Chapter 70

As soon as we returned to the academy, Max forcibly took Geraldine back to his room in Aqua House to recover and I'd squeezed her tightly in my arms before commanding her to go with him and get a proper night's sleep. She needed the rest and I seriously doubted there would be much more chance of it during any of the coming days.

I glanced back at Darius who was shoving one of the Dragon shifters ahead of him, the man now in his Fae form, completely naked with a look of despair on his face. He was the only survivor from the fight, his body still striped with the wounds we'd inflicted on him.

"Scum!" he spat. "Filth!"

Darius shoved him to his knees and raised a handful of flames to the man's head. "Give me one good reason not to."

Orion caught Darius's arm to hold him back. "He could have information."

"Then I'll peel his skin apart until he spills every drop of knowledge he has about my father's plans," Darius hissed, and the man cowered, trying to scramble away from him.

"You're all dead. All so very dead," he growled, shielding his head with his hands.

My brother came to land between me and Darcy, looking to the Dragon shifter with his wings folding at his back and his eyes gleaming with knowledge.

"This isn't good," he muttered, a slight wince to his features telling me his visions were still painful to experience.

Darius kicked the man onto his back, slamming his boot down on his chest. My heart thrummed in time with my husband's, our hunger for this Fae's death rising in the air. I stepped forward with intent, but Gabriel caught my wrist with a shake of his head.

"The king will march upon these grounds and destroy you all!" the Dragon bellowed, and Darius kicked him in the head.

Orion held his sword to his throat. "When is he planning this?" he hissed.

Darius slammed his foot down on the man's chest again, making my breaths come quicker.

"Two days," he rasped. "That's all you have. Then you lesser scum will all perish and-" He spluttered as Darius buried his axe in his chest, then ripped it out, leaving him to die beneath him.

"He could know more than that," Orion said in frustration, but Gabriel called out to him.

"There's nothing more for him to tell us," he said darkly. "But he speaks the truth, I see it now as clear as sunlight. Lionel will bring his army to our door in two days' time."

"Then we should march on him first," Darcy said fiercely, and I nodded.

"We march at dawn. Spread the word," I called, and Gabriel turned to us.

"I will ensure our army is prepared," he promised, then took off into the sky.

The Dragon shifter died with a final rattling breath and my heart rate slowed once more.

I exchanged a heavy look with Darcy, both of us acknowledging in that shared silence the fact that we were out of time. Our plotting, scheming, alliances and recruitment had come to an end. This war wouldn't wait any longer and we would have to face it with what we'd managed to gather then simply hope it would be enough.

"It's the time for goodbyes now, isn't it?" she whispered.

"Not goodbyes. Just… make sure everything is said that you need to say," I told her, equally quiet. Then I hugged her, because I loved my sister so deeply that words just weren't enough to express it.

As Orion joined us, Darcy smiled sadly at me then took his hand and led him away into The Wailing Wood in the direction of Asteroid Place. Seth and Caleb were sharing a look of intensity which made my chest ache. They hadn't gotten enough time together yet. None of us had. But there was no more left to claim.

I couldn't bear to look at Darius, to recognise all he was to me, all I'd sacrificed to make him such and all it had taken to claim this moment with him. Not with the knowledge of what tomorrow may bring crashing down over us to steal it all away so soon.

I turned from him, striding away through the trees, heading to the Earth Caverns where so long ago, and yet not nearly long enough, I had been tentatively learning to wield earth magic for the first time.

Darius shadowed my footsteps as we walked, a heavy weight dripping from the time which passed us with every step, clinging to our skin and rolling from our limbs like leaden wax as it tried to root us to the ground. But there was no stopping now, no moment to pause or savour anymore. Time had turned against us and despite our best efforts, I knew we hadn't achieved nearly enough with it.

A clamour of noise filled the trees ahead and I spotted a large group of new recruits being led along the path towards Rump Island where they would be given their positions in the army and prepared for battle as best they could be with the fleeting time remaining to us.

Several of them noticed me, calling out in wonder, praises crashing against my skin and shattering against the wall of ice which I'd constructed around my emotions so that I might hold them in check. I couldn't summon a smile to my face but I raised a hand to them, calling out to thank them for joining our cause.

