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Chapter no 13

A Reign of Rose (The Sacred Stones, #3)

ARWEN

IHAD NO TIME TOย think as the ground surged toward us both. Myย heart barely pumped a full beat. But I still had my lighte, and it coursed

through me on pure animal instinctโ€”

The bubble of sun-flecked power blossomed around us just in time to cushion our fall into the shrubbery below.

We still landed with a thud, Kaneโ€™s hands around my waist and the back of my head.

My bubble fizzled quicklyโ€”far too much shock spinning in my mindโ€” and thin sticks and leaves swallowed us whole.

Before I could utter a word around my astonishment, Kane climbed off me and pulled us both farther behind the hedges. We crouched, away from the prying eyes of soldiers drawn to the ruckus, twin breaths racing in our lungs. Tiny twigs had lodged in his dark hair and unruly beard, his face was gouged down the cheek, and his neck red and splotchy from where Iโ€™d all but strangled him with my gripโ€”but that signature Kane half grin was undeniable in the moonlight. And those eyes, welling with tears, simmering softly on my ownโ€”

My heart gave out completely.

He must have seen it in my eyes, because he only brought a silver-clad finger to his lips as we observed the guards in shaky silence. Not a breath

between the two of us as they peered at the bushes weโ€™d nearly died atop of and decided the brief ruckus was nothing more than a fox or stray dog.

โ€œYouโ€™d think plummeting to your death once would have been enough,โ€ he murmured once they were out of earshot.

That voice. Iโ€™d yearned for that voice. It was even better than Iโ€™d remembered: choked raw by emotion, and yet still a deep, confident rumble. One I had once described as thunder and a caress.

When he brought his hand to my face, I realized my cheeks were wet. Kane was here, in Solaris. Grinning at me.

I flung myself into his arms like a kite in the air. I was sure Iโ€™d topple us both farther into the bushes, but Kane only loosed a muffled groan as he held me to him tightly, steadying us both. Those massive hands spanning the length of my back was enough to set tears free like a river rushing away. And I couldnโ€™t help it as I cried into the spot where his neck met his shoulder. Buried myself farther into him. His scruffy beard against my cheek. Despite the Fae armor, he still smelled of leather and mint and sweat and skin. His breath was hot against the shell of my ear and my fingers

twined in the strands of his dark, clean hair as I cried.

โ€œShh.โ€ His words muffled against me. Those lips. That dark, bearded chin. โ€œMy love,โ€ he murmured. โ€œIโ€™m here.โ€

I couldnโ€™t inhale enough of him. His lips found mine in a daze of tears and I broke again. Choking out a weak cry as he kissed me so gently, so reverently, shrouded in brittle leaves and shrubbery. A kiss for all the times he couldnโ€™t. For all the nights Iโ€™d stayed up wishing for just a minute like this. A single second of it.

Kane tipped my face up to his, angled my chin and brushed his large hands across my neck and my shoulders, dusting off leaves and thorns. Picked them carefully from my hair. Those searing quicksilver eyes shadowed as he said, โ€œWhatever you experienced, whatever you went through, whatever made you want toโ€ฆโ€ His jaw was rigid as a glacier. โ€œI promise, together we canโ€”โ€

โ€œI wasnโ€™t trying to kill myself.โ€ My voice was like gravel.

He narrowed his eyes at me as if he didnโ€™t want to be cruel but knew that I was lying.

