Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
Kyran kisses the middle of my injured palm, then nuzzles it, leaning against me as if he, the Crown Prince of the Nocturne Court and Lord of Shadows needs my protection. “I wish I could spill the blood of every person who ever hurt you. But if you’d rather go back to your world, if you cannot stand this one, then maybe that’s what we could do? Together?” he asks softly. “I do want the crown, and my legacy. I fear that without them I will always live in fear of being hounded down, but I will give them up if that’s what it takes for me to have you.”
My heart melts when I look into his warm dark eyes. I stroke his silky hair with a sigh. I don’t want him to live in fear. I don’t want him to have to give up what he dreamed of when the alternative doesn’t guarantee us safety. But knowing he’d give up his realm for me? I have never heard anything more romantic.
“You deserve the crown. You deserve to take your position at court after your brother wasted his chance. But I appreciate the gesture.”
He’s oddly quiet, as if I hurt him with something I said, but before I can ask, he kisses my hip and slides his arms around my waist, longing for my touch. “I always saved him. Sometimes, from legitimate danger, other times because he got himself into a mess. And he never thanked me. He took me for granted, almost as if he were doing me a favor just by acknowledging my existence in private. I warned him. I pleaded that he should be careful, but he wouldn’t listen. The one in need of nursing wounds after his escapades? Always me.”
I stroke his beautiful pointy ear with all the tenderness in my heart. “I’m so sorry. You tried. Maybe it’s for the better that he ran out of luck.”
The silence following my words feels heavy with meaning, and by the time he speaks, I know there’s more to this story.
“It wasn’t his luck that ran out but my patience. That day, he went hunting with just me to back him up. He wanted to seem like an accomplished hunter, for everyone to think that he slayed whatever beast he planned to come back with on his own. We argued when I didn't want to go deeper into the woods, and he told me he didn’t need a sunspawn to help him. Then he found a den with wolf pups and started teasing them. I saw their mother creep closer but didn’t warn him. He cried out for my help when she attacked but I let him handle the wolf himself. I chose not to save him this time. He always said his life would have been better without me, so I just gave him what he wanted. Does that make me a prince-killer?” he asks, meeting my gaze.
My stomach drops, and I know he wouldn’t have told this story to anyone else in the world. I ache for him. “Oh, Kyran… You were put in an impossible situation. It was either him or an existence in his shadow, which you despised. After all I’ve heard about your brother? Good riddance.” More importantly, I hope my words can ease Kyran’s guilt.
“Now you know every dark corner of my heart.” Warmth fills my heart when Kyran smiles before rising to his feet and making a broad gesture toward the display of skulls. “I told you about them, remember? The skulls of my ancestors and their Dark Companions, together, for all eternity. I wish—” He swallows, sliding his warm fingers through the hair at the back of my head. “I would often come here, alone, and dream of having a mate of my own, a Dark Companion whom I could share everything with. And now you’re here with me.”
I stroke the crystal dome as the rain and the automaton music create a melody in the background, interrupted only by thunder. “That is the most morbidly beautiful thing I’ve ever heard,” I whisper and rise to kiss his lips.
The Blood Moon peeks from behind a thick cloud, and my heart sinks when I think that we missed our opportunity to marry tonight.
But is it really… missed?
I glance at my hand and the ring I put on my thumb. The ring I wanted to surprise him with. The night isn’t over, and we’re not apart.
I pull it off as my heart beats faster. If this works, Kyran will have better odds during the royal challenge, and… I just want him to be mine, and for me to be his.
I go down to one knee, naked under my fluffy robe, and hold up the ring. “You will never be alone again. Marry me?”
Chapter 43