I headed through the trees to the right of the path, Darius still close behind me, his shadow reaching out to caress my skin even while I kept my eyes from him, my focus ahead and refusing to linger behind.

"I knew you'd be waiting for me," a female voice gasped effusively from far too close to us, and I jerked around in surprise, my hand moving to grasp a dagger of ice as it formed in my palm on instinct.

The girl was pretty, her dark hair pulled back in a high tail and her face carefully painted in a way which seemed so vapidly pointless in the face of war. Her gaze was filled with the enamoured devotion that I had faced several times from the new recruits, that desperate need to be recognised by the True Queens shining in her widened eyes as she wrung her hands together and stared with unconcealed awe at…

No, she wasn't looking at me at all. This woman was one hundred percent drooling over my husband, a soft moan spilling from her lips as the sound of trickling water splashing against the dry leaves at our feet suddenly filled the awkward silence.

"What the fuck?" I said, jerking back a step as the warm liquid splashed from the hem of her trouser legs and her moan turned to one of horror.

"It is my curse," she breathed, her hands moving to shield her crotch which was darkened with an unmistakeable wet patch, but there was nothing she could do to disguise the pungent scent of urine which surrounded her now. "We can work past it," she insisted, taking a step closer to Darius who retreated.

He caught my arm, drawing me a step behind him and for once I didn't object to him being a protective bastard. If he wanted to deal with this one then he could have at it.

"I came, just like I promised I would in all my letters," she pressed, taking a step closer which we again echoed with a step back.

"What are you talking about?" Darius growled, not seeming to have the faintest idea who this girl was but as she stepped into a patch of brighter light between the trees, something about her face sparked a memory in me.

"You sent him those naked photos," I blurted. "And the hair with your scent on it."

The woman pursed her lips, ire spilling from her gaze as she was forced to look at me for the first time but she jerked her focus back to Darius just as fast.

"It's me – Cindy Lou. Darius, aren't you going to say any-" The sound of more urine trickling down to splash into the leaves at her feet filled the air and luckily for the psycho, the soldiers who had been escorting her group arrived to reclaim her at that moment.

She wailed as they grabbed her by the arms and started hauling her away, Darius's name spilling from her lips in a plea as though she thought he might come to her rescue or some shit.

I looked up at my husband, parted my lips then closed them again.

"I think that was my stalker," he said mildly like that wasn't disturbing as fuck.

"She pissed herself," I pointed out as if the stench of her urine which still lingered from the puddle she'd left behind wasn't reminder enough of that.

"Yeah. That was fucked up," he agreed. "Poor Cynthia, the object of her obsession was obviously overwhelming in person. I can't really blame her though, I'm fucking irresistible."

"Her name wasn't…" I trailed off, uncertain why I was even bothering with him on the names thing anymore anyway and addressing that big headed bullshit instead. "And you're not irresistible – I resisted you plenty," I added.

"Nah, baby, you really didn't. Even before you ripped my clothes off in the Shimmering Springs, I was all over your filthy fantasies. If I hadn't wanted you just as much in return you might have ended up like poor Sandy, obsessed and pining from afar for the rest of your-"

I shoved him away from me with a scoff, refusing to even acknowledge that nonsense as I continued my path to the Earth Caverns.

"Keep up, asshole," I called over my shoulder. "Or I might change my mind about giving you your gift."

"What gift?" he demanded instantly, his long stride depositing him on my right where I side-eyed him with a knowing smile.

"You'll see."

Somewhere between preparing for this war, making battle strategies and trying to buy us as many advantages as possible for the coming fight, I'd managed to squeeze in the hours required to make him this gift and though it had been exhausting and infuriating at times, I'd finally finished it in the early hours of this morning after slipping from his bed and coming here to get it done. It was now or never after all.

Darius slung his arm around my shoulders, keeping me close and we almost could have been those carefree teenagers again, the ones whose biggest problems were exams and Pitball matches, relationship dramas and normal bullshit. I sighed as I leaned into him, drawing that lie close for the remainder of our walk.

The caverns were being guarded but no one questioned us as we entered. The enormous central space was full to bursting with the flame-imbued swords Darcy and I had helped create in preparation for the coming battle, and the repetitive clang of the swordsmiths working in the newly created forge to craft more weapons filled the air.

