2. Idris

Chapter 2

Idris

M y future bride was gearing up for the mother of all fights, and I was here for it.

Her brilliant green eyes flashed with her ire as she shakily climbed out of bed, and I had to fight every instinct I had not to fall at her feet and beg her to listen to me. For the last week, I’d watched her bleed far more than I ever cared to, and this shit was stopping here and now.

It was one thing for a complete stranger I didn’t give two fucks about to try and break this bullshit curse. It was quite another to watch someone I cared about—maybe even loved—get hurt over and over again because of it.

It didn’t matter if she had two mates right beside her to back her up.

It wouldn’t matter if she had a whole damn army.

Vale would be sleeping in my bed before the night was over.

“What gives you the right to burst in here and tell me where I lay my head?” she growled, the nearly sheer nightgown clinging to her growing curves as she straightened her spine. “And what good is sleeping next to you going to do? I will still sleep, I’ll still dream.”

If I wasn’t so pissed off that she’d put herself in danger again, the ire in her voice and the way the fabric highlighted every line of her body would have me giving in to the ache in my cock.

Gods, how could a woman be that beautiful and that infuriating at the same time?

“I'm fairly certain the crown I inherited and have kept for three hundred fucking years is what gives me that right. But let me remind you: in less than a week, I will be your husband. I will be damned if you decide to keel over before you can walk down that aisle because you're too stubborn to understand that there are limits to what your body can handle.”

It was a cold, hard truth that she needed to learn before she accidentally killed herself.

“In case you weren’t aware, the closer we are together, the better our connection is. If I’m next to you, I can sense when you’re going too far. I can keep you safe.”

Her jaw firmed as golden light illuminated her skin, flashing like lightning underneath her flesh. I doubted anyone else could see it but me, but I knew that if I gave her enough time to wind herself up, she would expend far too much of her power only to prove my point.

“Don't even think about it,” I growled, warning her off before she could thrash me with it. “You have no idea how far away you were or how stretched thin your poor body was. You continue time and time again to overuse the wealth of power under your skin, and it is killing you.”

Couldn’t she see that? Didn’t she realize how cold this world would be without her?

“How many times are you going to drain Xavier dry as he floods life back into you?” I whispered, trying to make her see sense. “How many times is your body going to go through all of this before it just gives out? No one is saying that you aren't powerful because you are?—”

“No, you're saying my body is too fucking weak to handle it. Trust me,” she growled as she wiped at her bloody nose. “I got that message.”

But did she?

Did she know how tied we were to each other already, even without completing the bond? That every time she hurt herself, it was like a lance to my heart? That her mind infiltrated every corner of my brain until she was all I could think about, all I saw? That every lash of pain, every sorrow, was a brand on my soul?

I really fucking doubted it.

“You claim to care about them,” I said, nodding in the direction of my two oldest friends, “but can't you see what you're doing? Every time you overexert yourself, you remind them of a life without you. You remind them they will live forever without their mate, without the woman that they love, in agony if you die. If you're not going to be smart about using your power for yourself, why not for them?”

Her full lips parted, and she staggered back on a foot as if I’d just struck her. “That's not fair.”

“You, of all people, should know that life isn't fair. You want to learn how to use your power? Fine, I'll teach you myself. You want to learn how to dream walk? I'll teach you that, too. But you can't keep using your magic like that. It will kill you.”

Pain ravaged her face before she wiped it clean, but I could hear her mind. Nyrah was her first priority. She needed to find her sister—needed to know she was alive and well—but she had no idea how close she had come to losing her life.

“Fuck the curse, little witch. Who will be there for that sister you care so much about if you die trying to find her?”

Vale’s gaze landed on the blood-smeared sheets, and it was as if the fight in her died.

“It wasn't on purpose. I had no idea when I fell asleep that I would dream of Nyrah or of trying to get to her. But once I was in it, I couldn’t stop. And then I saw the blonde at the end of the tunnel, and I knew I had to get to her. She was cold and alone in the dark. What if?—”

Kian threaded his fingers through hers, pulling her into his side. “They don’t have her, remember? If they did, Fenwick would have said so to torture you. They have no idea where she is, and that makes Nyrah as safe as she can be.”

