Chapter 42

Dessa hesitated for several minutes before taking down the ward around her room, which she'd put up so no one could come in and no sound could escape. There was a reason for that, a reason that required her to be alone, though she would have rather had someone else with her, too.

She'd barely slept, only managing two hours before the sun rose, but the dreams she had only continued on where her waking thoughts had finished. Elys had been the focus of every single one of them. The way his hands gripped her, how he fit her body against his, how his lips and tongue not only felt but tasted, too. And since she had a reference to go on now with that mind-numbing kiss between them...well, her fantasies and dreams were a little more elaborate than they previously had been.

Her shower was longer than usual, mostly because her mind was running with her again and she found herself standing still beneath the spray of water. Plus, she wanted to take as long as possible to make sure she wouldn't run into him in the hallway. But then again, if she saw him at breakfast with everyone else around...gods, that would probably be even worse.

So, she pretended like it was any other morning as she pulled her hair halfway up in a braided crown, slipped on her training clothes, and laced up her boots before leaving.

Only to come face to face with the male that had occupied every one of her thoughts for hours as he opened his own door.

Both Dessa and Elys froze as soon as they saw one another.

Then Elys nodded with a slight smile. "Morning, Des."

Morning? Had he forgotten what happened between them? Was everything she thought happened merely her fantasies she convinced herself had come to reality?

Dessa swallowed hard, shifting as she pulled her hair over one shoulder. "Good morning, Elys."

Elys's eyes dropped to her throat, the exactly place where he'd kissed and bit and traced his tongue over...and she watched as he licked his bottom lip before biting the inside of it, eyes flashing.

Oh, he definitely hadn't forgotten.

Forget being nervous around him. She was going to tease the hell out of him instead.

"Rough night?" she smiled sweetly.

Elys swallowed hard, nodding as his eyes trailed over her. "Yep. Barely got any sleep."

"Hmm. Same here."

Turning on her heels, Dessa made her way down the hallway, waiting to hear his bootsteps following, but it was a quiet curse that reached her first. Once she knew he was trying to catch up, she disappeared with a flicker of magic, which allowed her to jump from the hallway into the kitchen downstairs.

With everyone else either still asleep or getting ready for the day, there were only three other people there, Milena, Eamon, and Archer. Her usual spot was occupied. Milena had been sitting sideways on Eamon's lap, her arm slung around his shoulders as they chatted. Both cried out as Dessa suddenly appeared, but then Milena dissolved into a fit of laughter while Eamon groaned at the additional weight.

"I do believe you two are in the wrong spot," Dessa grinned at them.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Eamon asked.

"She didn't come from anywhere, idiot," Milena grinned at him, then turned it to Dessa. "Newfound magic?"

"Yep!"

"Nice. You know how useful that's going to be when fighting against the males?"

"Exactly. And I'm wanting to test it out today."

Archer, who was seated on Eamon's right, shoveled a forkful of eggs into his mouth. "I don't volunteer to be the one she tries it out on."

Dessa grinned at her cousin, then flicked his nose as he tried to swat her hand away.

Milena squinted at her, undoubtedly seeing the dark circles beneath her eyes, though it was contrasted with the euphoric high she was still riding on. "Rough night?"

Once again, a flush bloomed up her neck as she gave her a small smile. "Didn't sleep well."

"And that would be because..."

Elys chose that moment to come striding in, running his hand roughly through his hair as he stared down at his boots. When he finally looked up, seeing Dessa and Milena still piled up on Eamon's lap and Archer scarfing down his food, his lips twitched upward.

"Oh."

Dessa immediately looked at Milena, whose eyes were wide as something finally clicked as she glanced between her and Elys. Eamon and Archer seemed to have taken notice of the tension between them, too...before all three of them took note of not only Dessa's scent all over Elys, but Elys's all over her.

"Oh, damn."

Dessa immediately slapped a hand over Milena's mouth, then felt as she smiled against her palm. "Not another word."

"You're going to telling me a lot of words later when I get the details," she not so quietly whispered to her.

But the two males were narrowing their eyes at Elys, who was still standing on the other side of the kitchen island.

Eamon tightened his hold around both Dessa and Milena. "Am I going to have to be the protective uncle very, very soon?" he questioned. "And am I going to have to get Jai, Gideon, and Mik when he and Allel come back to do the same?"

Even though Archer's eyes were still narrowed at Elys, a wicked smirk tilted the corner of his mouth upward. "Don't think that's going to stop them from what they did in the early hours this morning again, Eamon."

Dessa pulled herself from Eamon's hold, smacking him on the back of the head, and then shoved Archer so hard he had to catch himself before his chair flew back. "None of this is none of your concern."

Elys nodded, crossing his arms as the tension from their teasing made him go rigid. "Very, very true."

Seeing the hard set of his jaw, the way he wasn't even meeting her gaze anymore, Dessa slowly made her way over to him. She halfway expecting him to step away as she approached, but he didn't. As soon as she was close enough, she looped one finger through his beltloop, pulling herself into his side before wrapping her arms around his waist. Still, he didn't move, though she saw the embarrassed flush creep up his neck when the others started grinning.

"Quit being grumpy," she told him, stretching up on her toes to put her chin on his shoulder.

"I'm not being grumpy," Elys mumbled back.

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

Archer made a point to cough. "He is...mostly because he doesn't want to kiss you into oblivion with us sitting here – and knowing we don't want to see it – and with Lyv on her way down with Len."

Dessa threw her head back and laughed, but the sound only drew Elys in closer. He leaned down, wrapping one arm around her waist and buried his face in the crook of her neck. With the brush of his lips against her skin, it had her shivering as she lifted her hand to caress the back of his head.

