Chapter 5

ChapterFive

“We should find somewhere safe to camp for the night. It’s getting dark.”

I glance around at the glowing water, noting how it is seeming to dim slowly, making the shadows, darkness, and no doubt the monsters inside them more daunting. We have been searching for hours and have not found any of the others. We found several bodies in the water, on the rocks, mangled and broken, but they were all sirens. I gave all of them the mercy of having their eyes closed, just like everyone else deserves.

I nod in agreement, knowing that we can’t just keep searching endlessly in the dark when we both are tired. We’re also hungry, but we haven’t seen anything that we can eat. All the bodies we found had no food or weapons on them, which wasn’t useful. For now, we just have the long dagger Emerson carries, the small dagger I have strapped to my thigh, and what is left of Emerson’s magic. Eyes reflect back at me in the shadows of a tunnel, and we swiftly move away from there. We spotted a few monsters in the water and a few eyes searching and peeking out through the tunnels too, but thankfully, none of them seem to want to attack us. Maybe they’re giving us a break after the test. Maybe they are just waiting until it goes dark so they can attack. Emerson’s arm tightens around my waist like he can sense my worry, and he steers me towards a smaller tunnel. We still can walk through it and come out the other end to another cavern with many, many rock tunnels. We search four of them before we find a tunnel that looks like it’s got a little open space, lit up well, at the end.

I crawl through first, Emerson following behind me. This room is a dead end, safer than anywhere else we have seen. The ceiling is made of shimmering water, and inside are tiny creatures that look like silver stars as they float around. It’s beautiful in here and reminds me of the night sky on a cold night. Emerson sits down next to me, leaning his back against the wall, and I tuck myself into his shoulder as he wraps his arm around me. “I miss your wings.”

He chuckles. “So, I don’t need to magically get you into bed these days?”

I grin before laughing. “No, but even back then, I was lying to myself, as I secretly liked it.”

Emerson laughs, kissing the top of my head. “It was the only way I could sleep. Knowing you were safe. I was lying to myself, too.”

“We have that in common,” I sigh. I look up at Emerson, the Wyern King, old and utterly more amazing than I thought he could be. I hope in five hundred years, I am like him, and I wonder if he knows that. For so many years, I hunted a monster with wings, only to fall in love with a male with wings, who was never a monster. He is a good male, who just came into the Conquest of the Sea for me, to save me, knowing I would need his help, and he must not be able to just walk out of here. “Tell me everything about the past. No more secrets between us. We were going to talk before, but we got interrupted. I want to know everything. I want to know how you met Aurora. What exactly happened back then? Don’t hold back on me, because I won’t do that to you.”

He searches my eyes before looking down, pulling his knee up to lean his arm on. Sometimes he looks like a fallen, dark king, lost in shadows, and all I want is to pull him back. Strands of his midnight brown, almost black hair hang down, covering his eyes. I know it’s not easy for him to tell me everything. I can see how he struggles with the past and his family and all the pain that comes with it.

I have a feeling his past is going to hurt my heart. I undo my hair, needing to mess with something as he speaks.

“I grew up as a prince of the fae, the only prince, and I was spoiled when I was in court. I begrudged going to my father’s, where I wasn’t treated like royalty but had to practice and sharpen my strength. I realize now that my father was preparing me for the real world, and my mother loved me too much to see that the world would come for me.” He pauses.

I place my hand over his, and he turns our hands, linking our fingers. My hand looks so tiny in his. “I’m so sorry about your mother.”

He doesn’t reply to me, but I can see he can’t right now. After a moment, he continues. “I could get anything I wanted. Anyone I wanted. But it was never enough. No one ever wanted more than my crown, and no one wanted to know who I was. So over time, I became reserved. I pulled away from everything, and I didn’t want to know anyone anymore. I kept telling myself that I wanted something more, but my position would mean I could never have it until I found my mate.”

My breath hitches before he continues. “I wanted people who knew me, who wanted to be in my life for more than what I could offer them. And I didn’t have that. The members of my court, well, many of them saw me as the heir to the throne, who they needed to protect not speak to. I was a spoiled prince and then it happened—I met her. She was mortal. Quiet. Was beaten a lot by her family before she was sold to the fae to be a slave. Most of the mortals were like that, and I never saw them as real people until her. She used to clean my room and stoke the fire. Even though the fire could be lit so easily with magic, mortals were made to do it the hard way.”

He clears his throat. “We just began talking one evening, and she actually spoke to me. I was desperate for a connection to anyone, but it was more with her. I felt an instant draw to her. I wanted to protect her, but in truth, she was kind and shy and unsuited to me. I didn’t know many people in my life who were like that besides my mother, and she reminded me of her in a way.”

I know I want to hear this, but a burning jealousy rises in my throat. We share a soul; I know this, but she isn’t me. “When did you fall in love with her?”