โ€œReally,โ€ I promised, pressing a hand to my cheek to dry my tears. โ€œI was trying to fly.โ€

Relief swamped me as that pain in his eyes blossomed into awe and then male pride. โ€œYou can shift? Into what?โ€

โ€œWell, nothing yet,โ€ I admitted. โ€œSomeone distracted me.โ€ โ€œI thought I could catch you before you leapt.โ€

Butโ€ฆhe hadnโ€™t shifted. Weโ€™d been falling to our deaths, and he hadnโ€™t shiftedโ€ฆโ€œWhy didnโ€™t you transform?โ€

His gaze devoured my own, filled with sorrowful understanding. โ€œI donโ€™t have use of my lighte right now. And I donโ€™t have my Fae strength, or my heightened sensesโ€ฆโ€

โ€œKane, youโ€™reโ€ฆโ€ I couldnโ€™t fathom the words. โ€œMortal. For the time being, yes.โ€

He moved us deeper in the bushes until we could stand. A long stick scraped along my thigh, still exposed in my scant gown, but I hardly noticed. Kaneโ€ฆthe mostย Faeย being Iโ€™d ever knownโ€”wasย mortal.

My dragon, unable to shift.

โ€œDo you miss it?โ€ I couldnโ€™t help the question. His breath shuddered out. โ€œTerribly.โ€

โ€œHow did this happen to you? Why did you come here? What were you even doing on the roof?โ€

โ€œA piss-poor attempt at a rescue, clearly. Though, in my defense, I hadnโ€™t expected you to fling yourself out a window.โ€

I tried to smile but my lips split where I had scrubbed them raw.

โ€œWhat did you do to your lovely mouth?โ€ he asked, reaching to stroke my bruised bottom lip with his thumb. The sensation sent sparks along my veins.

โ€œHe kissed me.โ€ The memory curdled in me like sour milk. Kaneโ€™s nostrils flared with thinly concealed rage. โ€œI saw.โ€

โ€œYou did?โ€ I angled my head toward the castle roof, towering high above us. โ€œHow did you even know where to find me?โ€

He sighed tightly. โ€œEvery Solstice they hope the most fertile Fae will bear my father a full-blooded heir. Iโ€™m familiar with the ceremonial chamber.โ€

I winced.

Kane marked my reaction, and wrathโ€”blisteringย wrathโ€”rippled from that stare. โ€œWhich is why you need to go. It wonโ€™t be long before they realize youโ€™re no longer in the washroom.โ€

โ€œHow, though?โ€ I peered through the dense shrubbery as best I could. We were outside the castle, but in the heart of the city. Soldiers surrounded the perimeter, wealthy homes were gated and the streets too wide to offer cover.

โ€œYouโ€™re going to cut through that leftmost alleyway. The one to the right of the marble fountain in the center of that courtyard. Run until you reach the cityโ€™s eastern limits. Then you trek for the next city over, Aurora. Once thereโ€”โ€

Horror was beginning to patter in my heart. โ€œWait, Kaneโ€”โ€

โ€œOnce there,โ€ he pushed on, โ€œask around for Hart Renwick. Find his compound. How much lighte do you have right now? Was that protective sphere the last of it?โ€

โ€œKane, Iโ€™m not leaving you. No chance.โ€

His eyes gave his remorse away, and for some reason that was worse than if heโ€™d argued with me. His hands tightened where they rested on my shoulders. โ€œYouโ€™re going to have to, bird.โ€

No, no, noโ€”

He released meโ€”misery, pureย miseryย being parted alreadyโ€”and fished through the dirt for his helmet.

โ€œWhy?โ€ I knew I sounded desperate. โ€œWhere are you going?โ€

โ€œBack inside to find the blade and hope none of those weasels realize who I am before I do so.โ€

โ€œThe blade is gone, Kane.โ€ Iโ€™d gone through this in my own mind a thousand times. โ€œHe destroyed it.โ€

โ€œIt canโ€™t be destroyed. It always finds its way back to a master, and he wouldnโ€™t gift it to another. Not when it can be used to kill him. The blade is

in the castle, trust me.โ€

All this time my blade had been here? Waiting for me?

