Fateful Magic (The Star-Crossed Series Book 8) (3 page)

A sob hiccupped through me. “Well, you could have
definitely tried harder in high school.” It was meant to be a joke, but his
expression turned tortured and utterly distressed. I leaned forward and kissed
his nose and then his pursed lips.
“My big, strong warrior.”

“I’m very angry,” he complained. His eyes cut to me
self-consciously. “Not at you, of course.
But at myself.
I claim to love you, but how can I if I cannot keep you safe? You have almost
died too many times and I have been nothing but a spectator.”

My kisses trailed over his sharp cheekbone and to the
soft waves of his thick dark hair. “You have given me reasons to keep living.
When my life has been so wretched, I wanted to do nothing more than give it up,
you were the reason I didn’t. You were the reason I kept breathing.
Kept living.”

A tear fell from the corner of his eye and I thought
my heart would shatter. To see Talbott so struck down because of what happened
to me, was worse than any of the pain I’d gone through before now.

“Please don’t blame
yourself
,”
I begged. “Please just love me instead. Be with me instead.”

“I’ll never leave you again,” he swore. “And you can’t
make me. I’m not leaving your side ever again. You’ll have to learn to do
everything while I stand right here.” His large hands went to my hips and he
yanked me against him. He held me there as my body would have chosen to
collapse in weakness. He was my strength when I had none.

“I don’t want you to.”

His Magic found mine after long last and the two
entities mingled together. Mine felt revived with the strength of
Talbott’s
seeking touch. I could barely feel it at all and
yet he seemed to bring it back from the dead. My breath stuttered in my chest
at the overwhelming feeling of coming home. I missed this so much.

He clutched me tighter to him. His face lifted just a
fraction of an inch so that his lips brushed against mine. They moved over mine
slowly, gently… so sweetly my chest ached with the poignancy of the moment.

Talbott
was kissing me,
something I had stopped believing would ever happen again. And yet here I was,
feeling his lips press against mine, wrapped in his arms, with the full-length
of his body touching every part of me.

I almost combusted from happiness.

I pressed my lips to his more firmly. I could tell
that he was trying to go slow and be careful with me. I knew that I was
fragile. But the thing was… I was always fragile. There was always something
wrong with me. And I was tired of it.

I was tired of being delicate and sick. I was tired of
getting kidnapped or hauled off to stupid prison. I was so tired of suffering.

And even more of being tortured.

The next person that tried to torture me was going to
get a surprise when I ripped out their heart with my bare hands.

Too much?
Maybe.
But that was how strongly I felt about never feeling pain again. I wasn’t one
to be cocky or full of myself, but I’d been through more than my fair share of
suffering and I was
over
being
experimented on.

Never again.

And I was really over having to be separated
unwillingly from Talbott.

Talbott responded immediately while I deepened the
kiss. Our mouths opened at the same time and for the first time in much too
long, I tasted him. We both groaned at the contact of our tongues against each
other, tangling together in that sweet symphony of intimacy.

Tears pricked at my eyes again, but I fought to hold
them back. I just wanted to enjoy this moment. I just wanted to revel in coming
home.

Talbott’s
mouth moved
against mine hotly but also familiarly. This was the only boy I’d ever kissed.
The boy I’d loved since I was seventeen years old.
The boy
that had pursued me from when we were even younger.
This was the boy
that represented me in a bigger way than I ever could alone. And the man I
wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

Carefully he moved me back to the bed and followed me
down. His arms cradled me in that sweetly protective way I loved, but his mouth
never lost contact with mine.

I worshipped his mouth as he reminded me of things I
thought had died forever: desire, connection… lust. Things that were so purely
blissful, I had been certain I would never feel them again.

“Marry me, Lilly,” he whispered against my lips after more
of those endless moments where I lost track of time completely.

I laughed softly. “I already said that I would.”

His forehead rested against mine and he rocked his
head back and forth slowly. “I want you to marry me now.
Today.
I want to make our bond so permanent, that nothing on heaven or earth or in the
pits of hell could ever take you from me again. Marry me now.”

I swallowed against this new, beautiful reality. “I
want to be able to stand at my own wedding, Talbott. I want to be able to
shower first.”

He chuckled and I loved the vibrations of his chest. I
put my hand on his heart and closed my eyes. I savored this moment, committed
it to my everlasting memory.

“I will give you two days, Lilly.” He sounded serious.
I panicked just the tiniest bit at his firm command. “You may call Eden and
have her join you, or whoever else you want. But in two days you will be my
wife.”

“Okay.” My heart started swelling again. “Yes. In two
days, I will be your wife.”

Chapter Two

Then

“I have news,” Amory announced from the back of the
barn.

The Resistance had gathered tonight at Amory’s
request. I looked around at my fellow soldiers and felt my pride building.

I had spent most of my life lonely and afraid.
But no longer.
I was connected to something now. I was part
of something greater than myself.

I was no longer just an F-you from my parents to the
Kingdom. I was an active part of a rebellion trying to overthrow the unjust
Monarchy.

Sure, I was in more danger now than ever.
But not by much.

Besides, I had always been in danger. My very
existence was a disgusting offense to my King. At least now my existence had
purpose. At least now I could fight for the change I believed in.

Once we were all seated in our usual places, Amory
explained why we’d come all the way out to the farm tonight. “Our vision for
the Resistance is changing tonight. As you all know, Lucan called off the
engagement between the Prince and Seraphina Van
Curen
.
And I believe we all know why he would do such a thing. Tonight, while we meet
here,
Kiran
is with my granddaughter.” He took a long
moment to pause, seeming to collect himself.

