Before I Let Go (Skyland #1)(9)

Even as our horses’ hooves sounded against the cobblestone streets, I felt more curious than fearful, and I hated that it was because Evren rode at my back.

I had no business feeling comfortable in his presence or beneath his touch, but I couldn’t explain it. His magic was protecting me as it surrounded me, and I still felt safe in that protection.

The city was alive with sound and vampyres bustling through the street, but when they noticed us riding through, every one of them stopped. They looked so normal, so unlike anything I had been taught to fear. Much like those in my village, some were so pale their skin almost looked translucent while others were the deepest shade of black. Each one of them looked different from the other, and I studied them as I tried to find a way that differentiated them from me.

I found it odd that the queen didn’t move behind her guards or allow them to shelter her, instead, she rode at the lead, and I watched as she smiled at her patrons like she was seeing old friends.

And they looked at her the same.

But they looked at Evren differently. It wasn’t a friendship or simple respect that shone in their eyes. They looked to him with admiration.

Many bowed their heads or simply nodded to him as he rode past, but everyone watched him and the way he was holding me.

Were they admiring him for what he had done? Were they impressed that he was so easily able to steal the Starblessed from her betrothed with his wicked words and the gods’ blessed hands?

Could they see how easily I fell for a man who promised me nothing?

What was the most shocking to me was that not a single one of them looked at me with an ounce of contempt or hunger. I was told of the vampyres’ thirst for blood. It was a fact my mother had drilled into my head over and over throughout the years. That thirst ruled them above all else, but if that was true, they all hid it incredibly well.

Because they looked like nothing more than men and women who were happy to welcome home their prince. I straightened on the horse, Evren’s thighs still pressed firmly against my own, and I watched them as we passed. I realized then that it was their unnatural beauty that set them apart, and I remembered my mother telling me of that fact on one of the double blood moons. It was their beauty that would draw you in. It was their looks that would make you attracted to them in a way that you couldn’t resist.

Evren seemed to move closer to me, his chest pressed against my back until there wasn’t a trace of air between us, but he didn’t say a word.

I wasn’t sure if he could sense my warring thoughts or if I should have truly been fearful of a threat, but either way, I tried not to let his touch affect me.

We rode through the streets quickly until the palace came into view. The castle was just as large as the one in the Fae Court, but it was different. The stone exterior was weathered with age and covered in mossy patches and climbing vines that beared vibrant flowers.

There was no large wall separating the castle from its kingdom. Instead, we rode directly from the street onto the courtyard, and a young man looked up from his book for only a moment to nod in his royals’ direction before he lounged back on the bench and continued to read his tale.

It was the home of their royal family, but it seemed to fit in so well with all the other homes that we passed.

The queen dismounted easily, and I tried to follow suit, but Evren’s magic refused to let me go. I shot him an angry look just as his feet hit the stones beneath us, but he simply lifted his hands as if he meant to help me down.

“Don’t touch me, Evren, and remove your magic.”

“Let me help you, princess.” He lifted his hands higher, and his magic tightened around me as if it was delaying letting me go.

“I don’t need your help.”

Evren sighed and dropped his hands to his sides, but his magic was slower to leave me. It slithered away from me inch by inch, and I trembled as it skated over my marks.

He opened his mouth to speak, probably to correct me on how obvious my need for him was, but he closed it as soon as the sound of a woman’s voice called out.

“Thank the gods!”

The sound pulled my attention away from Evren just as the woman’s body collided with his, and she wrapped her arms solidly around him.

“Evren.” His name was a plea on her lips, a damn plea of desperation as she clung to him, and my marks burned in a way they never had before.

I watched her as she clung to my mate. It hit me deep in my bones. He was my mate whether I wanted to admit it or not, and I could hardly catch my breath as I stared at the woman holding him.

She wore black leather trousers that fit tightly against her curvy frame and a cream top that highlighted her dark skin that was so lovely it battled with the night sky.

A night sky that was littered with stars.

Her star mark began at her elbow and moved around her bicep until it disappeared beneath her top. She was Starblessed. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, and I watched as some of the tension fell from him.

This woman—she was important to him. She was his Starblessed.

She pulled away from him, pushing her untamed curls out of her face as she stared up and ran her gaze over every inch of him. She was checking him, assessing him for any injuries, and my gut clenched when she reached up and ran her fingers across his cheek.

Jealousy swirled through me like a beast waiting to attack, but it became feral when I noticed the scars that were littered along her forearm. Scars where she had been fed from.