Flipping the knife in her hand so that its deadly tip faced her now, she ran its hilt up my bare chest, opening up the two sides of my ruined shit, and tracing the hard edges of my muscle that twitched with every sensual caress she drew upon me.
I smiled when I felt a familiar trace ofI love youupon my body. "I love you too, little umbra."
She exhaled shakily. "You are…you."
I cocked my head to the side, grinning. "Did you expect something different, my vicious little soulmate or are you too afraid to admit that you just missed seeing me half naked?"
I watched with amusement and baited breath as she searched my exposed body once more. "Why the refusal then? And this shirt? Really Emon, we both know you are not a pink shirt with unicorns kind of fae, and of all the times to wear a shirt…a long sleeve—"
I swallowed hard.
Fuck.
Instantly, without the seduction of her slow cuts from before, she quickly sliced off the rest of the fabric, exposing my arms still pinned high above me and stared.
"Quid fecisti…" She breathed in ancient fae, barely above a whisper.
What have you done…
Chapter 41
Theknifefellfrommy hand onto the ship's floor with a loud clatter drawing a wince from my soulmate, but I did not care.
Shaking, I traced the beautiful bronze skin of his arms etched deeply with thick and elegant swirls of blackink. The art was sinful and exquisite and I followed a slow path from his tense shoulder down his bulging tricep, across the sensitive skin of the inner elbow, and down his thick muscular forearms, curling my hand around his wrist.
My vision blurred with bittersweet tears at the brands on his body…my brands on his body. They wereexact.
A perfect match.
I pulled back quickly, my hands clutching at my naked chest and released the shadows that restrained my soulmate. My mind raced at the meaning of the brands, not believing the shocking conclusions that camewith it.
"I don't understand," I whispered.
Emon’s arms slowly lowered and I could not take my eyes away from the swirling tattoos and when he gritted his teeth to sit up, I continued to stare. His branded shoulder was now so close to me, I could kiss along the ink just like he always trailed kisses along mine.
"Remnant," his breath raspy, his thumb sliding up my neck where my pulse beat wildly, and then to grip my chin, tilting my face up. "Little umbra, look at me."
I tore my eyes away and stared into his loving golden blaze. "Please tell me this doesn't mean what I think it does, shifter?"
His brow furrowed before leaning in to kiss my lips softly, whispering his confession against them. "I told you, not even in death will I ever leave you. The soulless sleep can't have me Remnant Ezra Solaire Dark, only you can."
"But these vows, they are that of the shadow fae, vows of darkness," I said, feeling the powerful enchantment carved into his skin, tracing the scrolling lines. "Your kingdom…" I reared back, my eyes wide.
"Will survive without me—it already has survived without me." He tilted my head again so that I would see the sincerity in his face. "I knew taking these vows would break the ones I made as a shifter king, and I never hesitated, not for one goddess damn second. You are my home Remnant, you're my kingdom to worship and serve, I am in your fan club for all of time. The only difference is that now I have proof of it, etched into my skin like you have been etched into my very being."
I sighed heavily. "I would have never asked this of you, Emon."
He smiled sadly and kissed my lips again, his thumb sliding across my cheek, his breath enveloping me in his warm chocolate scent. "It was the only way to ensure our family’s survival and for you to get to The Well—your mother, she had another vision."
"What?" I gasped, searching his eyes for the truth.
He nodded solemnly. "It was why I could not tell you, why I hid this from you. If you knew too soon we would fail, and just as she said if I did not stay by your side until the very end we would fail. So your mother and I found a way to avoid bartering my soul to Shea. By taking the vow of the shadow fae, I am tethered to you infinitely in your darkness, even in death we will still remain bound forever, you will never be alone."
Tears filled my eyes and I leaned to the side, placing a soft kiss on the top of his shoulder where his brands started, just like mine. "You leashed your soul to the darkness Emon, you belong in the light. You are my light."
His hand cupped the back of my head, running down my hair and naked skin, burning a hot path from my torso, to my bare hips, and then gripping my upper thigh, his claws prickling the sensitive skin. "Not just the darkness my love…it isyourdarkness. The only place where my light can shine."
I studied him, seeing the grimace of pain he had been hiding, the fatigue around his eyes, the slowing of his pulse at the base of his throat. I had known…of course I had known. I just didn't want to acknowledge it, like the slain blood fae of my childhood. I thought I could change his destiny if I just held him tighter to me.
