Page 221 of Sunsplitter

With the ceremony due to begin soon, Yme and Ixli bade farewell. Iliha moved around the room, packing up her hairbrushes and makeup.

Fi had no family to walk her to her wedding: no mother, no father, no brother.

At the door, Kashvi offered an arm. Fi took it with a somber smile.

They walked down an empty hallway of the capitol building, part of the wing demolished by Fi’s energy capsule bomb all those months ago. Rebuilt nicer than before, in her opinion. Her heels clacked dark tile, skirt swishing, moonstones glinting white opalescence. Tall windows were filled with purple dusk and an arc of aurora.

Antal waited in a slant of twilight, faced away. Fi’s besotted heart leapt at the sight.

Her daeyari had always been handsome, but today, there was unfair beauty in the high tilt of his jaw, the glow of crimson eyes in dim light. He was always sharp, but today, the fit of his slim black pants was cruel, his jacket a flawless match to Fi’s dress, deep red at the collar shifting into starlight silver, luminescent with swirls of vesper fabric.

Syvr was with him, smoothing a strand of the top braid Antal’s hair wasjustlong enough to weave, a new and—Fi had to concede—delicious look on him. His antlers glinted with silver caps and golden bands. Syvr said something low, unintelligible, followed by a laugh. Antal smiled, a simple ease that looked more gorgeous on him than any attire.

He sniffed. Perked.

When he saw Fi, his eyes widened, a visible inhale lifting his chest.

Kashvi patted Fi’s arm then slipped away. Syvr departed with a smirk, then a friendly brush of tail against Fi’s side. She hardly noticed.

It was impossible to notice much else, the way Antal was staring at her.

Alone in the hallway, he took her in slowly. First, her hair, the circlet, earning her a predator’s head tilt. His eyes ticked down, lingering on the swell of her breasts, blatant enough to flush Fi’s cheeks. Down again, his attention turned glossy, wistfully tracing the curve of her waist. His mouth parted, tongue brushing his lip slow enough to make her shiver.

“You look startled, daeyari,” she greeted, low in the quiet hallway.

“Do I?” he returned, rough. “How do I look when I’m startled, Fionamara?”

She considered the clean lines of his jaw, the breadth of his shoulders, the tease of clavicle beneath his open collar.

“Keen,” she said. “Handsome.” Lower. “Like I could cut my teeth on you.”

A growl rumbled his chest. He stepped closer, near enough to brush his hip to hers, a tease of ozone on her tongue. She felt the arc of his tail around her. Felt the thrill in her heart as he leaned in.

A clawed thumb traced her cheek, reverent. Sharp enough to skin her alive.

Then, an arched brow at the circlet atop her head.

He laughed. “Of course. You can’t half-ass anything, can you?”

“Why should you be the only one with fun head accessories?” she taunted. Softer, she cupped his cheek, letting her fingers drift into the shorn sides of his hair.

A frown touched his lips.

“You’re certain of this?” he whispered. “A lifetime with a beast?”

Fi grinned back with all her teeth. “Please. Ifyoucan endure spending your life with a beast, I can handle one daeyari.”

His grin was fit to devour, all fangs and blushed lips.

He held out a hand. “Ready?”

Fi had never been ready for any of this, had she? She’d learned how to tip her chin up and put on a brave face. She’d learned how to act like the fiercest creature in any battle. Sometimes, she was. Sometimes, she was still a little terrified of the unknowns ahead.

But this one thing, she knew with unflinching certainty.

Fi curled her fingers in Antal’s palm. “On your lead, Lord Daeyari.”

He growled deeper. “Not often I enjoy hearing you say that.”