Shadowborn (37 page)

Liam opened his eyes, gasping as had the others. I gathered him into my arms and rocked him. “I told you to stay away, you stupid ass! Why couldn’t you listen to me for once in your goddamned life?”

He coughed, clinging to me. “I couldn’t let you give up. Never again. I’d rather die. I waited as long as I could. We all did.”

“I wasn’t planning on giving up, I was buying time, you idiot.” I pounded a fist on his chest. “If you ever, ever scare me like that again, I’m going to kill you myself.”

“Deal.” His hands slid into my hair, his lips covering mine.

I indulged in a moment, crying my relief onto his face, but thoughts of Donovan invaded me like a bullet. Had I seen him?

“Where’s my father?” I pulled away, jumped up and found most of the bodies had regained their souls, once again sitting, patting themselves as if they couldn’t believe it either.

One remained motionless by the tree. Beside it, a shadow stood, arms stretched wide while golden mist encircled it.

My father.

“Don’t you dare leave me,” I said through a tight throat. “You’re all I have left.”

Brígh appeared beside me, Gallagher mirroring her on my other side.

My father’s shadow stood in front of me, a silhouette with no features. His smoky fingers passed over my face, leaving a cool trail along my skin.

“I’m so proud of all you’ve accomplished.” Gallagher spoke for him. “I don’t mean to leave you, but I want this. My separation from your mother, in a way, has been worse than death. And besides, someone needs to retrieve those trapped below, ensure the safe return of the human souls to their bodies and escort Juliet back to her mother. You will never be alone again, my daughter. You are the future of the fae, and you’ve found your way back to your mate at last. We’ll watch over you from above, where we can always be with you.”

I wanted to protest, but when I reached out to his mind, it filled me with mirth I’d only experienced in Liam’s arms. How could I deny him that? “I love you, you silly, old fool.”

Liam wrapped his arms around me from behind and thankfully remained silent, or I’d have lost it again.

“We’ll be together again someday, or when I die I’m going to come and haunt your ass,” I said.

“I’ll be waiting to meet my grandkids.” Gallagher chuckled, and the heaving of my father’s shoulders let me know he laughed, too. “Donovan would make a nice name for your first born.”

I laughed through the steady stream cresting my lashes. “Dream on, old man.”

His form leaned back, mouth agape with silent amusement. “This is not goodbye, Lila.” His hand stretched for me again.

“I know.” My chin quivered, soon deadened by sheer will. “You had better visit me every day, or you’ll be sorry you ever messed with the last of the Grays.”

My father blew me a kiss and moved away with a wave, a golden form moving beside him—her fingers of light intertwining with his.

My mother.

They disappeared into the shadows and emerged a moment later with Juliet, back in her body. Another of the lost souls passed a smoky hand over the girl’s head, and Juliet smiled up at the woman who must have been her mother. Juliet turned back to me with a smile and a tiny wave, which I acknowledged with my own. I watched until my father escorted them into the trees and beyond my sight. The rest of the former Shadowborn followed after them.

“I really am the last of the Grays.”

Liam squeezed me as a sudden realization hit home, that I’d never again see my father as anything other than mist in the sky. My body already ached for the embrace of his arms again, to bask in the fatherly adoration shining out from his eyes.

Both Gallagher and Brígh put their hands on me and took their true forms to match me. “You have saved the girl, all the souls he took before and would have taken after her, and made us a family again,” Gallagher said, tugging Liam out from behind me, who shone a beautiful, silver color. “Your mother and father are very proud of you.”

While I drank Liam in and allowed our power to mingle, my control of the extra energy weakened. “What do I do with the power?” I groaned and held my head, thrumming as if it would crack and spill out a nuclear explosion.

Liam took my hands and tugged me down to my knees, his position mirroring mine. Gallagher and Brígh knelt beside me.

“Return it to the earth,” Liam said.

I shook my head, my control slipping even more. “You don’t understand. I could destroy this entire place.”

“Trust me,” he said.

Liam’s fingers slipped over my palms and turned them toward the ground, pressing them against the unforgiving landscape. He pressed his lips to my forehead, blue electricity arcing between us. The contact bewildered me, and my hold broke. A scream came unbidden from my depths. Energy expelled through my hands until empty of everything but the rightness of having Liam by my side.