He looks up at the water, shimmering like stars in the sky. “I don’t believe I did. All these years later, everyone assumes I was completely in love with her, but she became more of a good friend than a lover. We never even kissed, and I used her to rebel against everything that I was. I didn’t want to be king. I had no interest in it. I didn’t like half the people in the fae court. I needed freedom, and I never thought of the consequences. So I stupidly used her, and I regret it every single day because she was killed because of it. Only then did I realize that your soul, her soul, was my mate. If she was turned into a fae, I would have known like I do now. Your soul is mine as much as mine belongs to you.”

I always assumed he loved her… but this makes more sense. He turns to me, cupping my cheek with his large, rough hand. “But you are not like her. You’re argumentative, stubborn and drove me absolutely insane from the moment we met. You’re beautiful, Calliophe, and I know now I never loved her, because I’m completely in love with you.”

My cheeks are burning as I look up at him, and I start to reply, but his thumb lands on my bottom lip, brushing it softly. “Let me finish.”

He doesn’t want me to say those words to him right at this moment when we are in the past and he needs to get it all out. “When the curse was set, I was turned into a monster. My power became even a quarter of what it is, less than what it is even here, and in every sense, I fell. It took me years to get back power over time, little bits here and there to build up my strength, and in that time, I built a relationship with the Wyerns, my brother and Zurine in particular. My mother called me back to court, telling me that we could fix everything. When I got there, she captured me. She locked me in a dungeon beneath the castle and tortured me for a hundred years.”

“By the goddess,” I whisper in horror. I thought it was bad, whatever happened to him in the fae court. I knew it was bad, but this… this is worse than the curse, worse than anything I could have imagined happened. Sickness rises in my throat at the thought of anyone torturing him, and my power flares in my chest along with my anger. This was whatever came out of the Rift and took over his mother. I feel my cheeks getting wet with my tears, and Emerson wipes some way, looking deeply into my eyes. “She wanted me to break the curse, be the king she wanted. I never broke. I knew you’d come back to me one day, and I had to stay strong for you. I knew we’d have another chance, and I’d suffer through a thousand years for just these few months with you.”

“Emerson,” I breathe out.

“My father got me out a hundred years later. He’d been at war with the fae all that time, trying to save me. My mother refused to give me up, called my race the enemies, and made us appear more monstrous to the world. My father desperately tried to save me, knowing what I was going through, and he never gave up. He got me out, but as you know, at a great cost to himself. My mother used what was left of her magic, along with twenty other fae, to rip him apart. We barely got out alive, and forty Wyerns sacrificed themselves to save us, including Felix’s father. You’ve never seen my father’s wings, but they were ripped to shreds, nothing but bones for a long time until they grew back. Scarred and useless. He can’t fly. He was mentally and physically destroyed saving my life. The man that was always cold to me, who never showed me compassion or love, destroyed himself for me,” he explains. “The most I’ve ever seen him speak since was to you. He met you once or twice as a mortal. He liked you back then, I believe.”

“He doesn’t seem evil,” I admit. “Even before I knew this, I thought that. I could barely believe he’s the male who killed so many in the war, but now I understand it. He was killing to find you. To save you. He was a scared parent.”

Emerson chuckles. “I’m sure that it was more personal than that. He’s never been a huge fan of anyone that isn’t Wyern. Even me, but I will forever be thankful he fought for me. It took me a long time to realize that family is not just blood, but it’s who you choose to let into your heart. My family are the ones that came in here for me. For you, because they knew that we wouldn’t go anywhere without each other. And you, Calli, you are mine too.”

I lift his hand and kiss his palm. “I’m yours, Emerson.”

He groans, his eyes darkening. “Say that again.”

“No,” I reply with a coy smile. “Tell me how to swear in to the Wyern court. To swear to you. I’ve made my mind up, and it would be an honor to call you my king.”

He looks shocked silent for a moment, and I use the distraction to climb onto his lap, spreading my thighs around him, pulling us flush together. His fingers drift down my spine, his hands resting on my waist. I can feel every hard part of him pressed against me. I’ve never been as sure of what I want. That’s what I want right now. I know we could die any moment now in this test. I know we don’t have much time left, even outside of this place, to be together. But if I die, I want to be part of the Wyern court. I want the world to know that this mortal-turned-fae chose the Wyerns to fight for.

He tells me the words first and pauses. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I do. I want to,” I whisper. “I pledge myself, my blood and soul, to the Wyern court and its king. I swear an oath on my soul.”

Gasping, I feel his magic spread across my body, linking me and binding me to his court. The middle of my back burns with a new mark, and I can’t wait to see it. I feel the connection instantly washing over me, claws digging deep into my heart and my soul, marking my blood. Emerson lifts my chin. “You’ll never just be a member of the court. You are my queen.”

