Page 63 of A Fate of Wings

“You have a man,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “I’ll rip him apart for touching what’s mine.”

“No. There’s no one.” I grabbed his shoulders. “It occurred to me that if you found me, then perhaps we’d be in danger from whoever sent me here. Whoever took my memories. And the ‘she’ you had us hide from.”

“Right,” he drawled, his eyelids narrowing to slits. “She hasn’t found you.”

He didn’t appear convinced I wasn’t with another man and if he saw Cillian, he’d assume I was with a man. Would Cillian be in jeopardy from him?

“No. No one knows who I am.”

“It doesn’t matter right now. You’re right, we should leave here. It’s not safe.” He raised a hand, creating a turquoise portal. “I know the one place no one will ever find us.”

“Wait,” I cried, my heart breaking at the thought of leaving Cillian behind. “I can’t go with you.”

“Too late, my little queen. You’re coming with me and whoever you’re screwing back there, be glad I don’t rip them apart into tiny little pieces so small that the anglers can use his flesh and bones for fishing chum.”

“For the last time,” I huffed. “I’m not having sex with anyone.”

“Good, because you are mine.” He hauled me through the portal.

Chapter twenty-eight

Rozronuuk

Cossgarth

Of all the thingsI’d expected I’d have to free Thea from, her lack of memory wasn’t one of them. To say it made my chest ache as though someone had buried a blade deep in my heart that she didn’t remember me was an understatement. I was her mate. She should remember me.

I tugged her dainty hand with mine as I swept us through the portal to Cossgarth, the Lost Dimension. No one would find us here. Ever. I was the only one who possessed the knowledge of its exact location these days. My brother had a fair idea, but he’d never tested his assumption. I hoped he never did. Although his backup right now wouldn’t be unwelcome, Thea would be even warier than she already was with no memory of me. She wouldn’t remember my brother nor dance with him in his castle. She wouldn’t recall how she’d come alive and carefree in theWinter Court. I should have sensed the danger to my mate from her sister.

Her memory loss was my fault as much as it was her evil twin’s.

Thea scrambled from my arms the second I let her feet touch the bumpy, moss-covered ground. She almost fell to her knees in her haste, but then she righted herself, dusting off her simple gown as though they’d made it of the finest threads. Underneath the simple clothes, she was still very much royalty in the way she moved, and the way she tilted her chin to glare down her nose at me. She sent my heart pounding and my palms sweating with the need to hold her close, keep her safe. Cherish her for the years we’d missed together and the memories that her sister had taken from us.

“Where are we?” she demanded, hands flying to her hips.

“Somewhere safe.”

“For how long?” She fired back all heat and passion.

Even with no memory of who she was, she still possessed the inner fire I loved about her.

“You’re safe forever with me by your side. Remember that if you think you should run away again.” I waved a hand at the broad expanse of this realm.

She gawked around the sparse green countryside. The Lost Dimension had little to it. An expanse of uneven, moss-covered ground. A few bushes offered meager deep purple berries as sustenance, which chimeras loved to eat. Oh, and chimeras too. Its one saving grace was the hot springs bubbling up from the rock pools in clear water that smelled like the faintest scent of volcanic ash whence they derived.

“We traveled here once before,” I said. “It’s where we first mated.”

Her shoulders shoved back like I’d shoved a rod down her back. “And did I agree to this mating?”

“Yes.” I grinned. “In the end, you begged for my cock.”

Her nipples strained against the material of her simple dress as though they were begging me to feast on them. It was strange seeing her in such simple attire. She might not dress as the siren queen right now, but her inner fire was there. It always would be.

“I suppose you expect me to beg for it now?” She cocked her hip out, causing the dress to cling to the side of her leg and making my mouth water for a taste of what they’d denied me for years.

I cleared my throat of the thickening desire building in my body. “No, my little queen, all you have to do is say the word, and it’s yours.”

Her brows puckered into a sweet little frown I wanted to kiss from her forehead.