Page 34 of Wings of Snow

“Of course, she’s okay.” Drachu gave a smug smile, and something about his smile?—

I drifted toward him before I realized what I was doing, then drew myself up short. “I’m fine. I just—” I brought a hand to my head and shook myself.

Taking a deep breath, I glanced back at the center of the temple.Did I really just venture to somewhere within the galaxy and meet God Zorifel?All of it now felt like a dream—a distant, bizarre, and very powerful dream.

Frowning, I recalled what the god had said about how the veil that had suppressed my affinities wasn’t of this universe, which made no sense whatsoever, because if it wasn’t of this universe, then where had it come from?

“Are you ready to see our great capital on the Lochen continent?” Drachu’s question snapped me from my mulling.

“What?”

His smile didn’t falter, and a little tug clenched in my chest again. Before I knew what was happening, I was walking toward him, and it was only when I stood a foot away that the urgency to be near him calmed.

So weird.

Giving Drachu what I hoped was a remorseful smile, I replied, “I’m afraid I can’t. I have a bargain I must uphold, and it’s already been several days since I’ve worked toward fulfilling it. If I wait too much longer, the gods will no doubt begin to take their vengeance.” I didn’t add that I also had a king to thwart. I still didn’t know how I was going to do that, but somehow, Norivun and I had to discover a way to stop the Olirum Accords.

Drachu cocked his head. “I thought you fled the Solis continent?”

“I did, temporarily, but I can’t stay here forever.”

He closed the distance between us, and his gaze heated. “Are you sure about that?”

His tone caused a shiver to dance down my spine, and the urge to thread my fingers through his hair grew to the point of pain. I leaned into him as Cailis’s eyebrows shot to her hairline. A pulsing sensation began in my chest. I wanted to be near the king, close to him, until he was wrapped around me. Ineededit.

I whipped back just as my arm began to curl around the king.Blessed Mother, what is wrong with me?

Chest heaving, I forced myself to take a step back even though I really wanted to melt into the Lochen king’s embrace. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s come over me.”

“I do,” Drachu said with a glint in his eyes.

My brow furrowed as Cailis yanked me to her side. “Ilara,” she said urgently, “we must go.” Her hand snaked down my arm until she reached my palm. She gave a painful, single squeeze.

Truth. Drachu hadn’t been lying. He knew why I just responded as I had.

I breathed harder, and my frown turned into a scowl as I leveled him with a bold stare. But even though anger coursed through me at the wrongness of this, at the same time, I wanted to pull away from my sister and join the king again.

“What did you do to me?”

Priestess Genoova’s lips upturned in a secretive, malicious smile. “King Drachu has blessed you, just as the gods have.”

Fear blazed through me. I shot her a glare, then returned my attention to Drachu. “Whatdid you do?”

Drachu cocked an eyebrow as a smug smile curved his lips. “I tethered you to me.” He tapped his necklace. “Part of you was within that diamond. This temple has the power to channel a fairy’s magic to a stone in addition to channeling the gods. And since I claimed that diamond, I now own a part of you and have the ability to channel those extraordinary affinities within your body.”

My lips parted as I struggled to understand. “Youowna part of me?”

“I do.”

Mind racing, I thought back to the chest I’d seen in his room, the chest with hundreds of priceless gems just like the diamond that had appeared between my feet. Did that mean Drachu also owned other fae?

But those gems weren’t in his necklace. They were in that chest in his room. So what did that mean? That the Lochen king ownedthousandsof fae whenever he fed his necklace their powers? Could he add and remove their power from his pendant at will, meaning he had thousands of fae’s abilities at his disposal? I recalled how he’d fed his pendant one of those gems when I’d been hiding in the closet.Mother Below.Drachudidown that many fae’s power.

“Remember what I said about how one becomes king in our realm?” Tylen said quietly, snapping me from my thoughts.

My jaw dropped when the meaning of Tylen’s question hit me square in my gut. To be the leader of the Lochen fae, one must show strength, courage, and a cunning mind.

A cunning mind.