Finally brave enough to open her eyes, Serenna’s tangled stomach untwisted itself when Fenn placed her back on her feet.
“That…was…definitely more than ten,” she panted, gripping his arm to steady herself. Miles away, the ancient volcano towered over the mountains, the snowy outlines glowing with the light of the moons.
Fenn chuckled. “It seems I miscalculated.”
Serenna brushed disheveled hair out of her face while her brain slowly stopped spinning. Readjusting her cloak, she nearly slipped, finding ice beneath her feet. The glassy surface reflected turquoise hues in the celestial light before rolling over the ledge in front of her. Fenn must’ve ferried her to that frozen waterfall he’d mentioned.
From their vantage at the top, a rocky overhang sheltered the crest from the howling wind. Serenna’s gaze drifted down to the valley below, then soared above to the expanse of glimmering stars. Steam curled in wisps around their legs, permeating from a tunnel behind them.
“There’s a hot spring back there if you follow the ice,” Fenn said, waving a claw at the cavern’s depths and the ripples of frozen water disappearing into the darkness. Along the stony walls, lichens and mosses twinkled with cyan luminescence, casting pinpricks of light deeper into the cave.
Spreading his cloak on top of the frozen stream, Fenn folded himself onto the ground, patting the space beside him. “So, what do the elves find so extraordinary about these moons kissing?”
Serenna settled next to him, tucking her knees up to her chest. “The eclipse marks a new half-year, I suppose.” Not being a natural furnace like Fenn, she needed more than a single layer to keep warm. Staving off the chill, she tucked the furs of the hood under her chin. “I never saw how the solstice was celebrated in Alari, but I…” Dwelling on where she might’ve been if she hadn’t portaled away, Serenna faltered. Her voice lost its strength, fraying to a whisper. “I was invited to the celebration at the palace tonight.” I think I was, anyway. She wasn’t sure why she brought it up to Fenn.
“The palace?” Fenn’s brows rose, lifting his piercings. His surprised expression shifted to uncertainty. “You know someone important back in your realm?”
Serenna coiled the ends of her hair around a finger. She wavered like a flame in the wind, considering how much to reveal. Fenn’s eyes flared with genuine interest, his quiet attention all the encouragement she needed to discharge the ruminations that had festered the past few weeks.
“I used to live in a castle in the human realms…” With a deep breath, Serenna released the torrent of her pent-up frustrations. She recounted everything she hadn’t shared with Fenn yet—beginning with Jassyn’s arrival in Vaelyn and ending when she’d portaled away. The only fact she withheld was her bond with Vesryn.
With a guilty sting needling her for the lie, Serenna twisted the ending of her tale. She claimed to have accidentally portaled to Lykor, pulled by his presence, skirting the truth of how she’d meant to confront the prince.
“Vesryn’s engagement will be announced during the eclipse tonight,” Serenna continued, wrapping her arms around her legs. Fenn remained silent, attentively listening to her tirade as she ran out of words.
Unable to ward off her heartache, a raw pang of sadness sank Serenna’s spirits as she told Fenn of running into the prince’s betrothed traipsing to his quarters. And right after we…on his balcony… Indignant anger welled like a tide. Vesryn must’ve known she was on her way since he tried to rush me out.
Serenna could acknowledge that it was her fault for letting everything go so far when she knew the prince was promised. I was too caught up in the bond and should’ve anticipated what it meant to be the other female in all of this.
“Your prince is dishonorable for tangling your heart,” Fenn said, dragging his talons across the ice. Scraping trenches, he dislodged a mound of frozen crystals. “He shouldn’t have cultivated doubt by partnering with another while paired with you—unless you both had discussed it and agreed.”
A lump swelled in Serenna’s throat as Fenn’s words echoed in the hollow cavern of her chest. “We’re not paired,” she said, defending the prince. “We never discussed any level of commitment.”
“If I were your elven prince,” Fenn continued softly, talking up to the moons, “I wouldn’t shy away from claiming the she-elf with eyes like the universe, burning with stars and fire.”
Serenna’s pulse skipped up her chest to thunder in her ears. “But—but you have partners already,” she stuttered, unsure how to accept Fenn’s admission. “What about them?”