The earth rumbled. Instead of returning to the fae cities, the spirits grew denser in the sky, blotting out the sun but not its light. Where frost and rock had been, grass and wildflowers spread out to cover the entire space. Shifters grew out of the ground outside the circle of the clearing. A cobblestone road of a sandy colored stone spread out from the center. The tree that had taken Talwen’s life stood tall again—a cherry tree in full blossom.

“What’s happening?” I clung to Liam as fae and Sluagh reappeared on the surface, returned from Alastair’s realm, blinking and gazing around.

“You’re creating a new fae city,” Gallagher said with a broad grin. Grass sprung up around us with a dewy scent that tantalized. “I thought only the ancestors and their combined power could create such a wonder. Magnificent.”

Unable to process that, I ignored it. The sweet fragrance of apple blossoms filled me, begging to be inhaled. Small platforms jutted up from the ground, and before our eyes, a new fae Court formed, the clearing expanding to accommodate the outdoor wonder. In the center stood the cherry tree—a monument to Talawen. Two chairs formed on top of a broad, grassy hill from woven branches.

“Holy shit.” Cas stood nearby, facing the new additions. “Twin thrones. Does that mean …” He scratched his head and turned to Liam, but his king’s brilliant eyes never left mine.

“This is our Court, Lila. Not Seelie or Unseelie, just fae. You and me.” He squinted at me. “I didn’t notice when you were in your other form, but your eyes … they’re different.”

Liam reabsorbed his energy and linked his fingers through mine while I studied him. I reached for his face, confused. “Yours are a powdery blue now. The yellow is still swirling around your pupil, though.” I laughed and tugged him closer.

“Yours are a lighter blue, too.” His lips brushed my cheek. “My new favorite color.”

Chatter rose up around us, others commenting that all of our eyes were the same hue except for the extra colors that were their own. Andrew held Neve close, the way he stared at her threatening to set me on fire from across the new Court. Cas and Brígh shared their first kiss, wrapped so tightly around one another a blade of grass wouldn’t have fit between them.

Without letting go of Liam’s hand for a second, we exited the Court. Once beyond the gate, I found a new city standing before me. In the distance, a silver castle rose above everything else. The shifters, instead of black and white, were every color imaginable. Bright greens. Red. Orange. Even pink and purple.

“Is everyone … angry with me for sucking out their energy without so much as asking their permission?”

“As for the ones who came to your aid, I’ve never felt such happiness from a collection of minds, though I cannot speak for the ones who remained in the other cities.” From behind me, Gallagher cleared his throat and dropped his gaze.

Of all the fae I’d been closest to, only Nix hadn’t come. Nor had Neasa, not that I cared. “He’ll understand someday, Lila.” Liam bumped his shoulder against mine.

“How did you know what I was thinking about?”

“I know you better than you think.” He flashed a cocky smirk.

• • •

As the day wore on, we explored the new streets, made sure all wounds were tended and reassured the frightened.

We sought out our people—all those who’d been accounted for. Liam and I buried my father with our own hands. The action helped me accept his absence.

Tired and slightly numb, I allowed Liam to lead me back to the garden of the Court. Gallagher, Neve, Andrew, Cas and Brígh already waited there.

“Ahem …” Grinning with pride, Gallagher backed toward the garden gate. “I’ll … ah … go and let you two get reacquainted.” He clapped his hands. “Come, young ones. I hope my house decided to join me here.”

It hadn’t occurred to me until that moment that whatever magic had created the city, be it mine or the Goddess’s through me, we were all meant to stay there together. “This is really our city. No more hiding. No more sneaking off to be together or having to leave afterward.”

Liam wrapped his arms around my waist and swung me around while I giggled like an idiot. “You will wake up in my arms every morning, Lila Gray, whether you like it or not.”

Before the others reached the gate, Neve broke away and came bounding over to us, wearing a big grin.

I wiggled so Liam would set me down. Once he released me, she hugged me hard.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“The Goddess has given me a gift. I can feel it swirling inside.” She leaned back and winked at me, her hand sliding down to my belly. Her energy spiraled down my body and zinged out my toes.

“Whoa.” I shook myself, my arms flailing to hold my balance until Liam steadied me. “What gift was that?”

