Page 92 of Eternally Rare
“Cai! Is that you?” An elf with short hair cut above her shoulder stands by Lea, only this sister seems friendly. She has a big smile on her face while tucking the hair behind her ears. “I have missed you. Where have you been?” She hugs him tight, and he does the same in return, squeezing his eyes shut in their embrace.
“Staying away like Lea wished.”
Azorwyn scoffs, slapping her sister on the arm. “Don’t mind her cranky ass. She knows our position and wants someone to blame. That’s all—” Azorwyn turns, genuine happiness spreading across her face. “Oh my. You must be Rarity, my brother’s mate. Word has traveled fast, and you are a knockout!” She grabs my hand and then gives me a spin. “Oh, I bet my brother cannot keep his hands off you.”
“Neither of us can.” Nyx snags my hand and yanks me away from Cailian’s other sister, clearly jealous.
“Two mates? Really?” Azorwyn leans against the wall, looking me and Nyx up and down. “That makes sense. Fate would give you your best friend’s son. Uniting the kingdoms. This will be good. I’m so happy for you, Cailian. Really. It’s so good to see you.” She kisses Cailian on the cheek. “Perhaps do not wait so long to come say hi because of our bitch sister.”
“Hey, fuck you. I am doing what I can to protect us, and I am getting blamed? Unbelievable. Cailian will forget all about us now that he has his mates. You think we went a long time without seeing him before now? We will mean nothing to him soon.” Lea storms away, leaving a trail of ice in her wake.
Azorwyn sighs, giving a half smile. “I am so sorry. I like our situation. I love it here. Cailian takes care of us. He gives us everything we need and more. You are a good brother, Cailian. Lea will come around.”
“Where is Faerora?”
“I am here.” Someone comes running down the steps so fast, I’m not able to see her as she wraps her arms around Cailian’s neck. “I have missed you.”
“I have missed you too. Faerora. I want you to meet my mates, Rarity and Dovenyx.”
She turns around and I don’t know why I’m so taken aback. Maybe because I don’t expect elves to wear glasses, but Faerora does. The black frames are almost too big for her face and her hair is tossed into a messy bun. She reminds me a lot of Maven for some reason.
“It is nice to meet you. I cannot tell you how happy I am that Cailian has his mates. He deserved happiness out of all those years mourning his best friend.”
“Fae,” Cailian hisses her name with a stern tone.
“What?” she shoves her glasses up her nose with her finger. “You didn’t want to kill him. You have been so miserable since that day.”
“Fae—”
“—What is she talking about?” Nyx asks, cocking his head.
“Nothing. She is speaking of things she has no idea about.”
Fae rears back, offended. “I’ll have you know, I know many things and that is one of them.”
“Is that so?” Nyx is curious, getting closer to the truth, and the discomfort on Cailian’s face is enough for me to drag him out of this building.
Nyx grabs Cailian’s shirt sleeve and tugs him to the front doors. “It was so nice meeting you all but we have to go to my kingdom. It has been such a busy day. We will come back soon.”
“Bye— I love you, Cai. Come back soon, please!” Azorwyn yells just before the doors open.
The uneasiness infiltrating the bond tastes like sour fruit.
Once we are outside, Cailian runs down the steps, but Nyx is right on his heels. The guards on either side of the door try to stop him by blocking Cailian.
“Nyx, wait. Stop. Just take a second,” I try to reason with the dragon, but it’s too late. Smoke is coming from his nose and mouth, and his body becomes bigger as he fights the shift.
He roars, flames lighting the air and the guards dive to the right, barely missing being burnt to death.
“What the hell was that, Cailian? What did she mean by that?”
“Nothing. Fae is the youngest sister. She has no idea what she is talking about.”
Nyx grabs him by the neckline of his robes. “What won’t you tell me?”
The way his voice breaks reminds me of ice cracking and melting, drifting off into the water before vanishing until the next cold season.
The bond becomes itchy as if static is wrapping itself around me before numbing the cords that tie us together.