Fateful Magic (The Star-Crossed Series Book 8) (8 page)

“We’re
off as well,”
Kiran
announced. “You’re not the only
one getting lucky tonight my old friend.”

Kiran’s
famous smirk sat firmly on his face while Eden blushed as brightly as
I did. “Oh, you think so-”

She went
to hit him playfully but never connected with his arm.

The world
spun out of control. All at once everything was so bright I couldn’t see,
blinding and searing in its whiteness. The sound left the world along with the
color. One second I could hear and see and then next I was blinded and the only
sound that pierced through the veil was a high-pitched ringing.

My body
hit the ground and the air rushed from my lungs. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t
see and pain screamed in my limbs as hotly as it ever had.

Once I
hit the ground, I couldn’t move for long minutes. Eventually, strong arms
clasped my biceps and hauled me to my feet. When I could only wobble,
Talbott
swooped
me up into his
arms and took off running.

The
ringing faded and then suddenly the cacophony of sounds around us crashed
against my head. I could hear again, but it came with a price.

Wedding
guests ran in every direction, the heat of several fires burned along the
vines. The vineyard had gone up into shooting flames, the aisles of grapes
acted as wicks to connect all the different avenues for the fire to travel.

I tried
to make sense of the chaos around us but there was too much destruction to tell
up from down. Thankfully,
Talbott
didn’t seem at all
confused about where he was going.

Fear
gripped every one of my nerve endings. As the reality sunk in that we had been
attacked, I wanted nothing more than to crawl under a rock and die.

In fact,
I decided I would die before I could be captured. This had to be
Terletov
. I knew it had to be. And I would much rather give
up now than ever face that bastard again.

I would
never let him experiment on me again.

Never.

“
Talbott
!”
I cried.

“I have
you, Lilly. I won’t let anything hurt you.”

My fear didn’t
ease, but it did feel comfort. I not only had myself to worry about, but
Talbott
as well, and I refused to let him go through any of
what I did.

I saw
armed men flash through billows of black smoke and towers of orange flame. I
clutched
Talbott’s
torn tux with two fists and buried
my face in his neck.

“Lilly, I
swear to you, we will leave unharmed. I will not let them come within
fifty-feet of you.”

I could
hear the certainty in his voice. Feel the conviction. This man that I’d married
would do whatever it took to keep me safe.

He would
kill
Terletov
before he ever let that monster take me
again. And I would return the favor if anyone ever tried to touch
Talbott
- male or female.

He was
mine.

And I
planned on spending an eternal lifetime with him.

“Where
are Eden and
Kiran
?” I screamed over the sound of
open gunfire.

“I don’t
know!” he shouted back. “Hopefully,
Kiran
remembers
how to fight.”

I pulled
back and stared up at him. “You’re his bodyguard,
Talbott
!
He’s our King. You took an oath! You have to go back and save him.”

He looked
down at me while he made a seamless run around all kinds of debris and other
dangers. “Lilly, I also took a vow.
With
you
.
He is my King, but you are my wife. And I am your
husband. I cannot save him because I must save you. This is the way it will be
from now on.”

Talbott
chose me.
Over
Kiran
.
Over his best friend.
Over his
duty
.

Talbott
chose me to be his wife. And he chose to save me first.

The best
thing I had ever done in my entire life was to fall in love with this man.

Chapter
Six

Then

I had
never been more nervous in my life. Not ever.

“Lilly,
you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. Eden will understand,” Avalon’s
deep voice sounded perfectly comforting, but it had no effect on me. I was
beyond help at this point.

My
fingers shook violently at my sides so I clenched them together and tried to
pretend I felt brave enough for this.

Avalon
stepped in front of me and put two strong hands on my shoulders. They engulfed
me and I felt dainty and more fragile than ever as he loomed over me.

“
Lills
, look at me.” Reluctantly, I lifted my eyes and met
his bright green ones. They sparkled with his Magic and determination. “I know
you’re worried about Eden and you’re a good friend, but you don’t have to do
this. We can send someone else.
Or no one at all.
She
has friends in the castle. Don’t let her guilt-trip you into this.”

“I want
to go,” I swore to him. And I did. No matter how nervous I felt or how sick I
thought I would be, I wanted to go. I wanted to take a stand against Lucan and
I wanted to be there for my friend who was going through so very much right
now.

She had
been there for me through everything. She’d risked her life for me more than
once. It was my turn to do that for her.

“Then
don’t worry about Lucan, alright? He won’t hurt you. And if he tries, you have
more allies in the Citadel than you know.”

“I know
that too.”

His
eyebrows furrowed together and he gave me a then-what-the-heck look. I opened my
mouth to… lie probably, but a car pulled up in front of the Resistance
safe-house and the words died on my tongue.

I knew
they would send him.
Kiran
had sent word to Avalon
days ago. And during that time I’d tried to prepare myself for this… for him.

But
whatever steps I’d taken to reassure myself that I could stand up against the
force that was
Talbott
Angelo were laughably
insignificant now.

My
stomach was a tight ball of nerves. My Magic zinged around my body frantically
and I had trouble catching my breath.

