Holly
than honey and brighter than starlight as his arms band my waist, and he takes my lips in a delicious, slow kiss.
“If you are truly sure, Holly, then I know the perfect place, my refuge from court. Only myself and a single trusted servant have ever stepped inside it. I would love to share it with you.”
“I’ve never been more certain about anything. I want to experience love just once before I relinquish it forever,” I say. “With you, Gade.”
He cups my cheek. “Why relinquish it? I am a prince of Faery, soon to be a king. I can give you all you desire and more. If it pleases you, I can bring your mother here, restore her health. She can live beside you for the span of many mortal lifetimes.”
I shake my head. “Your offer is generous. But I won’t cheat death out of any soul, even my mother’s. Lilé has devoted her life to the old gods and the new. I would never disrespect their judgment when the time comes for them to claim her.”
“As you wish,” he replies. “Before you leave, I will make you mine, and I’ll claim you so thoroughly you will never forget who you belong to. In exchange, you must promise to return to me when you can. All I ask, is that you don’t make me wait too long. Please, Holly, grant me this or destroy my every chance of happiness.”
I don’t know how I will bear the pain of being tossed aside when he finds his fated mate, let alone the agony of watching him marry her. Nevertheless, the idea of returning to Faery, to him, even for a little while thrills me.
I mirror his movements and cup his cheek with my palm. “I promise I’ll do my best to visit you as soon as I can.”
We kiss quickly, urgently, then saddle Wren and ride into the night—our cloaks billowing behind us as we fly along at breakneck speed, passing the place where the new city will one day lie and entering the mystical Emerald Forest.
After a time, we dismount out front of a house made of earth and stone, its facade set into the hillside and concealed by trees and rambling vines of wisteria and ivy.
In the adjoining stable, the only part of the dwelling that boasts a single spire of moss-agate crystal, Gade lifts me from Wren and doesn’t set me down until we enter his retreat.
Inside, I find a magical building of immense beauty, constructed from dreams of the past, present, and future, large sections of the ceiling and walls made of a glass so seamless that I’m certain it doesn’t exist in the human realm, even in the grandest of palaces.
As we wander through the rooms, hand in hand, the forest holds us in its soothing embrace. We’re safe here, the rhythm of nature’s beating heart and the old magic of Faery entering our lungs and thrumming through our veins.
In the bathroom, I stare up at a crystal-flecked night sky. “How is this possible?” I ask. “The house appears to merge with the hill. There shouldn’t be any sky visible.”
He laughs. “How do you think?”
“Elemental magic.”
Spinning me around, he nods. “Yes. Now come here. Time to cease stargazing and focus on me.”
“So arrogant,” I say, melting into his kiss.
In Gade’s arms, I transform from a healer’s daughter into a princess. His princess, who is forever treasured and will never be cast aside.
When we undress each other, I’m not embarrassed or ashamed. Neither am I afraid when his teeth scrape my skin and the press of his fingers grows firm and insistent.
We bathe in a tub of black stone that could easily fit Wren, the water heated by magic from Gade’s fingertips and scented with rose petals and stems of lavender, produced with a wave of his hand.
While bathing, we stare and stare, soaking up the sight of each other, Gade’s touch gentle and reverent.
Silently, he exits the tub and lifts me from the perfumed water, settling me on my feet. He runs his hand along my skin, following the contours of my body, slowly drying me with air magic. Then he picks me up and carries me through dark corridors slashed with moonlight, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Careful,” I tell him, playing with a lock of his water-slick hair. “You’ll crash through a wall if you don’t look where you’re going.”
He laughs, but doesn’t take his gaze from my face.
A roaring fire greets us in a circular hearth sunk into the middle of the bedroom, hewn from rough stone. A glass roof sweeps above the bed that is crafted from clearest crystal and carved with elemental glyphs and creatures.
Gade throws me onto the bed furs, his expression feral as he licks his lips. “I’ve dreamed of this moment every night since we met.”
“Surely not the first night,” I tease.
“Yes, even then.”
“No wonder you thought I was a sorceress,” I say with a laugh.
“I am sorry, Holly, but my desire is strong, and the first time will be fast. Speak now if you do not wish this, and I’ll find another way. Despite my hunger for you, if you ask me to stop, I will. Don’t doubt it. Never fear me. Have faith that my most fervent wish is to please you, and above all else, to keep you safe from harm.”
“I’m not afraid,” I say, opening my arms.
