33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Thea

“ T hea,” Cassius’ voice pierced straight through the darkness. “My love.”

I turned slowly and saw him and all the other prisoners now unbound behind the barrier I put up. Cassius stared at me like he was worried. Closing my eyes, I shook my head, trying to pull out of this rage I was feeling. Gods, what would they all think of me?

I wanted more vengeance. This wasn’t enough of a punishment. If I could bring them back to life and kill them again, I would.

“I love you,” he called out to me.

My eyes opened, and I stared at him.

“You did so fucking good, Thea.” He smiled at me.

He was proud of me, not scared. I stepped toward him, shattering the illusion magic I had around me. The illusion splintered and shattered like glass around us, showing the true massacre in the field. I saw that the crowd was still trapped in their seats as I glanced around. My shield magic dropped, and Cassius ran to me. His arms wrapped around me and lifted me from the ground as he buried his face into my neck.

“I love you,” he whispered. “I’ve missed you so much.”

Cassius pulled back for a moment and then embraced me in a soul-consuming kiss. Gods, I had missed him. All those emotions that I had bottled up from Exile came crashing down around me. Tears spilled from my eyes as I held him to me. Cassius pulled back and grasped my face in his hands.

“I love you so much.” I grabbed his face in my hands and stared into those captivating golden eyes.

“You fucking did it.” He stared at me in disbelief. “I don’t know if I’m really processing that you did it,” he chuckled softly. The crowd started getting restless. Cassius glanced around at them. “What are you going to do about them?”

I stared at all their faces; they looked terrified.

Stepping forward, I spoke. “Cerithia will now be part of the Crimson Kingdom! We will not be at war with the other kingdoms. We will live in peace. We will treat all fae with respect and make sure everyone can afford to live. We will not tolerate hate or rebellion. Today, we move forward and forget that my family ever existed. The Valeska family will treat you with respect and kindness, but we expect the same in return!”

The crowd glanced around at one another. I knew someone would object or say something snarky. It shouldn’t have surprised me that it was a few noblemen.

“You’re a monster!” one yelled.

“We will never accept you as our queen!” another retorted.

I flicked my wrist and evaporated them with my fire magic. Their bodies turning into ash and floating away in the wind.

“I suggest you all bow to your queen!” I yelled. “If any of you do not bow, I will send you straight to hell with my family.” I pointed to the dead bodies, and slowly the guards bent their knees and bowed in front of me. Cassius stepped up with me and hugged me. “And bow before your new king, my husband, Cassius Valeska of Crimson!”

I released the magic around them and watched every fae kneel as Cassius stood next to me, holding my hand tightly in his. My eyes took in the blood witches as they smiled and bowed deeply.

“This will be the last warning I ever give. We will not tolerate rebellion or hate in our kingdom. Our realm deserves to live in peace, and that is what we will work on moving forward. If you are caught trying to rebel, you will be killed immediately.”

All the fae nodded as I spoke.

“You’re all free to go.”

They left, some quickly, and others took their time. It would take a lot of time to build up trust with them to get the kingdom functioning like Crimson. I walked to the blood witches.

“Thank you for getting the blood marks done. If you guys hadn’t done that, I would have been swarmed by every guard in the castle. I owe you.”

“Are you kidding?” One of them said, “That was fucking amazing.”

I smiled as my eyes shifted to Killian and my mother. They smiled at me like proud parents. I wished I could hug them. Memories of my mother and I filled my mind. She always gave the best hugs, and she always knew what to say. What was I supposed to do without her?

“Don’t cry,” she whispered.

“I don’t want you to go. I already lost you once. I already lost my brothers and Sybil,” I cried.

“But you have Cassius, and together you will make a family of your own. You already started, Thea. Look at everyone here who cares for you. Everyone who fought beside you and rooted for you to win. You have a family, one that loves you.” She stepped toward me. “Killian and I are so proud of you, but please do not dwell on the fact we aren’t here. We will move into the next life together; we will not be alone.

“I wish to the stars and the moon that you could be my daughter in every life, Thea. You are my greatest accomplishment; I will feel your loss in every life. Cassius will love you enough so that you do not feel like you are missing anything. He is so wonderful.” My mother smiled.

Della appeared next to me.

“It’s time,” Della whispered.

Tears fell from me as I stared at my mother and Killian hugging each other.

“Thank you for staying with me. I love you.” I cried.

“I love you too. Promise me you will be okay.” My mother’s voice cracked as tears streamed down her face.

“I promise.”

Killian held her tightly as Della reached for them. I watched them until they disappeared. The blood witches watched me, waiting for direction. But I didn’t know how to be a queen.

“You may set up the coven wherever is best fit for you. I will need time to readjust to everything, and I will be doing that at Crimson’ s castle.”

