Authors: Maddy Edwards
While Rout was grappling with the young, strong Fairy Prince who had wrestled him to the ground, I took my chance. Teegan joined me. I pointed to the ground and he knew instantly what I wanted. He used his Glamour to heal the damage his Prince had done—easier if another Winter Fairy does it—while I encouraged growth and warmth.
I knew the instant that Seth and Rout felt what I was doing, because Rout gave a garbled cry and tried in a burst of wild rage to shove Seth away. Seth, knowing he had to keep Rout occupied while we attacked him from beneath, held on. I was sure it hurt him. I tried not to think about it.
“The land is MINE,” Rout screamed. “MINE.”
“Even if you take it by force it will never be yours.”
That was Katie, speaking in the voice of the forceful Fairy Princess who had been hiding beneath the smiles all summer. She and Mae had come to help Teegan and me, and with three Summer Fairies we had enough strength to reverse some of the damage Rout had done. Suddenly, here in the center of Everton, it was the middle of summer again. Where there had been desolation a minute before there were now flowers, grass, bushes. Rout, with his back pressed to the ground, was screaming. The magic we were shoving into the growth was attaching itself to the Winter Prince and burning into him.
Knowing that we had won, Seth pushed himself away from Rout.
“That’s enough,” he said, not even bothering to look back at the man who was now trapped in the magic we had created, which no amount of ice could burn away.
Tired, I let my arms sag. Sitting there on my knees I looked to my friends to make sure they were okay.
Teegan looked tired, but relieved. His face fell when he saw the full extent of the destruction Rout had caused. He also looked a lot like an icicle himself. Frost tipped his hair and his skin looked snow-blasted—which I guess it was.
Katie and Mae were both shining, their designs still glowing brightly, but they looked tired too.
Finally I forced myself to look at Seth.
His eyes were searching my face, looking for something, but I wasn’t sure what. I tried a smile, though I felt like crying. There was so much needless destruction I could barely take it in. And I couldn’t believe that my friends’ lives had been put at risk for this power-hungry fool. It was all so senseless.
Seth moved toward me and pulled me to my feet, despite my protests. My hands were dirty. My elbows were dirty. My knees were—surprise!—dirty. Apparently my cheek was dirty too, because Seth wiped a smudge from it, running his hand along my jaw until it cupped my face. I closed my eyes, soaking in the moment.
“I can’t imagine anything I care less about than the fact that you’ve got the good rich soil of my land all over you,” he murmured. “You look great even when you go rolling around in the mud.”
I blushed, but was luckily saved from further embarrassment by Katie.
“Excuse me,” she said. “Let’s not get mushy right now, ummm k?”
I grinned back at her. “Whatever you say.”
“We do need to get him back to his parents,” said Teegan. “Maybe they’ll know how to deal with him.”
“Get. Me. OUT. Of these flowers,” Rout growled.
“I think it’s a good look for you,” said Mae. “Ice so isn’t your color.”
~ ~ ~
I let Teegan and Seth take Rout to Marchell, even though Katie was worried about it. At first I told her that Rout wasn’t going to hurt them because the bonds we had placed on him were too strong. Mae, Katie, and I went back to Arsenal, too exhausted to do anything but head for bed. As worn out as I was, I thought it would be hard to sleep given the excitement of the last few hours. But it wasn’t. The minute I got to my room all I wanted to do was wrap myself in blankets and fall into bed. Mae made me shower first, because of the dirt, but as soon as I was finished I dropped off to sleep without even drying my hair.
I didn’t dream.
~ ~ ~
The next day I was up with the sun. I had slept well, but at one point in the night I thought Seth had come in and kissed my cheek. I couldn’t be sure, because I was too tired to wake up fully, but I definitely got out of bed smiling in the morning.
It was fitting that the day was stunningly sunny. I was glad. We had work to do in the village.
Mae was still sleeping, so deeply I couldn’t even see her buried in all the covers. I grabbed a hoodie against the cool morning air and went in search of Seth, hoping that Katie was still asleep too. Seth and I hadn’t really gotten to make up yet, or at least not the best part, the making out that went along with the making up, so I hoped we’d get some time alone.
I also wanted to hear the details of what had happened at Marchell, but thoughts of Rout and his punishment flew out of my head as soon as I saw Seth, sitting in the “study” behind a large desk, writing busily as if he hadn’t fought an epic battle the night before.
I grinned at his profile. He looked so concentrated, a slight frown enlivening his face, but mostly he looked peaceful. He sat easily in his chair, almost slouching, the sleeves of his button down shirt rolled up almost to his elbows.
“Morning,” I said. He spun around and grinned at me.
