Gathering Darkness

  “How can you say that? I’d begun to believe my magic was good, but if it can make me feel this . . . this darkness I can barely control even with this ring . . . then how can it be right?”

  “You have to stop doubting yourself. There’s darkness in the world, of course, but there’s always a balance to it. You’re living proof of that balance. To accept the good, you also have to accept the bad. If you keep fighting this truth, it will only tear you apart.” His expression grew anguished. “Damn it. I don’t want lose you. I don’t want to ever lose you. Do you understand?”

  “But, Alexius—”

  He pulled her closer, his hands on either side of her face, and kissed her deeply. She gasped with surprise against his lips, then sighed with relief. This was what she needed—his touch, his assurance that all was well. His mouth against hers in a kiss that never stopped, only deepened further.

  It was a kiss unlike any other they’d shared, comparable only to their first in her dreams, which had shattered her unconscious world to pieces all around her.

  This kiss held every bit of passion that that one had, only this one was real, flesh and blood. But it too made her feel as if her entire world were breaking apart, this time leaving behind nothing but Alexius.

  “Please,” he whispered against her lips, “don’t ever doubt yourself. You’re perfect to me in every way. I love you, Lucia. I love you so much.”

  He kissed her again, and she fully returned it this time, opening herself up to the bright glow deep within her that helped chase away what darkness remained in her heart.

  It felt so good. She wanted more.

  Lucia worked to find the ties of his shirt, pulling them away to reveal the golden swirl on his chest. It was darker today than when she’d first seen it in her dreams and again in the throne room, appearing more as a tattoo than the physical evidence of his Watcher origins. She brushed her lips over it, feeling the rapid pulse of his heartbeat beneath.

  He inhaled sharply, his hands gripping her arms, halting her. “Princess . . .”

  She looked up at him with sudden doubt. “Do you want me to leave?”

  He let out a very light chuckle. “No. I don’t want you to leave.”

  “So you want me to stay.”

  “Yes.”

  The single word pleased her greatly. “For how long?”

  A shadow crossed his face. “Here in this room, alone with me?”

  She nodded.

  “If it were up to me, I’d never want you to leave,” he whispered. “Ever.”

  She smiled up at him. His words were a salve for her invisible wounds, healing her and renewing her joy and hope.

  “Good,” she whispered.

  There was confusion and pain in his gaze, so much suffering that she wanted to ease. But alongside the suffering she also saw something deeper and endless, and directed only toward her.

  “Are you sure about this?” he asked, his voice hushed as she pulled off his shirt, letting it drop to the floor. “You were so upset a moment ago; I don’t want to do anything you’re not ready for.”

  “I’m sure,” she told him, more confident now than she’d ever been about anything. “And I am ready.”

  “You’re so young . . .”

  “I am my magic, and my magic is as old as the stars.” She smiled, unwilling to give up. “And I’ve waited long enough. I love you. Make love to me, Alexius.”

  She thought he might hesitate again, give her a look of doubt, or try to argue some more. But his silver eyes just filled with bottomless desire as he cupped her face between his hands.

  “As you wish, princess.”

  When he kissed her this time, there was no restraint. Just as the skies had opened up at her command and brought a storm down onto temperate Auranos, this kiss created a portal into a deeper, more beautifully chaotic corner of her soul.

  At her command, Alexius was hers . . . both body and soul.

  • • •

  She couldn’t lie about this, not even to herself. She’d imagined being with Alexius before, but her imagination hadn’t done him any justice at all.

  Her mother had often warned her about what it would be like to share flesh for the first time. She’d warned of the horrible things men liked to take from girls with or without their permission. How one’s chastity had to be protected at all costs—most especially the chastity of a princess.

  What a tall heap of lies those warnings had been. Love made all the difference—it always did. There was nothing foul or wrong about what she and Alexius shared.

  Being with him fully, here, now, in his tiny room, on this small cot with his beautiful golden body covering hers . . . it had been perfection.

  A pleasant shiver raced through her as he traced a slow line over her bare shoulder. She lay very close to him, with her hand pressed against his chest. His touch made it impossible to concentrate.

  “Run away with me,” he whispered.

  “And where would we go?” she asked, moving even closer to nuzzle his neck, sliding her lips along the column of his throat.

  “Anywhere you want.”

  Alexius offered such incredible possibilities, an endless and exciting selection of them. “My father would go mad if I ran away from home.”

  “I have no doubt he would.”

  “Then again, he’d also go mad if he knew I was here with you now, like this.”

  His hand settled at the curve of her waist. “His head might explode, actually.”

  She smiled at the very idea of it. “Cleo was nearly banished for making a similar choice, although she blames her loss of chastity on too much wine. I have no such excuse, do I?”

  He stroked her long dark hair, twisting a thick lock around his fingers and studying it as if it fascinated him. But then he frowned and his gaze locked with hers again. “Do you have regrets?”

  She pulled him closer, kissing him again. “I only regret that we waited so long. You’ve been here for nearly two weeks. So much wasted time.”

