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The last time I’d seen Valdoria was in a Gromalian inn, shortly after disembarking the merchant vessel we’d taken from Eprotha to Gromalia. When Prisca’s mood had become darker that day, it had taken me a while to understand what was happening. The moment I’d realized she was jealous of Valdoria…I’d ached to drag my wildcat to me and make her accept whatever it was she’d felt.
I wasn’t a man who was used to regret, and yet now, I regretted every single moment I hadn’t been honest with Prisca. Every time I hadn’t told her exactly how I felt.
So much wasted time.
Demos swept his gaze over her disinterestedly, and Valdoria’s mouth curved. Her hair fell in long waves to the small of her back, and she wore a simple dress with a white apron tied around her waist.
I met her eyes. She was objectively beautiful. We’d had one night together, decades ago, before I’d realized I would be forced to deal with her again and again as my brother put people into place throughout Eprotha and Gromalia. She’d shrugged off my rejection with the ease of a woman who knew she had no shortage of men vying for her attention.
Demos tensed as we stepped inside the cottage and Valdoria’s wards adjusted, revealing the spacious living area, pots of flowers sitting on almost every available surface. A rich, savory scent twined toward us. Valdoria had clearly been cooking. To our left, a set of stairs led up to the second floor.
I took a single step, and my instincts prickled. Someone else was in this house.
“A healer,” Valdoria assured me, casting me a long look. Finally, she gestured to our right. “Through here.”
She opened wide double doors, revealing a small room. A fae man sat near the window, body still, hands open, revealing himself to be weaponless.
My temper was likely putting everyone on edge, and I fought to leash it. Nodding at the healer, I stepped away as Demos placed Asinia on one of three narrow beds.
“This is Jyris,” Valdoria said. “He is the best healer I know.”
Demos’s expression was tight as the healer got to his feet. He leaned against the wall and watched Jyris’s every move.
“We will need quiet and privacy,” Jyris murmured, glancing at both Demos and me.
Demos showed him his teeth, his body bristling with restrained fury.
I met the healer’s eyes. “He stays.”
Jyris sighed, but after a long moment, he nodded.
I followed Valdoria back into her main room.
One wall was made entirely of bookshelves, and my memory threw me back to Regner’s castle. To sneaking beneath the human king’s rooms with Prisca, as I forced her to eke out every last spark of her power for my own use.
She’d been tired. She’d told me she had been using her power all night. I’d merely given her a scrap of my shirt to stanch the blood dripping from her nose, some feral part of me pleased that she would be forced to breathe in my scent.
I didn’t regret it. Didn’t regret pushing her to dig deeper into her power. But I did regret scaring her. I regretted pushing any hint of emotion away. Pushing her away.
The cold lump I called a heart had already begun beating once more at that point. Not that I would have admitted it. Occasionally, when we’d fought or we’d kissed or she’d smiled, that heart had ached as if it was coming back to life. And I’d wished I could rip it from my chest.
“Lorian,” Valdoria said, in a tone that made it clear she’d been attempting to get my attention for some time. I’d been staring at her front door, as if expecting Prisca to walk in at any moment.
“She must be an incredible woman,” Valdoria said.
“Prisca is my mate.”
Valdoria stared at me. “If this is what mating does to a fae, perhaps it is better to avoid such a thing.”
My head pounded. I rubbed at my temple. I’d lost track of the last time we’d eaten. I’d kept watch most nights, unable to sleep anyway, but my body was now making its needs known.
Valdoria was still watching me expectantly.
“Falling in love with Prisca was the most inconvenient thing to ever happen to me. And if I had never met her, I would have lived a long, empty life.”
Her eyes widened, giving her an innocent, startled look. I almost smiled. I’d once seen this woman gut a fae who had betrayed us to the humans. She wielded her face the way others wielded their weapons.
After a long moment, her expression cleared, and she nodded.