โ€œHow do you know all this? Why did you come here if you thought I was dead?โ€

โ€œItโ€™s a long, deeply unpleasant story,โ€ he said. โ€œIf we make it out of here alive, I will regale you with the entire thing and you can tell me all the ways in which Iโ€™m an absolute moron.โ€

โ€œKaneโ€”โ€

He drew his attention back toward the city beyond the bushes. โ€œYouโ€™ll look like any other partygoer to the soldiers out there. Youโ€™re fast, youโ€™ll outrun anyone who catches on. Worst-case, you may have toโ€”โ€ He cut himself off to study me. โ€œBut we both know you can take care of yourself.โ€

โ€œWhat is your master plan here? Sneak back into the palace, steal the blade, and meet me in some other city?โ€

His silver eyes crinkled with warmth, but there was something else there. Sorrow? โ€œDoesnโ€™t sound so hard, does it?โ€

โ€œKane.โ€ His jaw was tense when I reached to cradle his face in my hands. His beard rough and unkempt. I was going to cry again. โ€œDonโ€™t do this.โ€

โ€œDonโ€™t worry about me.โ€ One dimple revealed itself with his crooked grin, and my stomach flipped anxiously. โ€œThe armor will do half the work.โ€

โ€œDo you even know where the blade is?โ€

โ€œAt first, I thought it would be in the monster lairs.โ€

โ€œMonster? What kind of monster?โ€ I was braver nowโ€ฆbrave enough to launch myself out a window with nothing but gold heels and a dream, but stillโ€”the word โ€œmonsterโ€ didnโ€™t doย nothingย to me.

โ€œMonsters,โ€ he corrected. โ€œPlural. Their lairs are peppered all throughout the palace catacombs.โ€

โ€œWonderful.โ€

His large hand encircled mine and squeezed. I could feel his muscles, taut and ready for the bloody fight to come. โ€œI figured heโ€™d have the blade guarded by the fiercest creature in Lumera.โ€ He gestured down to the impossibly tight heels laced around my legs. โ€œYou canโ€™t run in those.โ€

โ€œRight,โ€ I muttered.

โ€œThen I realized,โ€ Kane continued, kneeling to the ground, โ€œI was right.โ€ He gently slipped my foot out of the heel and all the blood rushed back into my toes and arches. I flexed my foot gratefully. โ€œLazarus believesย himselfย to be the fiercest creature in Lumera.โ€

โ€œYou think he keeps the sword in his own wing?โ€

When Kane stood back up, his frown was almost a sneer. โ€œI think heโ€™s the kind of person who gives an order and then does the job himself before anyone can fuck it up. I bet itโ€™s in his very bed.โ€

I shuddered at the thought.

Kaneโ€™s eyes shot down to me and I clocked the grimace he fought to hide. โ€œIโ€™m sorryโ€ฆI didnโ€™t mean toโ€”โ€

โ€œItโ€™s fine. Iโ€™mโ€”โ€

โ€œReady?โ€ he asked, eyes grim.

I wasnโ€™t. It was all happening too fast. Too soon. Kane was mortal. Weโ€™d just been reunited, and now to be split apart so soon once moreโ€ฆWhat if we never found each other again?

But I knew this man better than I knew the rhythm of my own heart. He wouldnโ€™t budge.

โ€œFine,โ€ I breathed. โ€œGo. And Iโ€™ll meet you at that compound.โ€

With a nod he slid the helmet down over his head. In the suffocating dark night, he really did look like one of them. I tried to focus on the familiar shape of his nose and dip below his lips. I lifted to my toes and pressed a single kiss to the slice of his neck that wasnโ€™t covered in weighty Fae silver.

A resigned sigh ebbed from him. It was bereft, actually, but I could barely see his expression under the silver helmet. โ€œI love you, Arwen,โ€ he said, the silver rings on his hand scraping gently across the skin of my back where my dress hung open as he pulled me close.

Before I could say it backโ€”before I could get in one full inhale of his warmth, his smellโ€”Kane slipped from the bushes, fitting seamlessly in with the other soldiers milling about the street.

Something cold and prickly crawled down my spine, gnawing through my stomach and limbs. A sensation Iโ€™d felt too many times.

He was keeping something from me.

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