The prince sucked in a sharp breath as I palmed him through the fabric separating us, his eyes burning unflinchingly into mine. I was the one to blink in surprise, or maybe awe.
The size of him.
He was rock hard, straining against the trousers holding him at bay, and huge. Every man I’d ever known faded into insignificance as my heart galloped against my ribs. What would he feel like, buried in my body?
“Don’t look at me like that.” His voice was low and as ragged as his breath.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m this close to dragging you back through the rift and keeping you forever.”
Forever.
Cold sweat beaded my neck as the blood drained from my head. I hastily withdrew my hand. Idris’ face tightened in panic. He released his hold on my hair, allowing me to retreat, placing a few steps of safety between us. I wrapped my arms around my body, shielding myself from that piercing gaze.
What was wrong with me? What was I playing at? After weeks of longing, I was back in my own world. My old life was within my grasp. I shouldn’t be fooling around with some supernatural creature, least of all Idris. I had no intentions of forever.
“I apologise.” The prince’s perfect face was stricken with dismay. “I should never have kissed—I didn’t mean anything by it. It was a joke, a stupid joke. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine!” My voice came out unnaturally cheery and bright. “I’m sorry too. I got carried away. I don’t know what came over me.” My ears were aflame. God, had I really touched him like that?
He gave a single bark of false laughter. “Nor me. Perhaps the lack of sleep—”
“Yes!” I seized the excuse. Anything to brush what had just happened under the carpet. “We’re delirious, that’s all it was.”
Idris’ shoulders sagged and a relieved smile spread over his face. He began to chuckle, and I was powerless to stop my own sheepish grin.
Thank God. How bad could things be if he was laughing? “Well, this isn’t awkward at all.”
“I agree,” he said, his eyes dancing with amusement. “Thank the Mother I never have to see you again.”
“Exactly what I was thinking.” It was a lie. Forever and never were equally terrifying prospects. Both final. Both absolute. I didn’t want either.
“Well, on that note…” Idris’ face softened. My stomach dropped. This was it. He was going to say goodbye, for real. I wasn’t ready.
“Have a happy life, Aliza.”
I forced a small smile. “I’ll do my best.” Right now, it seemed an impossible task. I took a deep, wobbling breath. “Bye, Idris.”
The prince stepped closer, and closer, until he was right in front of me again. My body hummed at the proximity, as though he was calling to every part of me. I half expected, and maybe hoped, that he would pick up where we’d left off, but he only cupped my face in one broad, cool hand, and pressed a kiss to my hair. “Goodbye, Aliza with an A.”
I held my breath, determined to keep control of my sadness as he pulled away. His eyes were shining as he gave me one last half smile and turned to leave. He walked back the way we had come, past the pile of withered flowers. He didn’t look back as the darkness of the cave swallowed him whole.
Gone.
My heart drifted down to my boots, where it lay heavy and aching. It was over. Everything. My whole unwilling adventure, which had seemed unsurvivable at times, had come to an end. There would be no fairies, or witches, or vampires. No more fae.
Brushing my fingers over my tender lips, I turned away from the cave, trundling through the damp grass. I wanted to feel relieved, happy, excited even. I was finally going home. My steps weren’t supposed to be as heavy as my heart.
I should probably call my parents.
Sure enough, my phone had service. I smiled, unlocking the screen, only to find my camera still open. A little circle at the bottom of the screen showed a tiny photo of me and Idris. I tapped it.
A hand closed around my face, blanketing my mouth and nose, dragging me backward. My phone tumbled to the ground as I tried to scream. The sound died against the clamp of my captor. I grappled, trying to hook my fingers beneath the hand, but the air pressed in, heavy and black.
The Fairy Glen vanished.
38Who Would Choose To Love A Mortal?
Idris
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
The word echoed through me with every step I took away from the rift, growing more insistent with every recitation. As though I didn’t already know. I’d realised it the moment I found Aliza’s room abandoned and decided there and then that I would help her find her way home.
Wrong for me, right for her.
I wanted her happy, whatever the cost to me. If delivering her home was the price I paid for that happiness, then I would spend the rest of my life without her.
Aliza. Joy.
With her, I remembered what joy felt like. Fleeting glimpses of light in a pit of darkness and pain. I hadn’t seen it at first, too lost in grief and anger to pay attention, but she was nothing if not persistent. She’d driven me mad, and in my madness, I’d found the light.
Now the darkness stalked me, pressing ever closer with every step I took away from Fairy Glen. I didn’t bother to light my path as I passed through the rift and into the Blood Gate caverns. Aliza was in a different world now. Did she match each of my steps with one of her own, back to her former life?
A life that had no room for me.
Everything had changed for me during that first flight, when she’d taken my hand, trusting me with that fleeting, precious life of hers. For the first time in centuries, I’d tasted joy. I’d felt alive. Some of it had been the thrill of flight, but there was no denying that it was more to do with the way she’d screamed and screamed, her arms clenched around me as we’d plunged over the cliff, only for that fear to turn to wonder. When she’d loosened her grip, reaching for the clouds, I’d given them to her. I’d give her anything she asked for, even when it went against every ancient instinct I had. Which was precisely why I’d let her go.