“Then we shall go close to Crimson with you, and don’t worry; we can care for ourselves until you are ready.” A witch named Farah smiled.

“I appreciate you all being understanding.”

They bowed to me and stood but bowed again when Cassius approached.

Sy and Petra ran over to us and pulled me in for a hug.

“Thank the fucking stars for you, Thea.” Sy pulled back and smiled brightly at me. I had missed my friends. The rest of the royal families came over to say thank you and congratulate me on breaking my curse. It was all too overwhelming.

“We will take care of everything here, Thea. You do not need to worry about anything but resting and being with Cassius,” Rylan said as he hugged me. “We are beyond the moon that you are back home.”

“Thank you.” Relief filled me. I was exhausted and just wanted to be alone with Cassius. When I looked behind me, Cassius was watching me with an expression I couldn’t decipher.

“Let’s go home.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed it softly. I nodded as he used his shadows to move us and our family back to Crimson. I immediately went to Haden and hugged him .

“Thank you,” I whispered. “You saved Cassius today, and I will always be indebted to you for that.”

Haden hugged me tightly against him. I released my healing magic for him, but he didn’t have any wounds to heal.

“It’s what family does—protects each other,” he said with a smile as he pulled back. His blue eyes glanced at Cassius before looking at me. “You should probably go talk to your husband before he combusts,” he chuckled.

When I turned, Cassius’ eyes were glued to me. They were full of questions and hesitation. I stepped toward him, and he held his hand out so I could take it before he led us to our room.

As soon as we walked into our space, I felt so much better. I pulled the bloodstone from around my neck and set it on the counter. Cassius’ eyes lingered on the stone before looking at me. I thought he would ask questions, but he just dragged me to the washroom and started the shower.

Cassius smiled at me as he helped me undress.

I did the same for him before we climbed into the shower. Cassius turned me so I was facing him. He leaned forward and gave me a chaste kiss before washing my hair for me. Tension released from my muscles the more he touched me. When he was done rinsing my hair, he stared at me, uncertain.

“What’s wrong?” I frowned.

“I keep waiting for this dream to end and wake up to you still not remembering who I am.” He sounded so scared.

“That’s never going to happen, Cassius.” I ran my fingers over his cheek and pulled him to me for a kiss. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I broke the curse.”

“About that...” he narrowed his eyes at me. “How did you break it? You never gave me the stone.”

I smiled.

“One night I realized I could use your shadow magic to move to different places quickly. I had used your magic to visit Crimson sometimes. So, I gave it to you as you slept.”

Cassius smiled.

“Did you spy on me as I slept, my love?”

“Yes,” I whispered. “I could not stand to be away from you all the time. I knew I would give you the bloodstone the day you told me that it was how I would break my curse; I just didn’t know where it was. And then I couldn’t tell you because Brim and I had a vision of you dying. When I got stabbed by the dagger today, you were going to help me, and my father was going to behead you. So, I didn’t tell you. I hope you understand why I couldn’t tell you. ”

Cassius stared at me for a long moment. Emotions filled his eyes as he watched me.

“When did you break it?”

“Do you remember when I found you in the woods spying on my camp, and I told you if you beat me in a fight, I would let you go?”

“Yes.” His eyes flashed black at the memory.

“I broke the curse not long before then. I couldn’t stay away from you. I needed you. I couldn’t stop myself from kissing you or touching you.”

His brows furrowed.

“I had thought you broke it that day,” he confessed. “You looked at me differently. You didn’t look confused about your desire for me, but I thought I lost my mind. I thought there was no way you broke it,” he chuckled. “I should have known that with you, anything is possible.”

His eyes glanced over my face.

“When I was standing with Luren and Jesper in camp talking about a peace treaty, I heard your voice.”

I glanced at him, confused.

“In my mind, I heard it. You weren’t saying anything, but I could hear your thoughts. I truly thought I had lost my fucking mind.”

Was that why I couldn’t hear his thoughts that day?

“You must have gotten that as part of my powers when I gave you the bloodstone.” I smiled. “Are you upset I didn’t come back to you immediately?” I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“No.” He pulled me to him and hugged me as he kissed my forehead. “I always knew you’d break it and make it home to me. But you were right to keep it from me. I would have tried to protect you and probably gotten in the way. I tried today. If Haden hadn’t saved me, I would’ve died because I couldn’t focus on anything but protecting you.

“The way you destroyed your family and Jesper today was... fucking amazing. I have never been more proud to have you as a mate than when I was watching you punish every single one of them. Fuck, I was in awe of you, little viper. I will always be in awe of you.”

