A Storm of Flames and Deceit

47. Lightning Itself

"I'm still mad at you," I tell her as we winnowed back. Only the taste of her blood dripping onto my tongue had been enough to remind me that her head was split open. I hadn't cared for her argument as I took us to the nearest healer and got her wound sealed. "You could've died."

I had been so afraid when she winnowed off to meet her father. Normally, I could feel her absence, but I wasn't sure I was capable of tracking her to a single spot on another island. As I locked Darian away with General Hopkins, I had known that I would have to find a way to her.

Or I'd burn the world to ash.

Her eyes narrow. "You don't want to have this argument with me," she says flatly, crossing her arms. "After you nearly died trying to save me."

I hadn't meant to start a fight- we had been so happy. But anger stewed in my gut. "You just winnowed away Neph," I remind her, shaking my head. "You didn't care if I'd find you or not. Didn't care if you lived or died."

She laughs incredulously. "Sound familiar?"

I blink back to how I had betrayed her months ago. How I had put her to sleep and put her out of harms way when I faced my father. How she came for me any how.

"I'm willing to call it even if you promise never to throw yourself over a sword for me again," she says, taking my hand gently. I grimace.

"You know I can't do that."

She sighs, shutting her eyes and dropping her head against my chest. "I know," she murmurs.

I extend my arms around her. "I'm sorry about your mother."

She shrugs casually, but I know better. "It's okay," she replies. "She was an awful woman. I don't believe I'll mourn her much."

I tuck her hair over her shoulder, looking down on her. "Still, I'm sorry you had to be the one to do it," I tell her.

She shrugs. "It won't be the last time I have to kill a parent," she smiles darkly. "I let my father get away."

"You did," I tilt my head, studying her. The only reason why her father still lives is because Neph had all but terminated her attack as soon as I fell to the ground. I don't remember much by that point, but I remember her turning into lightning itself. I remember the devastation on her face. "Do you regret it?"

She runs her fingers over the already healing marks on my body from the jolt, shaking her head. "You are too high a price for vengeance," she says. "Even if it took letting my father win so that I could have you... I'd gratefully sigh over the world."

"Neph..."

"What, Eris? Does that sound irrational? Does that sound insane?" She laughs. "Maybe it is, but tell me you wouldn't pay the same price."

I shut my eyes, sitting down on the couch where she stands in front of me. And when I open my eyes, I'm looking up at her. "Neph, you know I'd pay any price for you, sell my fucking soul for you- maybe I already have." I run my fingers fleetingly over the back of her thighs.

She shivers, her nails moving and raking through my hair as she stares into my eyes. Hers well with tears that don't fall, and my stomach feels sick. I hate when she cries- always have. I pull her into my lap then, taking her in my arms until her eyes dry, until her lip stops wobbling.

"Eris, I can't give you a mating ceremony," she whispers. "Not yet."

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed, but I hadn't expected anything of her. "Sweetheart, I don't want to rush you," I tell her. "Whenever you're ready, I'm ready."

She shuts her eyes, tipping her brow against mine. "You don't understand," she whispers. "I want the ceremony. I want to claim you as my mate here and now. I want to complete the bond and seal our love that much more."

I frown. "So why do you hesitate?"

"My father," she murmurs. "He's still out there, and I'm sure with your arrival today, he has put together that we are mates. But he's still out there. There's Darian and the nobles and the mortal queens and Creagach and so much unfinished business."

My brow furrows as I don't see her point. Her father has finally uncovered our association. If she isn't afraid of committing to me, if she isn't afraid of her father using our bond against us, what is stopping her?

"I want to do it right," she seems to answer my silent question. "I want a big ceremony. I want to claim you in front of all seven courts. I want to proudly serve you whatever monstrosity I manage to chef up for the ceremony. I want to tie myself to you in every way possible," she drops her voice, looking in my eyes. "And then I want you to take me right back here and not have to worry about returning to court for weeks."

I blink, body rigid and on fire. I find myself concentrating on not going up in flames, trying not to concentrate of the intensity of her words. She frowns. "Eris?"

"You'd be that proud to be my mate?" I ask.

A tear slips down her cheek to hear how quietly I asked such a thing, but she nods, playing with my hair. She looks suddenly shy as if she hadn't meant to admit half the things she had said.

The last thing I feel right now is shyness.

"I'm going to throw you the biggest fucking mating ceremony in all of Prynthian," I tell her quietly, sternly. "It's going to be tasteless and goddy and boasting just like us. And then, in front of our friends and family- hell even our enemies- I'm going to swear myself to you in ways that stretch even beyond marriage. I'm going make everyone wish they understood how two people could be so connected, so bonded. I'm going to show you off to everyone that will listen- and even the people who won't."

She giggles, her tears drying as I lean closer, as I drop my voice. "Then, I'm going to fuck you until you lose track of where I stop and you begin. Until you can barely walk, can barely speak beyond broken begging and whimpering. I'm going to fuck you so hard that all of Prynthian descends into a storm so wicked that even the most feral of fae take cover," I whisper on her throat. "That sound good?"

She swallows, nodding quietly.

"I think we need a bath," I smile at her. Both of us were still wearing the tattered remains of what we battled in earlier.

She wrinkles her nose. "Just say I reek- go on," she rolls her eyes. I nudge her with my nose, laughing as I rise, her legs wrapped around my waist.

"You could never reek," I tell her, kissing her cheek. "But you do smell like blood still."

She laughs. "Well, you smell like smoke," she retorts as I walk us into the bathroom.

"You love it," I tease, setting her down. Her posture crinkles the slightest bit before she stands straight up again. I frown. "Are you okay Neph?"

She nods, sucking on her lip. "Fine," she answers, clutching her rib. I look down the length of her body, finding a dark, red stain in her thin skirts that hadn't been there before. A second later, I'm on my knees, inspecting it. "Fuck, Neph. You're bleeding. Were you wounded somewhere else." It wouldn't make sense though. We just came from the healer. Any of her wounds should be fixed up.

She looks down, her eyes going a bit wide. "That's not a wound," she answers warily, looking sick. "That's my period coming back for the first time in two centuries."