Crown of Flames and Ash (Courts of Aetheria #2)

Chapter 42

Chapter Forty-Two

A elia

I drew in a breath, the chaos of sensations warring in my chest impeding the normal functioning of my lungs. Reign and I were fated mates? Cuoré ? I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around the concept, even with the inexplicable connection I’d felt to him from the start. And he’d felt it too?

My breaths continued to come fast and uneven as my heart stomped out an erratic staccato. Those dark eyes pierced mine, daring me to speak, to move, to do something. Another kiss could possibly help…

“Say something.” Reign’s request seemed to echo my thoughts.

“Can you read my mind?” I blurted.

The corner of his lip twitched. “I wish…” He lowered his hands, tugging mine along with them. With our fingers still linked together, his expression grew serious. “If we complete the bond, we would eventually be able to feel each other's emotions, hear each other’s thoughts, and sense physical sensations from one another, regardless of the distance separating us.”

My gods, I wasn’t sure I was ready for Reign to have unfettered access to all my innermost thoughts and feelings. My expression must have painted a vivid picture of my fear because a curtain of darkness vanquished that hopeful look in his eye.

“You still don’t trust me.” His words were nothing but a faint whisper.

He dropped his gaze to our interlaced hands, mouth slanted in a hard line.

“It’s not that simple,” I murmured, tipping up his chin to force his eyes to mine. “I trust you with my life, Reign Darkthorn. There is no doubt in my mind that you would put me before anyone else, anything else, no matter the cost. The issue I have is with that cost. Your ruthless methods are what frighten me, and the lengths that you’ll go to in order to protect me. I fear that you’ll continue to keep truths from me in a misguided attempt to shield me from the harsh reality.”

“It’s Reign of Umbra,” he whispered.

“What?”

“My name, Aelia. As a prince of the Court of Umbral Shadows, my name is Reign of Umbra, not Reign Darkthorn.” He exhaled a pained breath. “Darkthorn is a surname I adopted to conceal my true identity.”

Of all the truths he’d kept hidden, this seemingly insignificant one vexed me the most for some absurd reason. Of course, I’d considered it, much as I had questioned my own surname. But still, it only cemented the fact that I knew nothing about this male.

“Just as I assume Ravenwood isn’t your true surname either.”

And just like that, the irritation lessened because he had managed to read my mind once again, and he was right. If I wasn’t born a Kin, my real family would certainly not have adopted the typical naming convention of the powerless born in Feywood.

We remained trapped in a void of silence for an endless moment, my spiraling thoughts providing more than enough company. A long minute later, I lifted my gaze to meet his tormented one. “What now?”

“Run away with me.”

Reign had said it before, upon my return from Feywood, before I knew all his deepest, darkest secrets. I wasn’t certain he truly meant it then, but this time, I could read the conviction in his unfaltering gaze.

He released one of my hands to caress my cheek, pinning those shimmering pools of midnight to mine. “It’s the only way to ensure your safety and that of the entire realm. We can finally be together without the gods’ forsaken prophecy looming over our shoulders.”

“What does the prophecy have to do with us being together?”

His lips twisted, and darkness descended across his perfectly carved features. “I’m not certain, but?—”

“You’re not certain, or you’re afraid to tell me?”

That facade, the calm and collected professor he frequently donned crumbled. A fury of emotions glistened in his eyes as he regarded me, clutching my cheek. “I’m so damned angry, Aelia,” he cried. “I’m fucking furious and… and afraid of how much I love you and—” His mouth crashed into mine, the tempest of emotions clashing between us like a violent storm, unyielding and raw, threatening to sweep us both into its depths.

Logically, I knew I should stop him. There was more he was going to say, and I was certain I needed to hear it, but I’d lost all control of my senses. With Reign’s tongue dancing with mine, his fingers diving into the hair at the back of my neck as he tilted my head to just the perfect angle, there was no room for thought.

It was only feeling, raw and powerful, like the untamable nature of our dragons. I was swept into the deluge with those three words that would lead to my undoing. Gods, it was all I ever wanted, to be loved by Reign. And to be free to love him back. And Raysa, I did love him. Too much. But everything I’d confessed before remained. How could you truly love someone you didn’t fully trust?

Reign’s free hand clamped around my waist, dragging me into his lap so that I straddled him. The proof of his desire glided against my apex, and an embarrassing moan escaped my lips. I could feel his own tip into a smile against my mouth.

“Let’s complete the bond tonight, and we can be across the continent by morning,” he breathed as he dropped kisses along my jaw.

“How does one complete the bond?” I panted, the haze of lust all-consuming. I’d blame the blooming cuorem, but attraction had never been an issue between us.

“I make love to you all night, princess , and we seal it with a blood vow.”

Oh ! My heart leapt at my ribs like a battering ram and fiery heat coiled low in my belly at his explanation.

With his hands now sliding down my back to palm my bottom, he pressed me more firmly against his arousal. Fire blazed between my thighs as he rubbed me against his hard length. My back arched, the frenzy of sensations taking over my body in complete control. I ran one hand through his dark, wild hair while the other explored the contours of his muscled back.

He paused the licking and nibbling to meet my gaze. “Aelia, what do you say? Will you be mine, forever?”

Gods, the ‘yes’ was perched at the tip of my tongue. I could not dream of anything better than a lifetime with Reign. But what of everyone else? If we ran away, I would never be able to see Aidan again, or Rue and Sy, or any of my friends. And what of the prophecy? What if there was a way to be that beacon of hope? I couldn’t just condemn the realm with my own selfishness.

Hot tears gathered in my eyes, a rush of emotion constricting my throat. “I love you, Reign Dark—whatever your name may be. I will always love you, in spite of all the terrible things you’ve done and all those you will continue to do in my name. But I cannot run. It is not in my blood. If I truly am this child of twilight, then it is my duty to reshape our destiny and bring forth a new dawn to our realm.” A sob built in my chest, sending a tremor through my shoulders.

Reign’s eyes remained pinned to mine, the light vanishing as I forced out the words.

“I love you,” I kissed him again. “And I am so sorry.”

He stiffened beneath me, the layers of armor he wore disintegrating.

“I just need more time to sort through all of this, to discover the truth of who I am and what it means.”

“We don’t have time, Aelia!” he growled, his hands sliding up to grip my waist. “If we don’t leave now, it will be too late.”

“But why ?”

He gritted his teeth, the tendon in his jaw feathering.

“Tell me,” I hissed, framing his face with my hands.

“Because all those years ago, when my father began training me for this mission, he forced me to make a vow, Aelia. Finding the child of twilight isn’t only my duty, but a blood oath he forced upon me. Do you remember what it felt like when I bound you to our oath?”

Oh gods, no . Invisible bands laced around my lungs, growing tighter with every breath. The crushing weight pressing into my chest was permanently embedded in my mind. If I hadn’t agreed to the deal the night of the Winter Solstice, I would have died.

“If the king has any inkling of who you are, he will call in my debt, and I will have no choice.”

This could not be happening. It simply wasn’t fair.

“So you would kill me?” The words came out surprisingly steady, considering the whirlwind of emotions battering my insides.

“Of course not,” he hissed. “I could never hurt you. Which would leave me with only one option… to take my own life to keep my father from forcing me to steal yours.”