  He groaned low in his throat. “You are dangerous, princess. But it has little to do with your magic.”

  She grinned, feeling both wicked and happy. Who knew she could feel both ways at the same time? “I can accept that kind of danger.”

  A bronze lock of hair fell across his forehead. “I should remind you that I am mortal now. I can be murdered by angry kings who find their innocent daughters in bed with their tutors.”

  Lucia raised an eyebrow, her grin widening. “We have to make sure he never finds out.”

  Alexius pushed her onto her back, holding her arms out to either side of her. “Marry me.”

  Her breath caught in her chest. “What?”

  “You heard me. If we ran away and got married, the king wouldn’t have much to say other than congratulations.”

  He had no idea what—and how much—he was asking of her, especially when considering how it would affect her family. “My father might still kill you.”

  “It’s a chance I’m willing to take.” He grinned at her stunned expression. “What? You said you loved me. You’ve just shared yourself with me in the most intimate way possible, wholeheartedly and without regrets.”

  She shook her head before he could take her look of trepidation the wrong way. “You’re right. I love you—I do. I’m just . . . There’s so much going on right now. . . .” Her head swam with all of her troubles, all of her doubts. “I can’t forget about what happened with Cleo. I—I’m better now, I am. I know I overreacted.” A shadow fell over her as he touched her cheek, tracing the line down to her chin. “But I still don’t trust any of them. I know they want to use me. They’ll never let me go.”

  A flash of worry crossed his gaze. “I think you’re right. There are probably many who would use someone with your abilities, your prophecy. You must be careful.”

/>   His confirmation surprised her. “Alexius, I should have told you this already, but I did the spell again, by myself, to awaken the last crystal.”

  He went very quiet. “What?”

  “I know you wanted to be there, but I succeeded on my own. With no problems,” she lied.

  A shadow crossed his expression. “I asked you to wait, princess.”

  “I know you did. But everything is fine. The spell worked perfectly. The water Kindred is waiting to be claimed as we speak.”

  He let out a long breath, his face still set in stern lines. “Very well, it’s done. Tell me where you awakened it.”

  “The Temple of Valoria.” She didn’t see any flicker of surprise in his eyes, which told her she was right. The temple was without a doubt Melenia’s fourth place of power.

  It all made sense. On the maps she’d seen her father studying, the Imperial Road terminated close to the temple.

  “There’s been no disaster there,” Alexius said. “No blood has been spilled. And yet you believe this is the place.”

  “I’m certain it is,” she said. But then a shadow of worry clouded over her confidence. “I shared this information with Cleo, to get a reaction. To see in her eyes proof that she’d been the one to betray us.”

  “And if she does, and her rebel friend, Jonas, claims the crystal?”

  “Then I’ll steal it back.” As soon as she said it, she felt the truth of her conviction. Her doubts disappeared again.

  “Good.” A smile played at his lips before his gaze grew pensive. “The Temple of Valoria is an excellent place for other important events as well, I think.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s the perfect place for us to be married.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh at his persistence. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  “Of course I am. Unless you were waiting for an official betrothal to a lord, that is. I’m not sure a lowly tutor could ever compete with that.”

  She wanted Alexius more than any lord who’d ever existed. “You’re impossible.”

  He took her face in his hands again. “Say it. Say we can run away to Limeros today to be married and claim the last crystal as ours, and no one has to know until we want them to.”

  Today? She stared at him, a million thoughts racing through her mind. A million doubts, a million questions, all swirling about into a storm of confusion.

  But there was one thing she wasn’t confused about.

  “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you, Alexius.”

  CHAPTER 27

  MAGNUS

  AURANOS

  “The king summons you.”

  Cronus stood at the archway of the palace library like the looming shadow of a mountain. Magnus was there to search the shelves for more information about the Kindred and, due to his father’s recent claims about his true birth mother, he was also researching quite a bit about witches.

  “Does he, now. Immediately, or at my leisure?”

  Cronus crossed his arms. “Immediately.”

  “I was joking, Cronus.” Magnus threw the book he’d been flipping through onto a large pile in the center of a long oak table. The librarian—a strange little woman with bright red hair and high arched eyebrows—would put them back where they belonged eventually.

  “Of course. Shall we, your highness?”

  “Oh, you’ve been officially assigned to usher me to him today, have you? That must make it extra important.”

  Cronus eyed him. “You’re in a rare mood today.”

  “You think?” Actually, Magnus was in an apathetic mood. He’d boiled with anger for two full days about getting to the temple, only to find the treasure gone.

  Now he was trying to focus on what he could control. He’d sworn to keep an extra vigilant watch over Alexius from that day forward. He knew the exiled Watcher was responsible for the missing crystal—it had to have been him. Who else could it have been?

  Perhaps the king still trusted Melenia and the boy she’d sent in her stead, but Magnus didn’t. Not for a single, solitary moment.

  “Lead the way,” Magnus said to the captain of the guard.

