Ambrosia (Frost and Nectar, #2)(70)

“Hang on. What?”

He stroked his hand down my hair. “Ava, I think I know why Finvarra banished Modron. ”

I blinked, trying to rid myself of the image of Torin carrying a bucket of blood into his bedroom. “Because she was a living nightmare?”

“The legends were that once, the Seelie and Unseelie lived in these lands together. And among them lived a set of twins, old as the earth itself. Cala and Modron. I’ve also heard that King Finvarra had a taste for Unseelie women, and he kept giving his mistresses more favors. More land and titles. I think Modron told everyone his business. Showed them, even, what happened behind the king’s closed doors. So Finvarra banished her, and a war broke out between the two factions.”

“Aren’t you directly related to him?” I asked. “A taste for Unseelie women must run in the blood.”

“I don’t have a taste for Unseelie women. Just you.”

I wrapped my arm around his waist. “Do you think the Seelie will ever accept someone like me?”

“It will take time. Even I’m still shocked at the idea that the Seelie and demons belong together.”

“You’re never going to stop calling me demon, are you?”

“Sorry, changeling.” A fingertip stroked up my horn, sending hot shivers through my body.

“I don’t know if Seelie and demons belong together. But you and I belong together. I’m just not sure your subjects will agree.”

“They will. When everyone understands the curse is gone for good, and that you helped save the kingdom, they won’t care if you have wings or horns. People just want to feed their families and keep them safe. If we give it a few months, they will love you as I do.” His eyes danced in the sunlight, and a wicked smile curled his lips. “Well, not exactly as I do.”

A smile spread over my lips.

When I’d first arrived in this place, I’d thought them all ruthless and powerful as gods. And they were. But a person—even a fae—was like these Blood of Avon trees. They could be delicious and beautiful, even if fed on blood. But if you miss out on important elements that they need to thrive, they grow up twisted and thorny.

I swallowed hard. I’d heard how Moria had been kept in a cage. That Milisandia was the only person who’d ever shown her an ounce of kindness. Once her sister died, the rot began to set in.

I slid my fingertips under Torin’s shirt and skimmed them over his tattoos. It was only this morning—just this morning as dawn broke—that I’d thought to never see him again. Before that, in the dungeon of the Court of Shadows, I’d been certain his heart would never beat again.

And here we were, limbs entwined.

This was where I belonged. Here, in Faerie, the smoke rose from the ruins of an ancient war. Peace reigned, even if nightmares would plague us for a while.

The fae had been tempered in the fires of a mountain goddess to live lives that were wild and incandescent. But we didn’t need bloodshed. The Unseelie lived for duty, the Seelie for pleasure.

And now, I was pretty sure I wanted nothing more than to indulge in the Seelie world .

But as I lay back in his bed, a familiar magic skimmed over my skin, the warm, liquid power I’d felt when my brother had healed me.

I rose from Torin’s bed and crossed to one of his towering windows. Spring had blossomed outside already—within just hours, the snow had melted. The icy walls still stood, but they were fast becoming slush. Green grass spread out from the castle, and a carpet of bluebells strained for the setting sun.

But my breath caught at the sight of two dark-winged figures standing at the edge of the forest, their long shadows slanting over the grass. Twilight, when the worlds thinned...

Morgant and Mab stared at my window, washed in rosy light. My heartbeat sped up, and I felt as if I were looking at ghosts. I stared at them and lifted a hand.

In the distance, my brother waved back.

“What do you think you will do here, as queen?” asked Torin.

I turned back to him, my heart slamming hard. Flat on his back, he threaded his fingers behind his head.

When I glanced outside again, Mab and Morgant had disappeared. My heart clenched, and I breathed out slowly.

“Who says I plan to be queen here?” I asked, my voice shaking.

His lips quirked. “We do technically have a contract.”

I pressed my hands to my chest. “That’s so romantic. You also owe me fifty million, by the way.”

He went very still. “You are staying, aren’t you? ”

As if there was any question. I climbed back into the bed next to him, feeling as if I’d just woken from another dream. “I suppose I could open my bar here. Chloe’s? That’s been my whole plan all along, really.”

He brushed his knuckles along my bicep. “The Seelie king and his demon bride.”

“We can get married, but at the wedding, I draw the line at sacrifices. We should fuck around bonfires and in the woods. I was promised this kind of party when I first got here.”

A mischievous smile curled his lips. “At a wedding, changeling? Honestly.”

“A Beltane wedding.” I smiled. “Don’t you remember promising me Beltane? We fuck each other hard up against the oak trees,” I began in my best imitation of his voice, “rending the forest air with the sounds of our ecstasy. When was the last time you forgot your name? That you forgot your own mortality? Because that is what it means to be fae. I could make you ache with pleasure until you forgot the name of every human who ever made you think there was anything wrong with you.”