It was as if something had sucked the very life out of her, forcing her to latch onto those closest to her, to help her reinforce her elements.
Without the added strength, she’d die. I could feel it in my very soul. There was no choice here. Either I let her in or I allowed her to perish.
And damn it, I couldn’t let that happen.
“Vox!” I yelled, sending my voice booming across the distance between us. “It’s Claire! Let her in!”
He flinched and his winds twisted. “Are you insane? I can’t let you go; you’ll be even worse off than Titus!”
I knew Vox’s fears. If my control slipped, even for a second, I could split the world in two.
Titus grabbed my shoulder and squeezed, his hot fingers a brand even against my armor. His eyes glowed with rage and fury and desperation. “Give her what she needs,” he begged. “She’s dying. I can’t give her enough.” He sounded so broken. So alone. So anguished.
And it was all the encouragement I needed. I closed my eyes and felt her spirit slip inside as if it had always meant to be there. The sweet flush of peaches filled my senses, and her earth warmed over me like an embrace. I fell to my knees, relieved when Vox’s steadfast control retreated as he followed suit.
The world trembled, burned, and my ears suffered the howl of a thousand hurricanes.
But Claire would live, if only for just a few moments longer.
It would have to be long enough.
Because I felt it now, the water energy joining the others.
You better save her, Cyrus, I thought. Or there will be hell to pay when you return.
Cyrus
Claire was no longer breathing, her body limp on the altar. Warm water flowed around her, most of it controlled by my magic, as I fought to keep her alive long enough to complete the ceremony.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
She should be awake and willing, not knocking at death’s door. Fuck, my betrothed should at the very least like me, but we were nowhere near that level of comfort. I was just a means to an end for her. A nuisance she wanted to get rid of at her earliest opportunity.
And I couldn’t blame her for that.
Yet I wouldn’t change a thing.
Other than not taking her into the death fields.
But her training? The way she’d strengthened under my harsh treatment? That was my doing by being the enforcer she needed. The others were too soft on her, drowning the fighter inside. I provoked her to the forefront, and I hoped like hell that little warrior met me now.
“We must begin,” my father said as the priestess arrived.
“This is unprecedented,” the petite fae replied, taking in the scene before her. “We value consent as one of the highest principles.”
“With life right above it,” I told the tiny, white-haired woman. “If it’s not meant to be, her element will reject mine. Now stop delaying.”
I stroked my thumb across Claire’s frozen cheek, willing the hot springs around her to heat her blue skin. It didn’t work. Because that wasn’t what she needed.
Her elements were drowning, seeping from her body to the netherworld.
She needed an anchor.
I would be that anchor if she accepted the bond.
The priestess took her position before us, her frail hand lifting to hover over Claire’s heart. A chant began, one hummed in the old language. I closed my eyes, allowing the whispers to infiltrate my being, taking me to a place in the fae heavens where energy pulsed bright and consuming.
Claire, I breathed, searching for her spirit, willing her to come forth, to join me in the plane and allow me to give her what she required to survive. Come to me, little queen.