I’ll distract him, Kols told me. Take Aflora.
The agitation pouring off Zeph suggested he wanted to soothe Aflora but in a violent way. He needed to console himself as well, to know he hadn’t actually hurt her. However, the anger he felt at himself for hurting her would end up translating to aggressive sex.
And that wasn’t what she needed right now.
Aflora deserved some tenderness after the last few days of roughness. Yes, this all helped prepare her to face the inevitable, and Constantine wouldn’t go easy on her. But having her mates grounded her and gave her an advantage that the Elder would never understand.
Therefore she needed both harshness and love.
Zeph and Zakkai could focus on the former as they excelled in combat.
Meanwhile, Kols and I would offer her the emotional support she required to truly flourish.
Zeph stepped toward Aflora, his expression lined with intent. Kols moved between them and I shadowed to Aflora’s side. Zakkai caught my gaze and gave a slight nod, aware of my intention. Then I wrapped her in a cloak of darkness and took her to our meadow.
She trembled against me, her head finding my shoulder as she silently cried in frustration. I held her, my hands roaming over her tattered tank top and offering her my touch and support.
You’re magnificent, little rose, I told her.
There’s so much violence, she replied, shuddering.
Her tears weren’t a sign of weakness or her being sad. They were about her difficulty in accepting the darkness of being a Midnight Fae. Her heart was all light and joy and sweet elements. This world that she’d fallen into blackened her soul, and only the strongest of fae could accept such a thing.
But even the strongest of fae needed a soft moment to reflect.
I pulled Aflora with me to the ground, her petite frame curling into my lap on instinct. Then I held her beneath the shade of the tree until the sun began to rise over our meadow. We didn’t speak. We just basked in her earth, her life, her desire to create.
As the heat touched her skin, she lifted her head on a sigh and admired the rising sun. She knew it wasn’t real, that the paradigm manufactured it, but that didn’t stop her contentment from flowing through our bond.
“Can we stay here today?” she asked softly. “To sleep, I mean.”
“We can do whatever you want, little rose,” I promised her.
Her lips curled a little. Then she began to fashion a bed of flowers, the petals soft and colorful and filled with her strength.
I watched as she worked, content to lean against the trunk.
Sometimes Aflora just needed a day to play. And I gave her that, allowing her to flourish in her Earth Magic and giving her a chance to reinvigorate her soul.
Floral scents surrounded us, her element in full effect as she gave herself over to her Earth Fae heart.
Then she sprawled out on her bed, lost the tie in her hair, and allowed the strands to flow over the ground in cerulean and black waves.
I smiled, admiring the sight of her all content and warm and happy.
“Join me,” she whispered.
I replied by pushing away from my tree and crawling to her. She grinned when I reached her side, then she wrapped her palm around the back of my neck to gently guide me toward her for a kiss.
We remained like that for hours, just letting our mouths do all the talking.
No sex.
No physical need.
Just a moment for our souls to heal, to love, to indulge in each other.
I told her with my mind how much I adored her. How much I respected her. How proud I was of her for embracing this new path.
And she told me how thankful she was to have me as her mate. How she forgave all my secrets. How she wanted to live a lifetime together to heal all the previous ones I’d endured.
It was an intense, beautiful moment, one that left both of us replete in an entirely different way than ever before.
As the sun reached high noon, she snuggled into my chest.
And together we slept on the mound of flowers she’d built, the sky providing a natural blanket of heat that allowed us to dream.
Although, as I closed my eyes, I lost myself to a vision where the darkness of my world threatened to engulf Aflora whole, dismantling her light.
Something’s coming, I thought, asleep yet very much awake. A new trial is brewing. And this one will bring death.