“One thing I must tell you first; the night of the banquet when we made our second bargain, your words of thanks cast you into my debt once more, and although this gave me power over you, please know that I have never forced your feelings or used this to control you. But I must be sure you do not doubt it, so I gift these words to you: Holly O’Bannon, I release you from the binds of debt. Your will is yours now, as it has ever been. I release you.”
A strange sensation flutters behind my breastbone, gentle as a bird ruffling its feathers and gone before I can study it, leaving in its place, a sense of hollow loss. Fortunately, I know how to replace it. Gade’s touch will do nicely.
Watching me carefully, he swallows hard. “Tell me now, do you still want me?”
“Yes,” I say. “More than anything.”
Flames, ice, and molten metal trace the edges of the star glyph on the back of his hand. He examines it a moment, then laughs. As he grins at me, the elements rise and whirl around the hard planes of his chest, spinning at a mesmerizing pace.
The furs are as cool as silk beneath my bare skin until the prince crawls over me and fire sizzles along every inch of my body. Elemental magic circles the bed as he takes care to position his large body where he’ll cause the least discomfort, his hands and fingertips worshiping every part of me as they caress and stroke. Then he kisses me, and his demands turn violent.
I brace for pain, but ecstasy melts my muscles, tendons, even bones. I am a river, urged to flow by the heat of his kisses. With one slow, firm movement of his hips, we breathe in and become one body, one soul, our lips and limbs seeking and gripping and trembling toward something unknown to me. Something just out of reach. I long for a terrible, beautiful end to this wild abandon, and at the same time, I never want it to stop.
“Gade,” I cry out at the peak, shivering as I bite his lip.
Bone and muscles turn to stone. “You are hurt?” he asks, his voice a broken whisper.
“No. No… keep going.”
The rhythm changes from controlled and steady to rough, ragged, and perfect. Heat and light coil in my stomach, my core, an unbearable tension, and then I explode, my body pulsing in time with the stars that blink down at me through the roof glass.
His arms grip my waist like bands of steel, squeezing painfully. He grunts, groans, while I struggle to breathe.
“No,” he moans, his every muscle straining, fighting the end. “Please. Holly…” Another groan wrenches his chest, its intensity and tone prickling chills over my flesh.
Shudders rack his body, and I cling to him, whispering soothing sounds. “My love,” I murmur, and his head whips up, iolite eyes glittering darkly at me.
I wait for him to return the words that will make me stay forever. But no answering declaration comes from his lips. “Mine,” he growls instead. “You are mine, Holly O’Bannon. And never shall you deny it.”
Certainly, at this moment, I cannot, for what he says is truer than the breath in my lungs, my blood that heats only for him, and the flesh that will one day rot from my bones.
I am human. He is not.
And all we have is this night.
Time warps, shifting and changing form, and we waste not a moment of it. When the stars sleep behind dawn’s first light, Gade rolls out of bed and brings me cool water and honeyed bread and fruit. He feeds me from his fingers, like I’m a little bird, resting in his lap.
When we finish eating, he kisses me, then heaves a heavy sigh. “Would that I didn’t have to speak these words, my dearest Holly, but if you must leave me, do it now or do it never.”
I hesitate, and he lifts me off his lap, plucks a silken robe out of the air, and tosses it to me. “Put this on. I shall call Ether. She’ll provide an update on your mother’s health, and this information will either take you from my arms or keep you in them.”
Pulling his clothes on, he holds his palm up in the air, chanting in a low, guttural voice. A ball of blinding light appears, hovering chest-height in the space between us. The High Mage steps out of it, her gown of layered silver as bright as the globe of energy she materialized from.
Her pale brow rises as she inspects the prince’s rumpled, half-buttoned clothing. She smiles, but makes no remark on our recent activities. “How may I be of assistance, Gadriel?”
“The mortal wishes to cleave my cursed heart in two and return home. I’d prefer if she did not.”
Ether inclines her head. “Understandable.”
“Gade,” I admonish. “I’ve reminded you seven times to call me Holly, yet you just called me mortal again. How can I trust your word if you cannot stick to it?”
Gripping my shoulders, he presses me to sit on the bed and drops to his knees in front of me. He takes up my hands and kisses each knuckle. “Holly, I am sorry. You can trust me with your heart, your every breath, your life; I swear it is so. If I sometimes err and fall back on calling you my mortal, please know I only do so because the term reminds me of your fragility, your value, and of how very precious you are to me.”
