Moon's Flower (Kingdom, #6)

His body buzzed because in some ways it felt right. She was his first love and would always remain his first love, Calanthe owned his soul, but Siria had once owned his heart and he would never forget what she’d done for them.

Finally breaking the kiss, he panted as his forehead touched hers. “Thank you, Siria, for everything.”

Squeezing her eyes shut she nodded quickly. “Go before I change my mind.”

Jericho could not believe his good fortune, and with a jubilant cry, he picked Siria up and hugged her fiercely. “Thank you. Thank you.” Bowing, he ran for his balustrade and called his portal to him.

It was time to return to his fairy.

Siria watched him go, and if he’d turned back he might have noticed the glint in her eyes or the mysterious smile playing about her lips. But he never turned and he never noticed.

*

Calanthe knew what tonight was. She looked up at the sky, waved once, and then ran in search of her friend.

It was hard knowing that Jericho could come to her if he wanted, but that he definitely shouldn’t. She’d broken so many rules already, just to be with him. They played a very dangerous game, she was just happy that she hadn’t been caught.

What she needed was to take her mind off of him, off their time spent together and what they could be doing right now if he returned. Her body burned with the memories of his touch, the way his thick girth had filled her.

Sucking in a breath as red crept into her cheeks, she smirked. That memory had kept her warm many a night.

“June,” she cried when she entered the glen where the games were being held.

Tonight, everything seemed different. Yes, her heart ached for Jericho and probably always would, but she’d found her contentment, and she was that, she was at peace. Finally, she could breath and smile and know she was right where she should always have been.

“June!” she cried again as a pair of drunken fairies waltzed passed her hand in hand and giggling into their acorn cups.

“Serena,” Calanthe grabbed a red headed fairy dressed entirely in leaves of green. Hiccupping, Serena turned her shiny blue eyes in Calanthe’s direction.

“Aye?”

The apple cider was potent tonight and brought on a coughing fit as Calanthe inhaled the fumes emanating from the woodland fairy’s breath.

Clearing her throat, she grimaced. “Have you see, June?” she asked with a somewhat scratchy voice.

Serena turned to Aniada and frowned. “We did see her, did we not, sister?”

Aniada bobbed her cafe au lait head, balancing the sunny yellow tulip bloom back onto the center of her head as it’d nearly toppled to the ground. “We did,” she said in the melodious chiming voice of a flower fairy. “Earlier, she was with The Blue. Oh, Calanthe, look what I learned to do.” She pulled out the star tipped wand from inside her tulip petal gown and swished it about.

A massive wreath of baby’s breath encircled Calanthe’s slender neck.

Aniada had only just come into her powers recently and was rather proud of her limited skills.

Calanthe plastered on a smile and pretended to ooh and ahh over the simple spell when, in fact, her heart was currently tripping in her chest. Why was June with The Blue?

True, Galeta was their head mistress and if she called, a fairy must obey. Most likely this could be absolutely nothing, but something felt suddenly very wrong.

The pair of fairies meandered off before Calanthe had a chance to question them further. Standing just outside the circle of campfire light, she hid in the shadows and watched as the other fairies raced and played and drank themselves silly. What’d seemed like so much fun mere seconds ago now made her want to run away.

She was probably overreacting. In the month since Jericho’s return to his home June had been nothing but her normal, fun self.

Calanthe licked her lips. Because even while she continued to berate herself over her foolishness of impending doom, she couldn’t keep her palms from slicking or her gut from churning.

Twisting on her heels, she shot into the sky and raced back toward her haven. The spot where she’d always met Jericho in the past. It was where she could think and keep away from the prying eyes of other fairies with too much time on their hands.

So it was a shock when upon entering the sanctity of her knoll, there he was.

Jericho was sitting on their stump, with his chin on his fist and staring out into space.

Halting so suddenly it was as if she’d slammed into an invisible wall, Calanthe could only stare on in shock.

As if sensing her presence, he jerked his head to the side and then shot to his feet. “Calanthe!”

The smile across his face was radiant and unexpected and her already frantically beating heart was threatening to rip out of her chest.

“Jericho,” she breathed. “What… what?”

“No time.” He rushed to her, holding out his palm for her to land into. “Change me. I wish to move away from such open places. Something about this night feels wrong.”