76
ORAYA
I did not dream of Vincent.
I dreamt of nothing at all.
I
And then his arms were around me, and mine around him, and the two of us held each other for a minute and an eternity, like two halves reunited. I buried my face against the bare skin of his chest and squeezed my eyes shut against the tears.
For a long time, we stayed like that.
And then eventually, he murmured against my hair, “So you missed me.”
Arrogant prick, I thought.
But aloud I said, “I love you.”
I felt his shock at those words—actually felt it, like it was my own. And then, the wave of contentment that followed, like the sun falling over my face.
His arms tightened. “Good. Because now you’re really stuck with me.”
I scoffed, but the sound was muffled against his skin, and it sounded much
weaker than I’d intended.
His lips pressed to the top of my head.
And he whispered, “I love you too, Oraya. Goddess fucking help me, I do.”
H
The Mark was nearly identical to mine, albeit slightly modified to match the shape of his body. I was wearing a loose camisole that exposed my neck and shoulders, leaving our two Marks visible side-by-side. The resemblance was uncanny. He had the same layered phases of the moon over his throat, and the smoky rendering of wings over his clavicle and shoulders—except his were the feathered wings of the Rishan.
We stared at each other in the mirror, and then had the same idea at the same time. Raihn turned me around, sliding the straps of my camisole off my shoulders, letting the garment pool around my waist and leaving my torso exposed.
He positioned me, my back was to the mirror, and I peered over my shoulder
into it.
Sun fucking take me.
Beside me, Raihn turned around and matched my pose.
The Heir Mark on his back was nearly identical to the one I now bore on mine.
The phases of the moon spread across the top of my back, spears of smoke running down my spine.
We looked at each other. The reality of what we’d done—of what had changed —settled over us both.
Nyaxia and Acaeja had both warned us that a Coriatis bond would mean the end of the Rishan and Hiaj Heir lines, combining them into one.
We’d altered the course of the House of Night forever.
I felt a little dizzy, and not from my injuries.
A wrinkle formed between Raihn’s brows. The corner of his mouth twitched in an uncertain almost-smirk. “Regrets, princess?”
Regrets?
The answer was easy and immediate. “Fuck, no.”
The smirk became a full-on smile, and if I’d had any regrets, that smile would have erased them, anyway.
“Good,” he said. “It looks better on you than it does on me, anyway.”
I glanced at Raihn’s muscled back and wasn’t sure that I agreed.
I jumped a little as the door burst open.
“Gods!”
I looked up to see Mische whirling around, nearly dropping the tray in her hands in her hasty effort to cover her eyes.
“I leave you two alone, unconscious, for five minutes and you’re already in here tearing each other’s clothes off? At least lock the damned door!”