“I’m committed to them, but I wouldn’t deny myself from another who harmonizes with my heart.” Fenn turned to face her, eyes flaring like comets blazing across the sky. “I find love to be like a tapestry, with each partner weaving their own unique thread into my life.”
“You want me…” Serenna blinked as his gaze lingered on hers, mind working through his poetic words. “…As one of your partners?”
Fenn shrugged and plucked at his hair, shifting on the ice. “I understand if you find me distasteful because I’m a wraith and you’re a pretty little elf.”
Serenna’s response tumbled out, her bruised heart soothed by his straightforward honesty. “You’re not distasteful.” That didn’t really answer the question he’d hidden in those words, but she hadn’t exactly had a conversation discussing such an arrangement before. “I appreciate how open you are.” Which still skated around what he was after.
Serenna’s attention roved over his sky-high cheekbones and dancing eyes, always shining with a light of their own. She pried her stare away from the low cut of his tunic, the memory of his sculpted chest still burning in her mind.
“It doesn’t matter that you’re a wraith,” she insisted. “I think you’re attractive.” That was the only answer she could provide with her thoughts still dwelling on the prince.
Fenn smirked, leaning back on his claws. Kicking one ankle over the other, he circled his tongue along the point of a canine as it elongated. “It’s the fangs, isn’t it?”
Serenna cursed herself for stroking his inflated ego, attempting to recover. “It’s impossible to ignore your fangs when you flash them at me all the time.”
Fenn glanced away, his canines retreating with a click. “It is rather…embarrassing when they extend on their own.”
Serenna hardly restrained a disbelieving snort. “I thought they appeared when you were angry or when you feel the need to assert your dominance.”
“When you phrase it like that, it doesn’t sound like an attribute to be proud of,” Fenn mumbled, folding his arms across his chest, apparently insulted. He cleared his throat. “It is typically an uncontrolled, aggressive response.” Serenna almost swore the points of Fenn’s ears colored darker with a rush of his charcoal blood. “But you’ve made a habit of challenging me, and I seem to lose control of them when I’m aroused by that.” Fenn’s incinerating stare slid back to hers. “Sometimes, all I can think about is about how much I’d like to sink my fangs into that ravishing neck.”
Serenna’s hand leaped to clap the skin under her ear—the same spot on his flesh bearing puncture marks.
“And not to harm you,” Fenn hurried to say, lifting a claw as if to offer a comforting touch. He formed a fist instead, withdrawing. A volcanic storm swirled in his eyes, flicking to the scabs where Larek’s teeth had scraped into her skin. “Quite the opposite, actually.”
Heart whirling like a tempest, Serenna’s breath hitched on a riot of sensations. The confession evoked a tingle of fear fused with indecent excitement as she recalled Fenn’s claim about the effects of wraith venom. Heat scorched Serenna’s cheeks as a flurry of improper thoughts had her imagining what that experience would entail.
Fenn grinned in a way that seemed to outshine the stars. “I don’t bite without permission,” he reassured her with a salacious wink. “But I do hope you’ll ask.”
A brief smile curved Serenna’s lips before slipping off her face. Shame churned in her gut for finding amusement in his flirtations. She couldn’t help but feel like she was betraying the prince in some way. But it’s not like I need to deny myself friends if my life is heading beyond the realms. And Fenn just teases me, nothing more.
With a sigh, Serenna burrowed her hands into her pockets. Mainly so she wouldn’t fidget and pick at her nails. “Would you…” She cleared her throat, reclaiming her voice. “Would you tell me about your partners?”
Fenn’s spine snapped straight, glancing at her sideways. “Really?”
“I want to know more about you.” Serenna conjured courage, resisting the urge to squirm. She couldn’t deny her simmering curiosity, but she gave him the option to deflect. “Unless you have too many to list in one night.”
Fenn barked a laugh, stretching his arms above his head like a cat languishing in the sun. “If you believe that, then I suppose I gave you the wrong impression.”
Serenna pursed her lips, pointedly staring at the punctures on his neck. The bite marks were blatant evidence that he kept himself as entertained in the evenings as he made it seem. Unoffended, Fenn all but preened under her accusing look, tossing his cascading hair over his shoulder, providing her a better view.
