Page 86 of Broken Hearted
“My father once told me that our mate is the one whom our soul chooses,” Zander said, beaming at the both of us. “Adrien, do you choose to love, care for, and be loyal to Isolde for as long as you still have breath in your lungs?”
“A million times,” Adrien breathed while staring into my eyes.
My throat tightened with emotion when Zander asked me the same question. “I do. Forever.”
Zander smiled. “Then you are now—”
Adrien leaned in and stole a kiss, which made Dawn cheer in excitement and Zane laugh.
“Husband and wife,” Zander finished after we broke apart and I laughed.
We were dirty, covered in blood and the signs of battle, but I knew in my heart that Adrien was a partner that I could go through all of life’s ups and downs with.
With a shout of excitement, Dawn leaped into the pool and created a big splash.
“Dawn, be careful,” Zander scolded and jumped in after her, swimming to check on her.
Dawn rolled her eyes at her husband when he reached her. “Oh, relax, I’m just swimming.”
Zane shrugged and pulled off his shirt and dove in as well.
Adrien looked at me, holding my hand, and walked us to the edge of the water.
Our job wasn’t over yet. We still had to help Zane get to Faerieand end the curse. We still had to protect Adrien’s people from the curse, but for now … we could have this one small reprieve.
With a shout of joy we both leaped into the crisp, cold water, and I plugged my nose as I submerged. The cold bite of the water was refreshing and cleansing, and I felt renewed when my head broke the surface.
Adrien popped up next to me and took me into his arms, gazing into my eyes. “I’m the luckiest man in all the realms.”
“I beg to differ,” Zander piped in, and we all laughed.
This day ended as perfectly as possible, and for that, I was grateful.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Inever expected my wedding night to be spent on a train with not one, butthreeEthereum lords and my best friend who’d been raised to kill them, but here I was.
In all fairness though, I’d never really imagined my wedding night before because I hadn’t thought I’d get married, so it was not as if it wasn’t living up to expectations.
Married. I was married to Adrien. I was Adrien’s wife, and he was my husband.
I thought there’d be a wave of panic and regret to accompany those thoughts, but there wasn’t. Not even a little. Instead, I felt at peace. Maybe even for the first time in my life as I snuggled into Adrien’s side.
After our spur-of-the-moment wedding, all of us had taken a quick swim in the pond at the base of the waterfall to wash the battle off. We then returned to the station where Zane’s train was waiting and departed for Windreum right away. We were hopeful that Aribella and Stryker would be there when we arrived so Zane could leave for Faerie soon. And we knew that the train was needed to bring refugees from the south to the west, where all of Ethereumwas now traveling to safety. We didn’t want to take it up any more than we had to when so many others had need of it.
The original plan was for Adrien and me to retreat to one of the sleeper cars to spend our wedding night alone once we all briefly discussed our next steps, but I’d been so exhausted I’d fallen asleep against him almost immediately.
I’d been embarrassed when I’d woken hours later and realized I’d slept almost the entire way back to Windreum, essentially ruining our opportunity to have time alone together. But Adrien had just looked at me lovingly as he ran his fingers over my cheek and told me we had a lifetime together, so there was no rush. It was the perfect response and made me fall even deeper in love with him.
According to Zane we were now less than a half hour from Windreum. Dawn and Zander sat in the passenger car a couple of rows in front of us, cuddled together. I glanced across the aisle at Zane who sat alone. His gaze was trained out the window even though it was still too dark to see anything. I could see his face in the glass’s reflection, and there was a faraway look in his eyes. I knew his mind wasn’t with us right now, but instead fixed on Lorelei.
If Stryker and Aribella were already in Windreum, Zane wanted to try to leave for Faerie immediately. His plan involved creating a portal using the brothers’ combined powers, and none of us knew if it would work or what it would do to the lords. Zander and Adrien had both insisted Zane spend the day preparing and get one good night’s sleep before attempting his half-cocked plan. Zane hadn’t agreed, so they were in somewhat of a stalemate currently.
As much as I knew it pained him to wait even one more night,I agreed that Zane needed the rest, and waiting just one more day would also give Dawn, Aribella and me some time to teach him all we knew about Faerie. He didn’t know what he was going to face when he arrived there, so journeying exhausted and ill-prepared wouldn’t do him any favors. Even now, I could see the dark smudges under his eyes in his reflection, telling me he hadn’t slept at all.
Seeing the forlorn look on his face made my heart ache for him, but what he didn’t understand was that Queen Liliana was as ruthless as she was cunning. Zane had come to mean something to me, and if he was going to have to face off against the Summer Court queen—which I feared might end up being the case—he needed to be rested and at full power. So if I got a vote on the matter, it would be to wait the extra day as well.
The train whistle rang, letting us know we were getting close to the Western Kingdom’s capital. I sat up fully, but Adrien wouldn’t let me get far. Putting an arm around me, he tugged me so that we were still pressed up against each other with my head resting on his shoulder. I couldn’t look into his eyes from my position, but I felt his steady heartbeat beneath my hand where it rested against his chest, and the distracting movement of his thumb as it brushed back and forth over my hip.