Vale shook her head, pulling out of his hold. “You weren’t there. There was no light, no air, no breath. It’s what I imagine meeting Orrus would be like. It was so dark my light couldn’t penetrate. I?—”

“You were dying,” Xavier rumbled, his whole body vibrating with barely contained rage. “Your heart slowed to almost nothing, your breaths barely able to move your chest. You were so cold, so still.”

He pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes as if he were trying to wipe the images away. Vale molded to his side, wrapping her thin arms around his middle like she was reassuring him of her presence. And as much as I hated sharing her, as much as I loathed that she loved them and not me, I was so grateful that they were in this room backing me up.

“But I didn’t,” she murmured, trying to reassure him. “I’m still here. I’m still breathing.”

Xavier dropped his hands to stare at our mate. “For how long? You have been targeted by attempt after attempt on your life. What happens if one of us isn’t there the next time? What happens if even Rune can’t save you? As much as I hate taking away your choices, Idris is right.”

Vale clenched her jaw, pulling away from him, too. “You can’t be serious. It was an accident. I didn’t mean to. I—” She snapped her mouth shut, shaking her head.

“If you really didn’t mean to, then you really can't sleep anywhere else but beside me,” I murmured, pinching my brow.

Her power was volatile, dangerous—more to her than anyone else. In some ways, that was the most glorious gift we could have been given. Vale was a way to break a centuries-long curse that was killing this continent. In others, her power reminded me so much of Zamarra, it was scary.

But as powerful as she was, I still didn't know if she actually could break the curse that separated me from Rune. We knew so little about the spell weaved into my skin, taking away my hold on the source of my power. Something told me the bond would do little to help, and still, it seemed like the only option we had.

“I'll only go if Xavier and Kian can come with me,” she countered, crossing her arms over her chest in a move of defiance that belayed her small frame.

So, my future bride was making demands, was she? I fought off the urge to grin in triumph. “Is this you negotiating?”

That single raised eyebrow of hers could bring me to my knees. “No, this is me telling you how it will be.”

“Tomato, to-mah-to,” I murmured, prowling closer to her. “Anything else you wish to ask for before you inevitably give in?”

The images flashing in her mind had my cock throbbing in my leathers. As much as I didn’t like sharing, the way Vale’s imagination framed it made me think it would definitely be worth trying. The scent wafting off her skin had me swallowing down a growl and fighting the urge to make her imaginings come true.

She seemed to shake herself before shoving her lustful thoughts away, her heavy-lidded eyes widening as she took a healthy step backward. If Kian’s smirk and Xavier’s hungry expression were anything to go by, she had just broadcasted the image of us sharing her to all three of us.

Vale swallowed hard, her thoughts taking a sharp left turn as she seemed to think about what she actually desired, aside from the three of us taking her until she couldn’t walk straight.

“I want complete access to all of Fenwick's journals, scrolls, and records. That bastard couldn't have burned up the only scroll about breaking the curse. It's been two hundred years. He had to have some notes somewhere.”

It made sense she wanted to see Fenwick’s musings. The fucker had been hiding in plain sight, killing off Luxa under our very noses. Vale had been the only one to survive him, but it had nearly cost her life.

“Of course. Freya, Xavier, and I have been pouring over them, but you can search the library for anything that we've missed, and you can look at what we have. Anything else?”

She rolled her eyes, seeming to fortify herself and her mind. “You still haven't agreed to the first bit.”

“I told you when you agreed to marry me that I wouldn't separate you,” I said, refusing to say the quiet part out loud.

The fact that I hated to share was known far and wide. It was why I was in this mess in the first fucking place. Unfortunately, my mate wasn't mine alone, and if I were to marry Vale, I would have to learn that despite my crown, I would never fully possess all of her.

And maybe that was a good thing.

