I frown and nod because I get what she is saying.
I mean, Kael? The looks, the sex, the way he seems to mean it when he says I’m his—it’s like nothing I have ever experienced.
But wait—what did she just say?
“Did you say Nightfall is where dreams and nightmares are made?”
“Oh yeah, didn’t Kael tell—” she stops and heat makes her cheeks turn pink.
“We haven’t had a lot of time together yet,” I reply, explaining my lack of knowledge about this place and wanting to kick myself for feeling the need.
“Look, you don’t need to stick up for Kael. He’s a grown ass Demon Lord, and if he failed to tell you all that, then yeah, kick his ass later. But more importantly, Phoebe, you don’t need to explain yourself to anyone. Not me or anyone else. You are the Lady of Castletide. Remember that,” Jules says with a nod.
“Thanks,” I whisper.
“You’ll find the rhythm. And Kael,” she says, leaning in. “Don’t let his brooding fool you. He’s deeper than the others, true, but he’ll hold you steady if you let him.”
I want to tell her I don’t know if I can ever be steady.
I want to tell her that my hands still shake when I remember passion mixed with teeth, and suddenly, that the place where he bit me hums with warmth and a hunger I didn’t have before.
Instead I nod, because some local children are tugging at my skirts and somebody has pressed a carved driftwood necklace into my hands and I am—absurdly, fiercely—thrilled.
“For you, Lady Phoebe!” they shout and giggle.
The children claim me like I am a new kind of holiday.
“Aren’t you all so sweet,” Jules says, and starts a conversation with a pretty blonde girl.
The smaller ones press shells into my palms, demand that I taste sugared seaweed cakes, teach me a clumsy little dance that makes my feet ache and my belly laugh.
One towheaded boy tugs my sleeve and points at my throat where my claiming mark blooms.
He whispers, solemnly, “You’re marked by our Lord.”
I flush—embarrassed, elated, terrified all at once—because the mark feels like proof ofsomething. And maybe I don’t understand what exactly, but it happened. It’s real. This is all real.
Suddenly, I don’t feel so lost. I feel like maybe this is all just a beginning.
“You good, Telya,” Kael checks on me and I offer him a real smile.
“Come, there is much to show you,” he says, and pulls me with him.
I turn to see Alaric lead Jules to the shore right beside us, and Dagan flanks his other side.
And then there are animals.
Wow, the animals.
Sleek, sea-lion creatures slip up onto the sand as though drawn by some invisible current.
I crouch down to the sand, and Kael whispers something foreign sounding, like a blow horn and a sea chime mixed, with his hand raised, and his runes glowing against his skin.
Then, one small one sidles up to me and flops right into my lap.
“Oh wow! Look at you,” I murmur, sitting on the sand and petting the animal.
He feels heavy and warm, and he nudges my hand with his whiskered nose until I give it the belly rub it demands.