Unlike what she thought, Dessa wasn't embarrassed by his show of affection, even if it was just with Milena, Eamon, and Archer. With Elys this closer, the calm, the peace, the sense of home grew and the connection between them, the one she'd always felt, was becoming brighter and brighter, drawing them both toward each other.

A throat cleared from the archway, making the two of them jump.

Dessa's mother stood there with a sleepy-eyed Lenora in her arms, one brow raised. "Everything all right?" she asked, glancing between them before down at the hold Elys still had on her.

"Yep," Dessa smiled.

"Yeah, they're totally fine, Aunt Lyv," Milena snorted, munching on a piece of jam slathered toast.

A small, knowing smile curled at the corners of her mouth. "Hm. Seems so."

Eamon and Archer snorted, but Milena didn't hold back her laughter. Face flaming, Dessa pulled herself from Elys's hold and went to scoop Lenora out of Lyv's arms. Her baby sister immediately started smiling and reaching for her, wrapping her arms and legs around her as Dessa kissed the side of her head.

"Did Momma wake you up too early?" Dessa asked Lenora as she sat down on Archer's other side. "You're usually the one bouncing around."

Len sank against her chest and curled the ends of her hair around her fingers. "I had a bad dream and couldn't go back to sleep. She and Daddy let me stay with them."

"You want to talk about it?"

She shook her head and heaved a sigh. "No, thank you. But can I stay with you today? Please?"

She didn't even have to talk. "Of course, you can."

***

Dessa trying out her newfound piece of portal magic was off the table since they didn't train. Instead, Dessa, Elys, Milena, Eamon, and Archer spent the day with Len just as she wanted. Whatever nightmare the three-year-old had must have been unlike any other because it took her longer than normal to get excited about anything they did. Even Silas, who had appeared right before they left, didn't leave her shoulder, nestled in her curls.

She always wanted to be in someone's arms, mostly Dessa and Elys's, or at least holding a hand as they walked through Ayveri. They went to her favorite toy store first where Elys bought her a stuffed dragon. Len was wide-eyed as she pointed at the pearl white dragon on the top shelf with glittering blue eyes. Of course, there was no saying no to her as Elys reached up to get it for her. As she clutched it to her chest, he smiled over at Dessa.

"Guess stuffed dragons are going to be your go-to presents for the Deverell Ayveri females, huh?" she teased.

Elys winked and lifted Len into his arms to kiss her cheek. "Just a placeholder until you get your own bloodrite bonded dragon, right, kid?"

After, when they were sitting in front of Sherine's having lunch, Len was back to her usual self, jumping around and playing with her new toy. She, of course, settled in Dessa's lap as soon as the chocolate cheesecake was brought out to them. With her preoccupied, Dessa was finally able to talk to them about what she'd been thinking about all morning.

"So," she started. "We're going to Arloerin."

Archer was the first one to start grinning. "Hell yeah, we are."

Elys leaned over covered Len's ears, even though she was happily finishing off her dessert. "Language."

"Anyway," Dessa continued, rolling her eyes. "Momma and Daddy told you why we're going, right? And how long we'll be gone for?"

"You're going to be training with your dark magic with Cleo and a few weeks," Milena nodded. "We know, Des, and of course we're going along, even though you're going to say 'you don't have to come with me just because my parents want you to.' We're going...though for more reasons."

Eamon grinned. "Like Starlight straight from the source."

Archer wiggled his eyebrows. "And beautiful Arloerin females."

Milena reached both hands out to smack them both on the back of the head. "Not those reasons, you two."

Dessa snorted out a laugh as Elys reached over and took her hand, lifting it to his lips to kiss her knuckles. "We're going to support you in any way possible," he told her, then his grin turned into a smirk. "...but mostly for the Starlight and females."

She narrowed her eyes at the comment, though she knew he was just joking with her. "Females, huh?"

"Definitely."

The only female you'll be having is me.

The thought ran through her mind before she could stop it.

And the way his eyes flared and jaw tensed...she almost thought he heard it himself, especially when she could have sworn she heard his voice softly drifting through her head. Again, definitely.

Elys shifted forward in his chair, leaning his forearms against the table. "There's something else I've been getting flashes of, though. Something I was talking to Cleo about as well."

Eamon's brows pulled together as all teasing stopped. "You never said anything before."

"That's because I was waiting until we were a few days out from leaving," he explained. "When we first get there...there's going to be some trouble."

"Trouble in what way?" Archer asked. "I haven't heard any whispers myself..."

"You can't see Laria the way I do. You know that," he told him. "But when we get to Arloerin, we're dropping right in the middle of an attack. All I can hear are...screeches. The same as from the oskurreia when they were still here in our world. Malik and Kav are there, fighting for Cleo and Arloerin, but I've also seen the moment when Cleo comes face to face with a female none of us know the true identity of."

There was only one female he could be talking about. Even here in their world, whispers circled about the Lady in White and how ruthless Empress Sophea's personal assassin was.

"You've never mentioned this before," Dessa whispered.

Elys shifted in his chair again, threading his fingers together. "I don't like saying anything until I know everything I can. With this, that's all I've got, even though I've tried every avenue to get more from my visions."

"So, we're going to be walking right into a battle as soon as we step foot into Arloerin," Milena stated. "Guess we're going to have to pack armor and weapons, huh?"

Eamon smiled over at her. "Like you wouldn't have done that already, love."

She answered with a nonchalant hm and a shrug.

"There's two other places we'll have to stop at first, though. Palrion being one," Elys said as his eyes shifted to Dessa. "We're going to have to visit the Archive to pick something up before we go. A certain text that might help you with your magic the way it did Lyv and Jai."

"And the second?"

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Well, I figured with everything going on over these last few weeks, we could all use a little bit of fun before we start on this next...adventure."

One of Dessa's brows rose. "Fun?"

"Blackloch."