Vale was like the sun: volatile and steady all at the same time. It would be stupid to think she would ever be mine alone.

“What you say and what you do are rarely ever similar. Usually, ‘protection’ doesn’t involve a marriage proposal. Now your ‘protection’ has me in your bed. I’m not falling for that shit twice. I want your word,” she commanded, her thoughts louder than my own. “The last time I slept without them, I nearly died. I’d rather not have a repeat.”

No, the last time I’d been stupid enough to think a full guard was enough to stop the assassins after her, she actually had died. I remembered the burning ache in my chest that nearly ripped me in two when her heart had stopped beating. Remembered how much energy she’d needed, how much blood, how close she was to never coming back.

Only this time her impending doom was at her own hands, not my stupidity. At least I had that going for me.

“I have never—not once—failed to keep my word with you.” But she had a point. “And I won’t fail this time, either. They can be with you, but you’re sleeping next to me. I might just need a bigger fucking bed.”

“It doesn’t matter how big the bed is. The only thing it’ll be used for is sleeping.”

Eventually, I’d have to convince her otherwise to complete the bond, but tonight just wasn’t the night to start trying. Then again, with those errant flashes of the three of us sharing her flooding her mind, I figured convincing her wouldn’t be as difficult as I’d originally thought.

After Vale got cleaned up, all four of us moved down the short hallway to my bedchamber. Following the attack on the mountain, we’d sequestered ourselves to my wing, thinking that the closeness would prevent any future attacks. Little did we know, Vale would attack herself from within.

As soon as I opened my bedchamber door, I noticed the mound of pillows and extra blankets piled on the mattress. It seemed my lifelong steward was meddling again. Briar had been with my family for centuries, and she’d fallen in love with Vale almost instantly—not that I could blame her.

I supposed this was her seal of approval of this new arrangement.

By the time we’d done the awkward dance of figuring out where everyone would sleep, Vale ended up at the center of the bed with Kian on one side, me on the other, and Xavier sprawled at the foot of the bed. Naturally, Kian had wrapped around her like a serpent, curling her into his body while Xavier latched onto her ankle like a barnacle.

And me?

I stared at the ceiling, trying to ignore that Kian was already dead to the world, Xavier was close behind him, and Vale had her eyes pinched shut, pretending to be asleep like a child hiding from her parents. She could pretend all she wanted to, but I could hear her mind buzzing like a hive of bees.

I wouldn’t be getting any sleep at this rate—not that I would at all with her so close. I envied Kian. The man could sleep in a ditch if he had to, but more, he rested in the knowledge that he was in between the door and the woman he loved. It also didn’t escape my notice that Xavier positioned himself between the glass doors of the balcony and Vale, either.

They surrounded her, protecting her with their bodies, and all I could do was lay there and envy them both.

“Want me to tell you a bedtime story? Because you and I both know you aren’t sleeping.”

She opened a single green eye, but that one eye was cutting all on its own. Still, she didn’t open her mouth once.

“Is that a no? I’m going to need you to use your words, little Luxa.”

The second eye opened, and her gaze was practically smoldering with her ire. “I’m not a child. I do not need a bedtime story. Maybe if you didn’t treat me like a brain-dead idiot who couldn’t take care of herself, I wouldn’t hate you so much.”

“You want to hate me, but you don’t. The sooner you figure out why, the better off we’ll all be.” As much as it irked me why she wasn’t speaking out loud, it was a small comfort to remember how tied we were that we could talk this way. “What if I were to tell you how the Luxa got their power—how they were created? It’s not a widely known tale, only told to members of the family. It might not even be in any of the books in the library.”

I knew I had her at her raised eyebrows. Vale loved knowledge—she thirsted for it. I suspected a part of her hated that she didn’t know more about what she was. That it was her resistance that had kept her in the dark for so long. I shouldn’t have known that little tidbit, but the longer she remained close to me, the more and more I learned about my soon-to-be wife.

“Fine. But it better be a good story.” She settled in, her assessing gaze like a physical touch. “Or else.”

