddenly turn on him. Then the Winter King shrugged his shoulders, and his face began to soften as he laughed. “We are twins. We share everything. I suppose it makes sense.”
Drake was just beginning to relax, seeing the reasoning in his brother’s words, when Kira suddenly gasped so loudly, it forced all three of the fae men to look at her instantly. Drake cringed as she grabbed hold of his hand, her fingernails digging so deeply into his flesh, he was sure she would leave bruises. She also reached for Blake at the same time, and in an instant, they were the only thing holding her up as she collapsed backwards.
“What is wrong with her?” Blake gasped, his voice trembling with concern even as Drake looked at the oracle’s face and saw that, although her eyes were open, they’d grown completely white, staring up at the ceiling.
“She’s having a vision,” Menion announced, coming around the fire to kneel beneath her. Feeling that Menion knew much more about the subject than he did, Drake allowed Kira to gently fall back against the large fae’s lap. Blake appeared to have had the same idea, and Menion pulled her up into his arms, cradling her and whispering gently into her ear as if he were comforting a small infant.
The seconds seemed to pass into minutes, and Drake began to worry that the oracle might never awaken. She hung limply in Menion’s arms, seemingly lifeless. When she gasped once more, her body sparking with movement, she sat bolt upright in Menion’s lap, and the fae prince seemed to be having a hard time restraining her.
“Kira, it’s alright, you’re safe,” he said in an attempt to comfort her as she glared around the cave, looking like she was ready to fight or fly from them. As if his words reached some deeper, more understanding part of her, she let out a deep sigh and rested back against his chest.
“What was it? What did you see?” Blake asked when all had been quiet for several moments. Drake glanced at his brother, offering him a warning look. It was clear from the growing circles under the woman’s eyes that her vision had taken what was left of her energy, and she barely seemed to have the strength to open her eyes.
“Menion?” she whimpered softly, and the fae prince visibly tightened his grip around her.
“I’m here,” he said, his voice a promise that he would always be there.
Without saying another word, Kira reached up with shaking hands to cup the prince’s face. Drake and Blake watched with a mixture of awe and horror as she leaned in and pressed her lips firmly to Menion’s. Just as it had with each of them, the blue spark flashed between them before disappearing once more into nothingness.
“That is what my vision showed me,” Kira breathed the words even as she melted back into Menion’s arms. “The three of you belong with me.”
Those were the last words the oracle uttered before her eyes fluttered closed, and the change in her breathing suggested exhaustion had finally tipped her over the edge into sleep.