I grab the pointed tips of his ears, draw his face close, and kiss him with raw emotion.
Laughing, Gade draws back. “Are you trying to kill me?” He turns toward the mage. “If you show Holly that her mother fares well, perhaps she’ll decide to stay longer?”
Ether sits opposite me on the bed, folding her legs underneath her body like a child. Something in her bright expression tugs a memory—an image of a dark forest and a bright ring of mushrooms flashing in my mind.
Holding my hands, she closes her eyes. Pain shudders through me as I’m dragged through time and space, and I find myself floating above the foot of my mother’s bed.
The room dimly lit by one lantern, my sister sits at the bedside. She wipes tears from her eyes and spoons a tincture between my mother’s dry lips. Lilé’s cheeks are gaunt, her skin thin and translucent.
“Mother,” I say, gasping, my arms stretched toward her as I’m sucked backward through another vortex of pain, my mind fragmenting then drawing together again as I land back in my body, lying on the furs in the prince’s forest hideaway.
“Lilé is dying,” says Ether. “You must leave immediately.”
A muscle jumps in Gade’s jaw as his hands curl into tight fists. “Can you open a portal?”
Ether draws me from the bed by my hand. “Yes. The Moonstone Cave is close and its energy the strongest. Ride there now, and I will meet you.”
Without another word, she disappears. Tears blinding me, I dress quickly, and Gade gives me his fur-lined cloak, insisting it’s warmer than mine, drying my face with his magical kisses.
In no time, Wren delivers us to the cave behind the tournament ground, and Gade lifts me from the saddle into his arms.
“Promise me you shall return as soon as you are able. Vow it now, Holly, or I shall break all my promises this instant and keep you with me forever, my soul damned from entering the Otherworld.”
“I don’t understand why you want this or for what purpose, but I promise to return when I can. I have my sister to consider as well as my mother, so it may not be as soon as you’d like. By then, you’ll likely have forgotten why you ever wanted me to return.”
“Never.” He takes my hand, and we walk into a glittering cavern, finding Ether standing at the edge of a pool of water at the center of the cave.
“Heed my words, Holly.” Stepping close, Gade frames my face with his hands. “As Faery needs the mortal world to anchor it to flesh and bone, as lady night needs the moon to light its midnight canopy, I will always desire you, my mortal. Always.”
My heart melts as he kisses me with a tenderness that nearly breaks me. I’m certain he believes his declaration because he cannot lie, but a fae prince’s devotion is surely a fickle thing.
“I’m willing to risk that your interest endures, Gade. And I’ll most definitely come back to find out for certain. I promise.”
“Do not doubt how much I need you. Here, take the signet ring of the Land of Five’s heir to remind you who you belong to.” He twists his garnet ring off and puts it on me, too big, it slips and slides around my finger. When I get home, I’ll braid a string of leather and wear it around my neck, close to my heart.
“Whenever you hold this in your palm and concentrate on Ether’s name, her face and eyes she will come to you,” he says. “Picture her as clearly as you are able, call her, and she will not fail to answer.”
“Why didn’t you use this when we were stuck in the hut?” I ask.
“Can you not guess? I wanted more time with you.”
I grip his sharp cheekbones and kiss him hard. Tiny jewels break off from the walls and shower around us, his emotion affecting the elements. I laugh, raising my hands and collecting handfuls. I press them into his open palm.
“My gift to you, Gade. Keep these and think of me. Please tell Mern, Elden, and Voreas goodbye.”
He nods, but his fingers cling to mine as Ether draws me into the pool of water. She chants a song, calling on all five Elements, spirit last and honored the most reverently.
“Gade, will you answer one question?” I say.
“Yes, you may ask for anything and consider it yours.”
“The night you bargained for a dance, you told me you were only afraid of one thing. What is it?”
Deep laughter bounces off the cavern walls. “You, Holly, and the power you hold over me.”
The sparkling cavern dims. My limbs tremble, and a terrible pressure builds inside my skull.
“Wait…” says a voice, Gade’s, faint and coming from far away.
Splashes drench my clothes as he joins me in the pool, dragging me into his arms for a final, near-fatal squeeze and a vicious, teeth-scraping kiss. Already in the next world, my body only barely responds.
Ether admonishes him, and the golden light of his presence disappears, replaced by a roaring, burning thrum through my veins.
My limbs dissolve, then my torso, my head, and as the darkness takes me, a final thought flashes through my mind.
How did the High Mage know my mother’s name?