I stood on my tippy toes and kissed him, pulling him to me with need. Cassius tilted his head so he could deepen the kiss. His tongue dominated mine as he pushed me into the shower wall. His hands skimming down my body with a hum of approval.

I moaned when his fingers pushed into me.

“Always ready for me,” he muttered as he kissed down my neck, biting softly. He tangled his free hand into my hair and forced me to look at him. Cassius teased me by leaning forward as if he would kiss me, but he paused. His breath fanned over my face as his eyes took in everything about me. His fingers pushed inside of me at an unbearable pace as his thumb rubbed against my clit.

“Fuck,” I moaned.

Cassius smiled as his shadows crept away from him without permission. His eyes flashed black before he leaned forward and gave me a consuming kiss. He pulled back.

“Do you want to cum on my fingers or mouth first?” he asked.

Gods, I was already close. I opened my mouth to answer him, but nothing came out. Cassius stopped moving.

“Use your words, wife. Fingers or mouth?”

“Mouth,” I breathed as he smiled and sank to his knees in front of me. He hooked my leg over his shoulder and immediately licked me before sucking me into his mouth. My hands gripped his hair as I rolled my hips against his tongue.

Cassius hummed his approval against me, making me whimper at how fucking good this felt. Cassius pushed his fingers inside of me as his tongue swirled my clit.

“Cassius,” I breathed.

He pulled away and glanced up at me, his black eyes taking my breath away. Gods, this image of him would be ingrained into my mind forever.

“Once you cum on my mouth, you can have my cock, my love.” But he didn’t move. He watched my face as his fingers kept sliding into me. “You look so fucking beautiful like this,” he breathed.

“Please,” I muttered as my eyes bounced between his fingers sinking into me and his face watching me. His thumb circled my sensitive nerves, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Eyes on me,” he demanded. I opened them and moaned loudly.

“It feels too good,” I whined.

“You can take it.” He smiled.

“Cassius, I need more,” I begged. “I need your mouth on me.”

He smiled as he watched me.

“You’ll get my mouth, greedy girl.”

He pushed his fingers into me deeper, and I called out at the pleasure it brought. Cassius finally leaned forward and withdrew his fingers to replace them with his tongue. Cassius licked and devoured me as if he were a starving man. His hands spread me farther apart. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck .

“Don’t stop,” I begged. Cassius groaned against me as my orgasm crashed around me. My fingers tangled in his dark hair as I held him against me so I could ride out the waves of pleasure against his mouth.

A moment later I released him, and he stood, lifting me up so he could sink into me.

“Fuck…Cassius.”

“Gods, I fucking missed you. I love it when you lose yourself to me,” he muttered. He stared into my eyes as his hips surged into me without pause. I was going to cum again. His hand gripped my breast before teasing my nipple. Then he leaned forward and bit where my neck and shoulder meet, and I came loudly. I was begging and pleading, but Cassius didn’t stop.

“Again. You can give me one more, Thea.”

I shook my head that I couldn’t, but I knew I could. He gripped my jaw in his hand and forced his tongue against mine.

“You can cum again, can’t you, my love?" He squeezed my jaw tighter.

I shook my head, yes.

“Good girl. You will take me until I’m done with you.” He pushed harder into me. “I want to hear you screaming for me. Don’t worry; no one will hear you. Our magic has blocked anyone from hearing those noises that belong to me.”

“Cassius.”

“Thea,” he answered me.

“You feel so good,” I moaned.

“And you feel like heaven,” he ground out. “I could fuck you for the rest of our existence, and I would never get enough of you. You're mine, and no one will ever take you from me again. Now cum for me, wife.”

“Fuck…” I called out without care. I clenched around Cassius as his hips slammed into me faster as he chased his own release. “Cassius!”

"That's it; let the realm know who your undoing is,” he muttered out of breath before slamming into me one last time. My heart pounded violently as I struggled to breathe. Cassius turned us so his back was on the wall, still holding me as he slid down it and sat with me straddling his hips. The water was getting cold, but I didn’t care.

Cassius’ chest rose and fell in quick succession.

“For fuck’s sake, we might not leave our room for a year. I don’t think I can tire of having you,” he muttered.

I lifted my eyes to meet his before kissing him. Emotions clogged my throat as tears filled my eyes. When I pulled away, Cassius wiped the tears streaming silently down my cheeks .

“What’s wrong?”

“I just love you so much that it feels… all-consuming,” I confessed. “I love you so fucking much.”

Cassius pushed the wet hair from my face.

“I’ll love you until my last breath, and then I will love you all over again in the lives to follow. We will love each other until the stars fall from the sky and the realm ceases to exist, and even then that will not keep me from you. Even if the universe ceases to exist, our love never will; it will outlast time itself.”