CHAPTER31
Roses, of course. They bloomed across Aodhan’s chest, releasing waves of heady scent. Gold-edged petals stiffened into gleaming armor. Crystalline stems wound around his flanks, enclosing him in a living harness.
He felt their touch like Cathy’s fingertips against his skin; sweet pleasure, edged with the agony of impatience. More, he needed more. The light weight of armor settling onto his shoulders wasn’t nearly enough. He needed her there; her legs wrapped around him, her heat against his body, his heart in her hands.
The glowing vines reached upward, winding around his neck. Even caught in the ecstasy of the steed bond, Aodhan tensed.
For her. He clenched his jaw, forcing himself to stay still as tendrils quested through his mane. I can bear this. For her.
Yet the climbing roses didn’t close around his muzzle, looping into bridle and reins. They just settled around his neck like a victory garland, leaving his head still free.
“Wow,” Kevin breathed. Glimmering light reflected in the boy’s wide eyes. “Wow.”
“No,” Cathy whispered. She still had her hand on his forehead, and he could feel the terrible understanding welling in her heart. “Oh, Aodhan. No.”
Yes,said his traitor body. He shook himself, flowery armor rattling against his flanks.
“Yes,” he said curtly. He lowered himself closer to the ground, lifting his wing to allow her to mount. “We’ll talk about it later, if we live. Now for Herne’s sake, hurry!”
She lifted Kevin onto his back first, of course. Aodhan felt the boy’s slight weight settle onto his shoulders, barely noticeable. A scrabble of paws, and Noodle was up too, held fast in Kevin’s arms.
Then Cathy swung up behind her son, and it was all over. Because her thighs clasped his flanks and her hands touched his mane and he was lost, lost forever. He would carry her wherever she wished, to the stars and back, to the end of time. She was on him and in him and around him, and he would never be complete without her. Not ever again.
No need for words. Their minds locked together, fitting as closely as their bodies. He wheeled round, aiming his horn at the window. It was far too small for him to fit through, but he had his knight on his back, and nothing could ever stand in their way.
He had the knowledge; she, the raw, primal power. A shared thought, and lightning shot from his horn. The entire wall disappeared, stones and shards of glass exploding outward.
Aodhan was leaping for the gap even as Morcant’s icy blade plunged through the door. His equine vision caught a glimpse of the unseelie prince bursting into the room, the silver and gold fae marks on his brow alight with fury—and then they were out, out into the sky, the frost-covered mansion falling away.
Morcant pursued, but his owl-griffin was built for stealth rather than speed. With Cathy’s strength surging through Aodhan’s veins, it wasn’t even a contest. In a matter of minutes, the unseelie prince and his steed were just a white smudge in the distance.
Cathy crouched low to his back, shielding Kevin with her armored body, her unbound hair whipping behind her. A trail of gold-edged petals fluttered in their wake, torn from the roses twined around her brow and through his own mane and tail. No matter how many the wind plucked away, the magical flowers still bloomed fresh and perfect.
Even once Morcant had disappeared from view, Aodhan kept up his breakneck pace. Only when he was certain that they’d left the unseelie prince far behind did he allow his wingbeats to slow. Spreading his pinions, he coasted on the wind, catching his breath.
They were still a long way from his library, and safety. Some part of him wanted to keep going, to carry Cathy the whole distance on his own wings. To soar with her across the leagues, over forests and mountains; to carry her until the moon rose, and they could touch the stars.
Instead, he scanned the land below. He spotted a solitary dolmen rising from a hill; three rocks, two set into the ground, one across the top. That would do.
He spiraled down, hooves touching onto the grass. Cathy didn’t need to ask his intent, linked as they were. She was a small, still presence in his mind, curled up around her own thoughts as though trying not to take up too much space.
Kevin was shaking in his mother’s arms. He’d clung on with fierce determination throughout the wild flight, but now Aodhan could feel the boy desperately swallowing sobs, trying not to cry.
“It’s all right,” Cathy murmured to her son. “You’re safe now. We’ll be home soon.”
Cold ran through him at the words, despite the blazing power pulsing through his blood. Underneath all the shining armor, his heart contracted to a stone.
She would go home. Cathy had her son now; the only reason she’d come to this realm in the first place. Soon she would go back to her own world, and he—
He couldn’t think about that now. Clearing his mind, Aodhan placed his horn into the gap between the stones. Most magic was impossible without fingers to make the required gestures, but this was just a matter of awakening an existing enchantment. He concentrated, following a gossamer thread of his own magic back to where it was tethered.
“Motley,” he murmured, and to his relief he felt the raven shifter answer, a brush of white wings against his mind.
A moment later, the air between the stones shimmered. Motley poked his head out, as pale and disheveled as ever. He took in their radiant, rose-twined armor, not a trace of surprise in his face.
“Took you long enough,” was his only comment. He stood back, holding the door open. “Welcome home.”
Aodhan ducked through the portal, having to clamp his wings tight against his flanks to fit between the stones. The moment they were through, Motley shut the door.