Amory was usually stoic and commanding. I found it
unnerving to see him struggle with emotion.
Especially when I
didn’t understand his emotion.
Was he angry at Eden for entertaining
ideas of a future with
Kiran
? Or was it painful for
him to think his only granddaughter would marry into the Kendrick family?

The longer I watched him, the more confused I became.
He didn’t look like he struggled with the idea, he looked proud. He seemed…
moved. Especially when he said, “The Prince is going to ask her to marry him
and I have no doubt that she will say yes.”

Every voice seemed to erupt at the same time. The
majority of the Resistance seemed angry at Eden’s choice. The rest of them were
beyond angry, they were
livid
. Even
Avalon shouted something at his grandfather.

Nobody wanted Eden mixed up with the Royals. Not even
me. As the future King, I found him incredibly lacking. And as my best friend’s
boyfriend or fiancé or whatever, I found him even worse. He hadn’t even dated
Eden before he asked her to marry him. Their entire relationship, he’d been
engaged to a different girl.
Whom he’d treated just as
poorly.

I didn’t have any respect for him for those reasons
alone. Not to mention, he’d been the one to get me thrown in prison in the
first place. After I’d helped save his life! And he would have let me rot there
if it hadn’t been for Eden.

I didn’t understand what she was thinking. Although…
it was easier for me to understand that sometimes love didn’t make sense or fit
exactly right.

I had my own confusing emotions to deal with, so I
couldn’t really judge her.

“Quiet,” Amory commanded and the room fell immediately
silent. “I have more to say.” He cleared his throat and with his rich, melodic
voice, he continued, “I have lived a long time. Too long, some might say. I
have been fighting this secret war for almost just as long. I am weary of it. I
am weary of plotting and scheming and advocating for a selfish Kingdom that
doesn’t want my help. I lost my wife.” He cut himself off when his voice broke
with emotion. My own eyes burned with unshed, empathetic tears. “I lost my
daughter, and I have only just begun to know my grandchildren. This long, endless
life has taken its toll on me.” I held my breath in anticipation for his next
words and it was only because I had ceased moving that I heard him mumble under
his breath, “But it’s almost over now.” My ears perked up and I scooted forward
in my seat. I didn’t think I could have possibly heard him right. I started to
doubt myself. And then he went on, “In all my long history, I must say, this is
the most I’ve managed to accomplish. This is the farthest I’ve ever reached and
it is because of you all. You are the greatest group of soldiers I’ve ever
fought with and more than that, some of the best people I have had the
privilege to know. I have watched this Kingdom self-destruct for thousands of
years. Immortals filled with prejudice and malice and brutality. There has
never been a right time to supersede the Monarchy because there has never been
enough good people to help carry out the task.
Until you.
Until your generation.
These last sixteen years have
been some of the best in my life. And I thank you for that. I thank you for
being the people worth fighting for. Please stay these people. Our struggle for
justice won’t end with Eden’s engagement. I hope in the future, no matter what
happens, you remember the reason we do this.”

Amory finished and walked straight to Avalon. He
pulled him aside and began speaking quietly to him while the rest of us
grappled with everything he’d said.

Why did his speech sound so final?

Why did it sound like he wouldn’t be a part of the
Resistance anymore?

I watched Avalon and Amory closely. I had a bad
feeling. I’d had it ever since it was announced that Lucan called off the
engagement. It grew into a full-blown panic when Avalon tried to pull away from
Amory.

Avalon looked ready to kill someone.

And then Titus burst through the barn doors and
shouted at the top of his lungs, “Someone’s coming!”

We had seconds to react.

Seconds.

I’d barely made it to my feet before the entire farm
swarmed with Titans. They poured from their numerous vehicles and began
attacking on sight.

There was no peaceful negotiation speech or even a
warning of what they planned to do. They simply attacked.

And when they attacked, we reacted.

The farm that I had come to know and love, that had
become a home when I had no home to speak of, turned into a warzone within
minutes.

The Titan Guard was brutal in their pursuit of us. And
we were just as angry and determined.

Titus’s words had screamed through our quiet barn with
the kind of explosion an actual bomb would have. Everyone moved into action at
once.

I took off into a sprint, stretching my legs and
Shifting
midair.

I landed on the cold, gravel drive on the pads of my
paws and tipped my head back to let out a ferocious growl of intent.

Maybe in my Immortal form, I could be a tad meek and
mild, but in my true nature, in my tigress form, I was as
badass
as they got. And I was so ready to rip out some throats.

I met Titan after Titan that intended to capture me
and send me back to that prison.

I’d already been there. I had absolutely no intentions
of ever going back. They would have to kill me first. Because I had no doubt
they would kill me later if they caught me.

My thoughts flashed to Eden. Something must have gone
wrong. Something must have gone
terribly
wrong
. She would never allow something like this to happen. And
Kiran
wouldn’t betray her like this. He loved her. Even
though he wasn’t a good person, he was selfish enough to want her to love him
back. And if he attacked her friends and family, she never would. No,
Kiran
had nothing to do with this.

It had to be all Lucan.

I caught sight of the King almost immediately. I was
surprised to see him so willing to fight until I saw the prey that he hunted:
Amory. The two men found each other immediately and got straight to business.
That eased my mind a little.

If he fought Amory, then there was no way we could
lose. Amory was the original Immortal. Amory was the true King. We would win.

The Resistance would win.

I was sure of it.

Except as the night dragged on, and more and more of
my friends fell, my confidence wavered.
Kiran
had
shown up a while ago and renewed the energy of his Guard.

They dominated now, seeming to have been injected with
more certainty and purpose. I fought tirelessly, but the Titan Guard closed in
around me.

They surrounded me from every angle and dangled those
godawful
handcuffs at me. They were taunting me now. They
knew they had me.