“Morning.” I moved tentatively toward him, unsure of myself all of a sudden.
“How did you sleep?” he asked. He didn’t move from the chair, but his smile got bigger.
I nodded. “Fine.” I stopped about five feet away from him, playing with the strings of my hoodie. “You?”
Seth ran a hand through his hair, a gesture I now knew meant he was thinking.
“Not much. We were at the Marchells’ until a couple of hours ago.”
I gaped. “Were they angry with you for attacking their heir?”
Seth sighed. “No, I guess his father had suspected for a long time that Rout was power-hungry and causing problems, but there wasn’t much he could do until Rout showed his hand.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Are you just going to stand there?” Seth eyed me. “You’ve had a long few days. Sitting would be better.”
I felt a little disappointed. I didn’t want a table between us. I moved to sit in one of the chairs on the other side of his desk, but he reached out, gently wrapped his fingers around my arm, and drew me to him. I let him tug me onto his lap and I settled there, with his arms wrapped comfortingly around me and the scent of the garden enveloping both of us.
“That’s better,” he murmured, stroking my hair.
I cuddled up under his chin. “Uh huh. So, what happened?”
“Do we really have to spoil the mood with talking?” he asked, his chin putting gentle pressure on the top of my head every time he said a word.
“Yeah. Spill. Plenty of time for fun stuff after you tell me what happened to Rout.” I ran the back of my hand slowly up and down his chest, moving only as much as my arm would allow. He drew in a sharp breath. “You expect me to concentrate while you’re doing that?”
I grinned wickedly, but he couldn’t see. “I don’t care if you can concentrate or not. Just tell me what happened.”
“Well, there’s good news and there’s bad,” he said. When he rested his hand high on my hip I had my own moment of senselessness. “Which do you want first?”
“Bad. Obviously. Need to have something to look forward to.”
“The bad news is that he is still the heir with all the powers that entails,” said Seth, shifting me a little to draw me even closer.
“And the good?”
“Gaudet has finally seen what I’ve been dealing with, and instead of insisting that I marry to keep the land she’s just going to give me a chance to build the Court back up.”
“And you think that’s good?” I said, trying to process my emotions.
“Of course,” he said, surprised. “I don’t want to be forced into marriage, especially not when the girl I want to marry thinks I’m trying to trick her into it.”
I moved so fast I nearly fell off of him. He had to grab hold of me again, laughing, and pull me back into his lap.
“Really?”
“You don’t think I’d pretend not to be able to fix a flat tire for nothing, do you?” He was grinning, his blue eyes lighting on my face.
I smiled back. “I can’t believe it was a flat tire. I refuse to believe it.”
“Whatever you say,” he said. “The point is that you shouldn’t feel pressured and we should take all the time we want to get to know each other. You’ve been through a lot.”
I laced my fingers around his neck, bringing our faces inches apart. The light in his eyes got brighter as every part of my body started to tingle.
“From what I can tell it’s only the beginning,” I murmured. I knew that was mostly good. There were niggling worries, like having Rout still at large, and what Logan was up to, but there would be plenty of time to worry about the problems later.
“So, does that at least mean you’re my boyfriend?” I asked, suddenly feeling a little shy.
Seth laughed. “Humm, let me think about it.”
I punched him in the arm.
“Ouch. Okay, I thought about it. Yes!”
I leaned in, and when his lips met mine I knew that the pain of the past was finally going to fade. With Seth’s help and love, I could love again too.
~ ~ ~
I didn’t know it at the time, but a wedding invitation had come while I was in the study talking to Seth. It was for the Rose ceremony of Samuel and Autumn. Samuel had attached a private note, asking me to find Logan. He said he knew I was busy but that there were two powerful fairy guys who might be willing to help me, and that Logan was causing chaos wherever he went. He was looking for something, and he was willing to do anything to find it. The trouble was, no one knew what that something was, so no one knew what might happen—good or bad—if he found it.
I had a bad feeling it had something to do with Holt.
I read the note while still sitting on Seth’s lap, though it was a long time later. Seth promised to help, which made me feel better, but that niggling worry was growing. Whatever was Logan up to, anyway? Would he come to Samuel and Autumn’s wedding? Were they seriously going to get married? Somehow, despite everything, the idea was still hard for me to believe.
I sighed. I didn’t want to think about it right at that moment. Instead, I ran my fingers through Seth’s soft hair and again brought his lips to mine.
The End
~
Also by Maddy Edwards:
One Black Rose Series
One Black Rose
August
Autumn
Paranormal Public Series
Paranormal Public
Elemental Rising
Elemental Shining
Spiral Series
Spiral