“You’ll see.” Gnawing her lip, Neve bounded back to Andrew, took his hand and exited.

33

“What do you suppose that was all about?” Liam’s fingers tickled along my arms, over my shoulder and around to the back of my neck.

Tingles spread through me like fire. “No idea.” I sighed. “Do you suppose Gallagher knows this was all a setup to get me to realize my full power?”

“Let’s talk about it later, okay?” A dark chuckle passed his lips. “We’re alone. Let’s enjoy it while it lasts.” Pent-up desire rocketed through my core. Licking my lips, I hooked my ankle behind his and shoved until he landed with a thud on the grassy platform that held the thrones. “You really need to stop talking.” I pressed my lips to his, lightly at first until need turned molten in my abdomen. Our tongues danced together. Our moans mingled into the most erotic music I’d ever heard.

Grunting, Liam gripped my hips and pulled me up to straddle him.

My shirt came off with a single tug of his hands while he stared into me hard enough to penetrate my soul. Every moment of my life, every hardship and loss seemed distant—unable to reach me while in Liam’s arms. Nothing had ever been so right, not even the first time we were together at the farm.

Too impatient to do it properly, I ripped the front of his T-shirt open and slid my fingers up the mounds of his chest. Everywhere I touched him, ribbons of Light rose to the surface of his skin.

“Lila. I’ve missed you so much.” Liam exhaled a shuttering breath, his fingers spreading along my back. Judging by the electricity sparking in my spine, I imagined my body emitted a similar light show.

Growling, I shoved him down flat on his back and tugged at the button of his shorts.

A breeze came from nowhere and rustled the feathery blossoms on the pink trees that lined the Court. It teased my hair in all directions as I explored Liam’s lips, the curve of his jaw, and he moaned his pleasure beneath me.

Humming grew in a crescendo.

I smiled so wide my cheeks hurt. “I’m free of him.”

Liam stopped fiddling with the zipper on my jeans and stared at me.

Vibrations sang along my bones as I stripped the rest of Liam’s clothes away and stood, leaving him bare and beautiful, a feast for the eyes. He rose and cupped my face in his hands, pressed his chest against my breasts. Our lips hovered kissing distance from one another, and his sweet breath fanned across my hot skin.

“I’ll never allow anything, or anyone, to part us again. If we join the spirits above, then we go together. Promise me.”

A surge of emotion closed my throat, so I nodded my agreement. The wind pressed us together, and the sounds grew into a song I wondered if only we could hear. Liam spun me and pressed his chest against my back. Sighing against my throat, his hands slid down my stomach.

Heated desire threatened to boil over and light me aflame. “This time I’m going to make love to you, and it’s going to take all night.”

My zipper clicked down one painful notch at a time. His free hand explored higher, caressing the curve of my breast. I shivered. Nipping at the hollow beneath my jaw, his quickening exhalations jacked up my own excitement.

I ached to be wrapped up in him, struggled to free myself from his hold, but he gripped me harder, pinching my nipple between his thumb and first finger. A cry spilled from my lips. My back arched.

Whatever magic had created the garden raised a bed of moss and flower petals around us. The thumping of Liam’s heartbeat against my back fell into a uniform rhythm, the bass note to our lover’s harmony. Streaks of blue Light raced beneath my skin and Liam’s as he spun me and reclaimed my mouth with his.

“Til forever or death, whichever comes first,” I said.

“Yes. Yes!” As if his control slipped, he picked me up, and we fell back on the new bed. We laughed and rolled over, falling off once before our darker energy, our primal desires, took over our dance.

Relieved of my clothes, Liam kissed his way up my left leg, lifting it to nip at the back of my knee. I writhed and giggled between moans. “Please, Liam.” The vibrations intensified along with the predatory glint in his new fae eyes. Electricity crackled between us. I took his face in my hands. With ease, I set my energy free, changing once again into a glowing entity. Liam followed after me, lowering himself until I cradled him between my legs.

“Mmm.” With gentle pressure, he slid into me, never looking away. “My queen.”

“My king.”

Time might have gone on in the rest of the world, but for us, it ceased to exist as Liam coaxed ecstasy into every part of me. Riding a continuous current of pleasure, my muscles tightened down like coiled springs. A brush of lips, a change of angle or speed of thrust would launch me into oblivion again.