PROLOGUE
I’M NOT A BAD MAN. Of course, I’m not a good man either. I do what I need to do to survive, and that includes making a lot of unsavory choices.
Like biting Aflora.
Ah, I was only ten then. I didn’t really understand why my father wanted me to mate her, and I always assumed we would just sever our ties when the time came. Except, she called to me with her song. And then she pulled me into a dream.
I barely recognized her, the gorgeous woman before me nothing like my childhood memories of the little Earth Fae. But her eyes gave her away.
Cerulean blue orbs blazing with my magic.
Fuck, it was a stunning sight.
I’d lost my breath, unable to speak. The next thing I knew, her tongue was doing all the talking on our behalf, her naked body pressed against mine in a sensuous kiss that I refused to deny.
Yeah, I probably should have told her the truth. But I gave her hints. I even told her I wasn’t a figment of her imagination. However, she chose to indulge in the fantasy, and who the hell was I to stop her?
She wanted to come, so I made her come. Again and again.
It wasn’t what I’d originally intended to do upon reconnecting with my long-lost mate, but I wasn’t about to say no to a naked and needy woman in my bed. Her other mates weren’t properly taking care of her, so I handled the issue with my mouth and hands, never once requesting she return the favor. I was giving like that.
But as I lay her down now on my bed, I wonder if perhaps I should have approached this differently.
There have been several opportunities to do this in an entirely different way. One of those times transpired in a Human Realm coffee shop where I met a Fortune Fae with far too much to say.
Aflora had been there, her pretty blue-black hair hanging in tantalizing waves down her back, while waiting for her date to arrive.
I’d intended to take her then.
Instead, I sent her to Shade.
He thinks I don’t know about his little dates with time. Just as he thinks he’s going to change fate by playing with my mate.
But he fails to understand how vengeance works.
So I’ll teach him again. Just as I’ll teach her.
I sigh, drawing my fingers through her soft hair. She needs so much training for the fight ahead, and rather than prepare her properly, I’d spent all our time together indulging her in bed.
“I’ll rectify that soon, little star,” I promise her, leaning down to press my lips to her forehead. She’ll wake soon. When she does, we’ll talk.
I have nothing to hide.
No remorse.
No real regrets.
Everything I’ve done is for the betterment of Midnight Fae kind. She’ll understand that soon, and then she’ll join me as queen.
My father won’t like it. He only wants the bond to be temporary, a way to protect her until she’s of age and capable of helping our cause.
But I don’t like the idea of severing our fate.
She’s mine.
My pretty little star.
We were best friends once, and we will be again.
“You’ll see,” I tell her softly, brushing my fingers down the column of her elegant throat. She’s naked again, her form the picture of perfection among my black sheets. “I can’t wait for you to wake up, little star. We’re going to have so much fun together.”
However, for now, I’ll lend her a robe.
Kindness doesn’t come naturally to me, but I’ll try for her.
To an extent, anyway.
With another sigh, I leave her on the bed and head out onto the balcony, my mind on the future ahead and what this war will require from us.
Sacrifice, certainly.
Blood as well.
Maybe even death.
We’ll know shortly. Just as soon as my little star wakes up. Then our journey together will begin… again.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, SHE DISAPPEARED?” my father demanded, his golden irises on an unrepentant Shade.
>
A similar question swirled through my thoughts as I sat in my chair at the Council table. Where did you take her? I wanted to ask him. But, of course, I couldn’t. I had to feign nonchalance and act like none of this bothered me.
Not Emelyn’s little episode in Warrior Magic class.
Or the fact that Aflora had then disappeared into some paradigm with my soon-to-be former betrothed.
Or the aftermath of that paradigm being brought to the ground by a horde of Warrior Bloods, and Aflora vanishing with Shade at her side.
I couldn’t reach out to her because we weren’t bonded on that level yet.
I couldn’t talk to Zeph because he’d been knocked out by the magic.
And I couldn’t ask Shade any questions because the entire Council sat in a circle around us.
It took every ounce of strength I possessed not to react.