“I feel
like you’re going to pass out.” Avalon shook me a little bit. “Lilly, are you
going to pass out?”

Maybe.
“I
don’t think so.”

“Puke?”

“Umm...”

“Spontaneously combust?”

“That’s
possible.”

“Avalon,”
Talbott
greeted. He’d made his way over to us.

I had yet
to take my eyes off Avalon. I was too chicken and my cheeks already wore my
telltale blush.

“Hey, Man,” Avalon greeted casually.
He dropped his hands from my shoulders
and turned away from me.

That left
me to stare at his shoulder.
Which I was fine with.
I
could stare at Avalon’s shoulder for as long as I needed to without feeling
weird about it.

As Avalon
often said,
desperate times and all
.

“Lilly,”
Talbott
called with all his Romanian-accented sexiness.

Damn him.

And now I
had to look.

I so
didn’t want to look.

I
squished my eyes shut and turned to face the boy I had been stalwartly avoiding
for months. And it hadn’t been easy.

Ever
since he took his official oath to join the Resistance, he had been a nearly
constant presence at the safe house. Every time he showed up, I managed to
avoid him.

I’d sent
him a thank you note once, through
Kiran
. I wanted to
let him know how much he helped me while I’d been trapped in the prisons. I
knew he’d saved my life down there. I knew he’d protected me and made sure I
got food.

So I’d
thanked him.

But I
hadn’t been alone with him since the plane in the Moroccan desert. And now I
was supposed to be alone with him for hours.

I let out
a breath and fought for courage within myself. Spinning to face him, I opened
my eyes but didn’t meet his. I stared at the center of his chest and worked on
not combusting.

“How’s
the-” Avalon started.

“We
should be going,”
Talbott
cut him off so quickly I
had to press my lips together to keep from gaping in surprise.

“Oh.”
Avalon sounded a little put out.

“We could
stay a little while,” I suggested with my softest, weakest voice.

Did I
want to stay? Or did I want to go with
Talbott
? Did I
want to be alone with him again?

Talbott
cleared his throat.
“If you’d like.”

My eyes
betrayed me by lifting to meet his. And then I was lost. The answer to all my
questions became glaringly obvious and a new surge of flutters buzzed through
me as I came to terms with my feelings for the Titan standing in front of me.

I loved
him.

I loved
this man that was so wrong for me it was almost comical.

Our
relationship would be illegal. Any kind of marriage to him would be forbidden.
He was supposed to hate me. And I was supposed to live in fear of him.

And maybe
there was some fear mixed in with the uncertainty and confusion. But I also
felt hope and certainty. I felt clarity and so much excitement I didn’t know
what to do with it all.

“We can
go.”

His eyes
grew wide with surprise. “I thought you wanted to stay?”

“I
changed my mind.” My hands had started trembling again so I shoved them into my
jacket pockets.

“You
changed your mind?”
Talbott’s
Magic tested the edges
of mine with care. I could feel his restraint as his Magic tried to hold back.

I thought
he was pretty adorable like this and it made me fall a little harder for him. I
couldn’t stop my smile. “I did.”

Talbott’s
whole face lit up with his proud smile. “Then, let’s go.”

“Okay.”
When he reached for my hand, I gave it to him willingly.

“So…
you’re going?” Avalon called from behind us. We ignored him, but he still
shouted after us, “What just happened? What am I missing?”

Talbott
opened the passenger door of the little sporty thing he drove here
and I climbed in. He loaded my bags in the trunk while I sat waiting for him.
My heart pinged around my chest like the ball on a pinball table while I waited
for him to join me.

What was
I doing?

Could I
really go through with this? Could I really give up every fear and anguished
memory of our past and give in to what my heart truly wanted?

I heard Avalon and
Talbott
talking quietly
before
Talbott
said goodbye and jumped in the driver’
seat.
He shot me
another anticipatory smile and then started the car.

We drove
away from the safe house and I couldn’t help but feel like my entire world was
about to change. It was this profound thing inside me.
The
knowledge, the confidence, the absolute conviction that not one of the days
ahead of me would ever be lonely again.
Admitting my feelings to
Talbott
would change me irrevocably and solidify something
in my life that had been missing.

I had to
let go of what had happened in our past and of all the misconceptions I’d held
about him all this time.

If
Talbott
could do the same thing for me, then what stood in
my way to stop him?

He had me
thrown in prison once, but then I’d plotted to end
Kiran
,
who was like a brother to
Talbott
. He had kept his
distance because he was afraid of the strength of his feelings for me. But I’d
kept my distance from him too, hoping I would never have to acknowledge how I
felt about him. He’d been raised in a culture that helped him develop prejudice
and unfounded hate. But then, so had I. He’d betrayed me when the Guard had
attacked the farm.

But then
he’d fought every day since then to make sure I stayed alive. He helped rescue
and save my parents. He helped rescue me. And I knew he’d saved my life more
than once.

I could
get beyond our pasts. I
had
gotten
beyond our pasts.
So far beyond.

And now
there was nothing but a future to look forward to.

I just had
to tell him that.