I led the way past the smoky space, heading down the narrow, gloomy passageways beyond, delving into the dark and leaving nothing but the Faeworms to light our way on.

Darius stayed silent, his arm still wrapped around me, our steps in time with one another's as we walked further into the cold network of caves.

Eventually, we reached the cavern I had claimed for my own and I unlocked the magic I'd left in place over the entrance to it so that we could enter.

Inside, presented neatly on a wooden dummy was a set of perfectly crafted golden armour. I had worked with one of the smiths to have it designed specifically for Darius's frame and used a technique that I'd found in the book on Phoenixes to forge the metal using the flames of my Order.

"It's lightweight – incredibly so. You'll barely even know you're wearing it. But it's strong enough to take the force of a battering ram without buckling and has clasps which will release automatically if you have to shift. I used solid gold and strengthened it with Phoenix-"

"It's priceless," Darius breathed, releasing me and moving into the room, his breath catching as he reached out to brush his fingers over the polished metal, caressing the Vega insignia which sat in the centre of the chest plate with his lips parting in awe. "I mean that literally, Roxy, I don't know if I've ever seen anything so rare, so valuable, so-"

"Potently powerful for a Dragon who needs to keep his magic replenished?" I offered smugly, because of course that had been the idea. To make something so valuable that it would not only protect him in battle but strengthen him too. And what better way than to make his magic practically unending the way mine and Darcy's was whenever we wielded flames?

Darius stared at the beautiful armour in admiration, his fingers gliding over the gilded surface, inspecting it piece by piece, taking in every detail. "This is…shit, Roxy, when did you even find the time to-"

"It didn't really take that long," I said dismissively, though that was a lie because I'd definitely spent hours and hours slaving over this thing, pouring magic into it. I'd refused to accept anything less than perfect, needing it to be the best it could be because it would be out there in battle with the most precious thing I owned, and I couldn't bear for him to be at risk.

"Liar," he growled, seeing straight through me.

"Honestly, I was gonna make ten more but then I figured that might detract from its one-of-a-kind value so I just threw this together as is. It's a gift but you don't have to make it into some big romantic gesture or any bullshit like that, I just-"

"Beautiful, brilliant, liar," he growled, turning from the glimmering armour and catching my jaw in his rough palm as he forced me to look up into those dark and ruinous eyes which owned my entire soul. "Stop trying to downplay this and own it, Roxy. It's utterly exquisite, the most valuable thing I have ever laid eyes on bar one."

My lips toyed with a smile as his other hand moved to my waist and drew me closer.

"Fine. I worked myself to death over it and I'm fucking exhausted by the effort it took. I did it for you because I won't ever risk you again. You own my heart, Darius." I pressed my palm to his chest where his pulse sounded in time with mine. "Not like this, but in the purest and most vital way any one person can. And I will follow you into death if that's what our fate demands. But I don't plan on letting death have us that easily, I plan on living with you and loving you this fiercely through the grey hair and wrinkles and rocking chairs surrounded by a hundred great grandbabies and every glorious moment between now and then. So this is a command from your queen, Darius Vega. Don't die out on that battlefield. Bring me your father's head and let's start a new life by dancing on his funeral pyre."

"So beautifully, brutally, violent, my Queen," Darius rumbled against my lips, teasing me with a kiss which was only a breath away. "And of course, your wish is my greatest command."

He took me then, captured my lips with his and kissed me like he was trying to memorise the fit of my mouth against his, like he wanted to never again breathe any air but my own, like the world was ours for the taking and all we had to do was reach out and snatch it into our grasp.

I fell into that kiss, the taste of his tongue against mine and the promise of tomorrow on his lips the only thing I wanted in this world. And maybe it was a lie, maybe we had come as far as we would in this war and none of it would mean anything once the dust had settled and the war was over, our bones left to litter the ground in testament to all that might have been.

But this love between him and me, this powerful force of nature which rattled the stars and awoke destiny from its slumber would have left its scar on the world. This earth would not forget us, this kingdom would never forget us and beyond it all, our memory would linger just as our souls would forever remain united. No matter which side of death we landed on in the end.