  Today could turn into a good day, if he could only convince the king to separate Alexius and Lucia until further notice. A good day, at least, until he was required to attend Lord Gareth’s daughter’s wedding feast with Cleo that evening.

  He’d rather forget about that obligation if he could. Another “opportunity” for him to socialize with hundreds of guests who’d likely rather be anywhere else. Well, at least they had that in common.

  When the throne was his, he thought, he wouldn’t jump at the chance to throw feasts for the daughters of every nobleman who asked nicely. He preferred privacy and solitude, a life in which public speeches were required only rarely and with much advance notice.

  It took ten minutes to reach the throne room through the labyrinthine hallways of the palace. Magnus would never tell anyone, but he’d gotten lost in these hallways far too many times before he’d finally taken the time to sketch a map to help him find his way.

  Every hallway looked exactly the same. Lit by lanterns, with marble or brightly tiled mosaic floors, and paintings and tapestries adorning the walls.

  Magnus focused on his steps, staying silent at Cronus’s side as they reached the throne room. The guards stationed outside pushed the doors open to let them in. Magnus approached the dais at a confident clip.

  “We need to talk about Lucia’s tutor,” Magnus said before the king could utter a word.

  The guards closed the doors, giving them privacy. Cronus remained in the room after the king gestured for him to stay.

  King Gaius regarded him placidly. “Do we?”

  “I don’t trust him.”

  The king stood up and walked down the steps to face Magnus. “I’m not surprised you’ve taken exception to him, given your feelings toward Lucia. He’s very handsome and, for all her power, she’s still just a beautiful young girl.”

  Magnus’s chest tightened at the mention of his feelings. “My concerns have nothing to do with that.”

  “If you say so. But I don’t want to talk about Alexius right now.” The king rose from his throne and poured himself a drink. “I’ve sent a spy to Kraeshia, who has reported back to me that the emperor is currently making plans to launch a fleet of ships set for our shores. He means to conquer us. Conquer me.”

  Magnus’s mouth went dry at the thought. Emperor Cortas could crush Mytica with his vast armada in days, as he’d done to countless other lands over the two decades he’d been in power. The Limerian army was skilled and obedient, but they couldn’t withstand a massive, organized attack. “Why now?”

  “Because he wants what I have, of course.” The king sounded ominously calm about this, which didn’t ease Magnus’s mind at all. “What we have.”

  “How do we defeat him?”

  “Lucia will help, but one girl’s magic against a force of thousands—tens of thousands?” His knuckles whitened as he clenched his goblet and took a sip from it. “She’s mortal. One lucky arrow could end her life. I can’t depend on her alone. And my patience regarding news of the Kindred is waning. Alexius assures me that all is going according to plan, but I can’t help worrying.”

  The king had just admitted he was worried. This was turning out to be a truly momentous day.

  Magnus wrestled with himself to keep his expression neutral. “So what do we do now?”

  “I must make other plans. And those plans must involve more than a reliance on Lucia and the Kindred. I already have something else in mind, and I want your opinion.”

  “What is it?” While he had his endless criticisms of his father, on this they were united. Magnus would do anything in his power to protect Mytica from invaders.

  “There is talk amongst the servants that P
rincess Amara has shared your bed. Is this true?”

  An uncomfortable silence fell between them.

  There really were no secrets in this palace. Magnus sent a quick glance at Cronus, whose expression remained blank. “Yes.”

  There was no judgment in the king’s gaze, only consideration. “If I could present a betrothal between you and Princess Amara to the emperor, to convince Amara’s father that uniting our kingdoms through marriage would be easier than his taking Mytica by force, it will give me more time to find the Kindred and crush him first.”

  Magnus stared blankly as his father’s proposition took hold. Then he began to laugh, unable to help himself.

  The king’s gaze turned to ice in an instant. “Is something amusing to you?”

  “Another betrothal?” Magnus got his laughter under control, but barely. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Do I look anything but serious to you?”

  Magnus sobered quickly, casting another look over his shoulder at the silent Cronus who stood nearby like a statue, his hands clasped behind his back. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m already married to Princess Cleiona. At your command.”

  “That arrangement can be reversed at my whim.”

  Magnus hissed out a breath of frustration. “Even so, the emperor would never agree to this.”

  “His daughter is nearly nineteen and unmarried. You are the son of a king and the heir to my throne. You’ve already shared flesh with her. I don’t see any reason for him to refuse.”

  As he always did when dealing with this impossible man, Magnus struggled to maintain his composure. “You need to listen to what I’m saying to you, Father. Trust me, if I believed this was a solid plan I’d embrace it. But it’s not, so I won’t. It is a meager attempt to solve a very large problem. Amara isn’t a naïve, simple girl who swoons at the sight of a prince. What we shared wasn’t . . . well, believe me, it wasn’t the kind of connection that would make her beg her father to make me her husband. If the emperor wants Mytica, he will take it. A wedding—such as the gaudy spectacle you’ve arranged for Lord Gareth here today—would be meaningless to him. Go ahead and present this plan to the emperor if you’re so determined, but don’t be surprised if he also responds with laughter.”