Ever
Pink light falls on Lara’s cheek, her skin a succulent peach color I yearn to sink my teeth into. Instead of biting her, I heave myself out of bed, scuttling books and furniture from my path with fast flicks of my fingers as I walk toward the bathing chamber. This morning, my magic is weak.
Leaning over the stone basin, I study my eyes in the mirror, flecks of blue flashing in silver. I look tired. Peaceful. Happy.
Lara.
How can I keep her by my side forever and still defeat the curse?
I could shackle and chain her to the walls, imprison her body and ruin her thoughts while my own mind slowly rots from the black poison. Because with each new moon without my queen, I will only grow crueler, more wicked. Do I want this for Lara, the life of a slave to a brutal master? In time, she’ll wither, but by then, I’ll be too far gone to care. The safest place for her is the realm from which she came. I should help her return home as soon as possible.
But first, what could be wrong in taking pleasure from each other? Not for long, of course. Just a few days. A week. Or maybe three.
After a splash of water to enliven my mind, I pad back into the bedroom. As I slide under the furs, Lara’s eyes flare open, and she greets me with a lazy smile.
“Good morning,” I say, between soft kisses.
When I release her, she looks around the room, laughing at the mess. “You really trashed the place last night.”
I am not ashamed. “Yes.” I grin.
Pinching my cheeks, she kisses me quickly before sitting up, palms about to push off the mattress.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Leaving. Look at the sunshine out there. It’s beautiful. Not the kind of day to waste in bed.”
I smother a laugh. How can she not realize the day is only fine because she is here beside me?
“Don’t go yet,” I say, amazed at my pleading tone. “The court sleeps for days after Samhain. There is no work to be done.” I tug until she lies on her side, then steal another kiss. “Besides, I wish to hear about this human who you claimed to desire more than me.”
“What?” Her green eyes widen.
“I remember every word that passed your lips at the Merits’ banquet. When you admitted your lie to the queen, you said you desired me above all of my kind, not above all others. Which human man makes you burn for his touch?”
She thinks for a moment, before turning her back, dragging most of the furs with her. “Honestly? No one.”
Satisfaction and something akin to gratitude fills my chest.
“No one? Good. This is as it should be.”
“You’re such a… fae prince.” She laughs into the pillow as I reach for her bare shoulder, leaning close.
My lips trace her skin before I press away to admire her curves and the intricate lines of a tattoo I haven’t yet had a chance to inspect.
An inked dragonfly.
Every muscle in my body turns to stone.
Dark red eyes glow amongst colors of purple, blue, and black.
Beneath its body, the word Garnet is written.
Above it, barren, silver branches reach toward delicate wings—seizing, capturing.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
My black heat pounds like a drum.
Lara bears the mark of the garnet dragonfly. The mark of my fated queen.
This cannot be so. It can’t be, and yet… it is.
Anger flares hot, blazing bright like an eternal sun at the same moment my world turns black. Black and desolate. Lightning flashes, ripping the sky open.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your tattoo…”
She looks over her shoulder and smiles. “That’s Garnet. Apparently, she protects me.”
Protects her? No. It’s a death sentence.
Thunder crashes. Clouds chase the sun and swallow it whole, shadows falling over the room. “How long have you had it? And why that tattoo?”
“It’s such a coincidence, isn’t it? First the moss elves, then you gave me your dragonfly pendant for protection, too.”
She rolls onto her back, and I hover above, trapping her with my arms. She plays with strands of my hair that fall between us as she speaks. “My mother was killed in an accident when I was fifteen. It was strange, almost as though she was expecting to die, because on my sixteenth birthday, my aunt gave me a present from Mom—a year after her death—a beautiful letter, a voucher for a tattoo studio, and a hand-drawn design of this dragonfly. Mom said the name Garnet had to be included. I still don’t understand why that was important. But I loved the image on first sight, and I feel like it’s always guided me somehow. I have no idea why.”
Unfortunately, I have an idea, a very unpleasant one. A vision of the metallic Crystalline Oak blinds me, its silver branches grasping and reaching for Lara. I feel them around her, an invisible web enfolding her body. I didn’t find Lara underneath the tree as was foretold, but perhaps it’s always been with her.
“It’s weird, right?” Her smile wavers as she absorbs my expression, the violent flap of the curtains, the winds gusting through the room. “What’s wrong, Ever?”
“Nothing.” Everything. I bite back a groan of pain. A lie. A lie.
She kisses my cheek—sweetly, tenderly—then snuggles closer. My hand travels to her waist. Now I’ve seen the tattoo, I don’t want to touch her, but can’t stop myself.
This shouldn’t be possible—me matched with a human girl? But I can’t deny reality. The truth. Now I understand why, lately, the poison has slowed its path through my veins, the pain now dull and mostly bearable. Because of her.
Because of Lara—my queen—the girl I must kill if I wish to save Raff, I can smile again. Laugh even.
As her palm flattens against my back, her arm wrapping and squeezing tightly, I picture slitting her throat. Nothing less than drying blood will satisfy the curse, so I will have to slice my blade across her skin, and then stare into emerald eyes, dull and lifeless, all brightness gone forever. My human, my queen—dead.
Lara. Dead.
I recall each time I’ve stood upon Waylan’s Tor, staring at that vile tree, waiting for the girl.
The girl I do not want.
Every day.
The girl I already hate.
Forever.
The girl I’m prepared to kill…
Never.
How could I have known about her delicate freckles? Her kindness? Her bravery? What holding her in my arms would feel like?
Without a word, I leap out of bed and dress quickly.
Wearing an amused expression, she watches silently, her gaze skimming my body. Finally, she asks, “And where are you off to?”
I keep my eyes on my sword as I adjust its belt. “There is something important I must attend to. I’ve only just remembered it. You should return to your room. I’ll be gone several hours.”
Walking to the door takes all my strength and more. I don’t want to leave her, but I have no choice.
She is the girl I must murder.
She is the one whose life I will end.
And I am Never.
Never. Ever. After.