He leans forward, softly kissing my jaw and moving down to kiss my neck. I shiver from the sensation, his rough lips brushing down my neck gently. Every kiss is gentle, meaningful, and I feel his cock twitch, pressed against my core, and I gasp from the intensity of just that touch. I know he can feel how wet I am, how much I want him. I’m mad with desire, with longing. “When we get back to our court, I’m going to put a crown on your head, sit you on my throne, and claim you as mine. Again, again and again until neither of us can remember anything else.”

I moan as his hands brush down my top, over my hard nipples. He begins undoing the laces at the side of my top before pulling it over my head as I lift my hands. His eyes fully darken, any light in the purple now black with desire. “I once told you what I wanted to do to you on my throne. I can imagine it now. You, just in a crown, spread for me as I kneel at your feet. I will only kneel for you, Calli. If you asked it, I’d beg.”

His hands caress my breasts as I kiss him, unable to think of anything else. I don’t know about him begging. Maybe it would be me if I don’t have him inside me soon. Pleasure burns through my veins as he deepens the kiss, a deep groan echoing in his throat as I stroke him over his leather trousers. Emerson lifts me off his lap, laying me down on the ground and kneeling between my legs. He pulls his own shirt off, and my breath hitches at his rippling muscular arms, his wide chest and the six-pack that leads to his trousers. He doesn’t pause, undoing the buttons of his trousers and pushing them down, revealing his long, hard cock. I suck in a deep breath at the sight of him, wondering if he will even fit, but I’m more than willing to try. “If you keep looking at him like that, this is going to be over far too quickly, and I want to savor you.”

I lift my eyes to meet his. “Then what are you waiting for?”

His lips twitch in amusement as he pulls off my trousers, looking down at me as he slowly pushes my thighs apart like he is unwrapping a present. Every touch of his fingers on my soft skin makes me shiver, makes me want him so badly I can’t think straight. I love the Wyern King, and goddess, I’m going to enjoy being his tonight. He looks at me like I’m a goddess and he can’t figure out what he wants to do to me first. I run my eyes over him, knowing I have the same issue. “Fuck, you’re beautiful everywhere, Doe.”

He leans down, stealing the reply from my lips as he kisses my inner thigh and then the other one, before kissing right above my core and moving down. Every kiss feels like fire, and I can’t breathe from the pleasure as he finally kisses down my slit, parting me and sliding two fingers deep inside me as his tongue finds my clit. The sensation is overwhelming, and I arch my back, pleasure coursing through every inch of my body until I can’t think of anything but his tongue and fingers as he commands my body. Within minutes, it’s too much and I cry out as he makes me come around his fingers and on his tongue, and everything blurs for a second from pleasure overwhelming every one of my senses. “Emerson! Goddess, don’t stop!”

He chuckles, kissing my thigh, moving up to kiss my stomach and each one of my rock hard, sensitive nipples as he draws himself up my body until we are face to face. His cock presses against my core, slipping in my wetness. I shiver in anticipation as he strokes my cheek, his own eyes burning like purple stars in a night sky. “Look at me, Calliophe.”

I don’t take my eyes off his as he pushes his cock into me, inch after inch, feeling incredible and fuller than I ever have as he fully seats himself inside me. Both of us shake with pleasure, with how perfect we feel. Sex has never, ever felt like this. He is my mate, and he is made for me, and I feel it now. No one is ever going to feel like Emerson, and he has officially ruined me. Completely ruined me, and I wouldn’t change a thing. “Calli, fuck.”

I moan as he slides out and slams back into me, harder this time, and he feels breathtaking. I never want this to stop. He cups the back of my neck, kissing me deeply as he thrusts deep and hard, marking and claiming me. My hips move in time with his, both of us in sync with every movement. Goddess, he tastes and feels incredible, and he doesn’t hold back.

He flips us over, and I sink down on his cock, both of us gasping at the same time from the intense pleasure. “Fuck, ride my cock, Doe.”

Goddess above, I listen to his command this time. I move my hips fast, his hands digging into my hips as I get closer and closer to another orgasm. He suddenly growls, picking me up and slamming me against the wall, still buried deep in me. “You’re mine, Calliophe. Now—” He pulls out and thrusts deeply into me again, making me moan out in pleasure. My nipples brush against his chest, and he kisses my neck. “And for fucking ever.”

“Yes, Emerson,” I breathe. He thrusts into me harder, deeper, taking every bit of my soul as pleasure shoots up my spine, and I cry out his name as I tighten around him. He groans, biting my neck as he finishes, his own groan of pleasure echoing in my ear. We both are panting as he licks my neck once, lifting his head and resting it against my own. His eyes stare deeply into mine, both of us knowing this is the beginning of us. No more secrets, no more hiding. Just us.

An amused smirk tilts his lips up. “I hope you’re not planning to sleep anytime soon. I’m not done with you yet.”

I lean forward, kissing his jaw. “Never, Emerson. Show me again why I’m yours.”