Private Tales The Missing

[Sidereal Penumbra]

The General frowned. He wondered for the thousandth time why this mission hadn't been assigned to his brother, Raphael. Or one of the hounds. This was an investigation. Something that needed a fine tuning and a mystery to solve. Not a blunt hammer, that as the General of the Autumn Court Armies, he was known for.

For Kriff's sake.

Perhaps because his brother and Fraeya were already away on a mission together. And Lorcan, well, Lorcan was always busy. Not that Sid wasn't, too. But for the moment, the males and females in his armies were trained and ready to go. And Sid would lead them when the Autumn King gave the order to march against Summer. For now? For now, Sid held Lori tight against him as he flew through the night. He'd be landing, soon. Stopping at an Inn on the border of Winter and Summer. Right where the disappearances were being reported. Fae children from winter were disappearing and there had been reports of other disturbing things, The Autumn King thought it important enough to send his General. And his General thought it important enough to bring one Lorelei.

Moreso, Lori had refused to stay.

Sid's wings shifted as he began to descend. "We're nearly there," he murmured against her hair. Her scent nearly driving him mad. The frown he'd been holding disappearing into that boyish grin as he looked down at her.

 

[Lorelei]

Lori had never grown used to the feeling of flight—not since the day she lost it. But being in Sid’s arms, wrapped in his warmth and shielded by his wings, was the closest she’d come to reclaiming it. The wind howled around them, cold and biting, but she barely felt it. Not when she was pressed against him like this, his heartbeat steady beneath her cheek, his scent curling around her like something sacred.

She should have stayed in Endora. Should have taken the out he’d given her. But leaving the fight had never been an option, and they both knew it.

His voice rumbled against her hair, that stupid grin of his pulling at the corner of her mind. Even after everything, he still looked at her like that—like she was something precious. She didn’t know if she’d ever understand it, but she’d stopped fighting it. Stopped fighting him.

Her arms tightened around his shoulders, a smirk curving her lips as she tilted her head to meet his gaze. Gods, he was handsome. Even frowning, even exhausted, even with war weighing on his shoulders. And knowing he’d been brooding the whole flight over? She wasn’t about to let that slide.

"You're scowling again," she teased, tapping a gloved finger against his furrowed brow. Lori stole a quick kiss at the hinge of his jaw before glancing toward the inn below. "Land somewhere quiet, lest people start thinking the mighty General carries me around like some pampered princess." Her smirk returned, full of challenge. "Or worse—that you like me or something."

 

[Sidereal Penumbra]

His grin dipped into something a little more cocky. Even as she called him out. Because she called him out.

“As you wish, your majesty. But you do realize.” His voice rumbled in his chest rising above the wind. “I would land in every crowded city and kneel before you.”

And declare that he was hers.

That cocky glint found his eyes as he looked down at her. Held her gaze. That devil be damned look in his eyes. Wings shifted as he found a small clearing at the back of the Inn’s property. He had a feeling Lori’s request was still born from her own discomfort. The loss she still felt from her wings. And nine levels of the underdark. He wished he could take away her loss and pain there. If only she knew how fuking perfect she was. His grip tightened on her for a moment before his feet hit the ground. Strong, muscles legs taking the impact. A quick kiss where her jaw met her neck before he set her back on her feet.

“Let’s get a room.”

They could start the investigations tomorrow. The night was catching up with him.

 

[Lorelei]

Lori huffed, but she couldn’t stop the heat that crawled up her neck at his words, nor the way her heart stuttered in her chest. Cocky bastard. He knew exactly what he was doing—looking at her like that, saying things like that. She clenched her jaw, willing herself not to melt into him, not to let him see just how much power he had over her, but he already knew.

She caught the look in his eyes—the one that made her breath hitch, the one that made her forget how to speak sometimes. But then his wings shifted, his grip tightened, and her stomach dropped as they descended. She braced for the landing, but Sid, as always, held her steady like she weighed nothing.

Then—that kiss.

A sharp inhale left her as his lips brushed the tender spot at her jaw, his warmth seeping straight into her bones. It didn’t matter how long she’d known him now, how many times she’d had him in ways no one else ever would—he would always the power to set her entire body on fire with a single touch.

She smirked at him as he mentioned a room, a shoulder shrugging as she turned away from him and ensured her hips swayed as she made her way toward the inn. "I suppose we should. All that talk of kneeling.." she grinned over her shoulder.