I couldn’t help but curl my lip into a ghost of a smile. “You know the curse on me affects the whole kingdom, but do you know why?”

She shook her head. “It is the Ashbourne line. We are integral to the flow of magic because we are the conduits of all magic in this realm. The first Ashbourne, Orin, was the revered keeper of this river of magic, the source of all power in the realm, but he was consumed by the bitter ache of loneliness, the weight of his burden almost too much for him to bear alone. He desired an equal—someone who did not draw from him or his magic, who did not rely on his power but had their own.

“Night after night, day after day, he searched far and wide for such a being, but none came. Centuries he looked, but he found none his equal. Over the years, he married and had children, and the loneliness fell away. When his queen died, he began his search anew, exploring far and wide to ease the pain in his soul.

In the pit of his despair, he cast himself into the dreaming world, praying that he could find a companion. But this world was distorted and cruel, only showing him his failures as it trapped him in its clutches. And still, each night he returned, hoping against hope that his prayers would be answered. One such night, deep in a troubled dreamscape, a luminous figure of pure light came to him, casting away his fears and loneliness, easing the aching bitterness of his poor heart.”

A faint trace of a smile lifted the edges of her lips. It was a story my mother had told Arden and me as children. He’d always loved this story, while I had hated it, knowing it would be me one day—stuck in the endless necessity of holding up the mantle of my crown. But Arden loved the pain of it all, the heartbreak. I should have known then just how twisted my brother would end up.

“Lirael was not like any being he had ever encountered, not from the waking world at all, but existing solely in the Dreaming Realm. A being of timeless magic and incredible power, he knew he had found someone who would not drain him but would heal his soul. Reluctantly, he returned to the waking world, but each night, he sought her out in this timeless space. She welcomed him as a companion, and they shared their highest hopes and deepest desires as they explored the Dreaming together.

“But the longer Orin spent in the Dreaming, the more he craved it—the more he craved her—and the bond forged in dreams began to grow. In the waking world, the king’s body withered, the power used to find his love draining him near unto death. His family pleaded for him to stay with them, begged him not to go back to that far-off realm and leave them behind. But he could not resist her pull, and the magic of the world threatened to die with him.”

Sorrow filled her expression, and I wished I would have thought of a better story to tell her. Vale’s life had always been one of sacrifice. Maybe it was how she was made, but I still hated that for her.

“In a moment of desperation, Orin begged Lirael to come with him to the waking world and become his queen, but she could not, finally revealing a bitter truth. Lirael was the keeper of the Dreaming, a goddess, and no matter how much he wished it, she could not leave that realm. Orin became despondent and pleaded with her to keep him with her, but she knew that if he lost his life in the waking world, the magic of Credour would die with him.

“Heartbroken, she knew the pull of her world was too much for him, and she thrust Orin from the Dreaming, barring him from entering ever again. But though she banished him, she did not leave him without a gift. Lirael spun the threads of the first Luxa witches, weaving them from her love of Orin and the pieces of her very soul. These witches would possess the light of the Dreaming, free to walk between the two realms. Using nearly all of her power, she thrust them into the waking world, breathing her life into them.

“But this gift came at a steep price. While Luxa are beings of light and magic, they are also more bound to the Dreaming Realm than any other, the pieces of Lirael calling them deeper and deeper into the Dreaming. If they stray too long, the realm will call them home, back to the breast of Lirael, never to leave again.”

Tears fell into the valley of the bridge of her nose before dropping to the pillow under her head. “That was horrible. They never had their happily ever after. It was just pain and sorrow. Why would you think that was something I needed to know?”

As much as I hated to upset her, I also loved that she hated that story as much as I did. “Because Luxa are born from the Dreaming, but more, they are called to the deepest parts of it. And because they are called so deep, they must tread carefully, or else they will be lost to it. I’ve never met a Luxa as tied to the Dreaming as you are, Vale. Never.”

And that worried me far more than even the attempts on her life.

A lot more.