Cailis squeezed my hand once. Truth.
“And you won’t keep us as prisoners or use us for your personal gain?” I pushed.
His eyebrows drew together. “Don’t insult me. You are a queen, and you will be treated as such.”
Cailis’s lips tightened, and her brow furrowed. Her hand still held mine, but it took a moment before she squeezed once, but it wasn’t a confident gesture. Under her breath, she said, “I think.”
Confusion filled me. I wasn’t a queen. I was a farm girl from Mervalee, but Drachu had always looked at me as if I was so much more.
I studied the necklace he wore again, wondering what it did.
“Thank you,” I finally replied. “For giving us safe haven.”
Drachu grinned, the smile transforming his face into one of savage beauty. “Of course, Krelahala. I’ve been waiting for you to join my clan and for you to learn who you really are.”
And with those cryptic words hanging between us, he prowled softly toward me, the sea lapping at his ankles, until he stood only inches away. His sheer size dwarfed my frame, forcing me to tilt my head back.
That smile stayed on his face, and even though nerves fluttered through me, I could only hope that I was making the right decision.
EPILOGUE
NORIVUN
My fingers shook as I took the paper from Daiseeum’s outstretched hand. All night I’d been searching for her, hunting for my mate who’d fled from this castle and disappeared from my existence in a whisper of wind. I was in hell. My soul was in shreds. It felt as though Lucifer had captured my mind.
My mother had tried to console me, tried to tell me that right now, this was for the best. But my soul howled for Ilara. My dragon roared. My death affinity simmered beneath my skin, just waiting to be unleashed on the tyrant who sat atop the throne.
With shaking movements, Daiseeum bobbed a curtsy and fled from my chambers as my aura pounded into her back and into anyone that dared come near.
My stomach dropped when I recognized Ilara’s hastily written scrawl across the paper, Nori.
Holding my breath, I peeled the paper open, and my gaze flew over the words as my power rose like a storm inside me.
My prince, my love, my mate,
Please forgive me for running. I want to be at your side just as you want to be at mine. But right now, I must go and find a way to fight what your father is trying to force upon us. Please know that just because I’m running from the court, does not mean that I’m running from you.
I will return. Somehow, someway, I will find my way back to you. I vow to keep my bargain with you to heal our land, and I vow to one day be the mate at your side.
Fight for me, Prince Norivun. Fight for us until we can find a way to defeat him.
I love you,
Ilara
My hands were shaking when I finished reading it, and then I read it again and again. Fire raged in my soul. Violence pounded through my blood. Darkness rose within me as revenge coated my senses and demanded that I claim vengeance for what had been done to my mate. My love.
A roaring wind spiraled through my veins as power rumbled the floor beneath my feet. I slid her letter into my tunic, keeping it close to my heart. I would read it each night. Read those words and scent her alluring essence that clung to the single page. Every time I felt my hope slipping, I would read it and remember.
Ilara would return. She would fight to stop the tyrant on the throne, and she asked that I fight in her absence.
Because one day we would be reunited, and I would be ready for her.
My mate.
My queen.