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“Not to mention how you saved Mad Dog’s life when the entire healing staff here could barely keep him from passing on. They still whisper about you, just so you know, and by that, I mean they’re forming an official fan club.”
I blushed at that, too, before chuckling lightly. Some would find it strange how easily Kai and I slid from talking about assassinating one of the most powerful enemies of the kingdom, the specter that’d made my life miserable and hurt so many, to joking about fan clubs, but I loved the dichotomy we had.
“So much for laying low and not drawing attention.”
“Don’t worry. My parents don’t pay attention to any of the employees, so they won’t get wind of any of it, and although the medics don’t know your situation, they do seem to understand you’d prefer to not be the hottest topic in palace gossip.”
“I’m grateful for that.”
“They’re all excellent people. Besides, don’t healers have some medical camaraderie? You know, watch each other’s backs?”
“Yeah, something like that.” I laughed. “It’s professional courtesy in a way.”
“I thought as much.” He caressed my face again, and I drank in the sheer comfort. “You’re not alone in this, Ayla. Not only do you have your team, but you have plenty of other people you’ve met who will absolutely go to bat for you. Then there’s me. I’m always going to be here for you, and I will give my everything to track down that baby-cursing bastard and teach him why he made the worst mistake of his life when he decided to tamper with your future.”
His belief in me and the raw tenderness of his words made my heart flutter. I couldn’t stop myself from leaning forward and pressing my lips to his.
It was barely a touch, a ghost of a caress, but Kai returned it in kind. Despite our lupine nature, sometimes it was nice to be tender. Gentle.
But when I brought my hands up to wrap them around his shoulders, Kai let out a rough grunt. Ripping my arms away, I belatedly remembered his silver-injured shoulder was still healing. Fuck! How could I have forgotten that?
“Sorry,” I blurted out quickly, wishing I had access to my magic. “If only I could heal you…”
“It’s all right,” he said with a slight snicker that made me feel better about hurting him. “A little nudge or two isn’t going to kill me. I’m made of tougher stuff than that.”
He leaned forward and pressed another gentle kiss to me. It was over as soon as it began, but that was fine.
“How are you feeling, by the way?” I could tell that he was generally all right through our bond, but I wanted to hear him confirm it with his own words.
“I’m trying to keep a lot of balls in the air, but I think I’m good for the moment. I’m sure more worries will come to me tomorrow, but honestly, I’m simply happy to see you’re all right. Besides, though it’s terrifying, I’m glad we finally have a suspect for whoever cursed you.”
Now it was my turn to give him a tiny kiss, and despite everything that had happened, it was so nice. Even with the Shrouded Shriek having a hand in the spell which tried to kill everyone I cared about, we could still have normal, little moments of romance—easy, simple smooches, like we were a regular couple.
“Oh!” Kai said once I pulled away. “I should let you know that, perhaps unsurprisingly, no one is allowed to talk about the assassination attempt.”
“I…” I squinted. “Why?”
“Because of my father, who else? He wanted me to execute the assassin myself. At this point, we hadn’t gotten word of your little, uh, visit to the attacker. Naturally, I refused, because I wanted to question him, and predictably he saw that as a weakness, because of course he did.” Kai let out a frustrated grunt, and I felt it alongside him.
His father was everything I hated in a knot head alpha: obsessed with some bizarre form of masculinity, constantly proving he was the man in charge. It was exhausting, it was stupid, and it made my vagina drier than the world’s most arid desert.
“How measured of him.”
“I thought the same.” Kai shook his head. “He also wouldn’t stop banging on about how the assassination attempt in and of itself made us look weak, and that other enemies might be inspired. So, instead of listening to reason, he fucking executed the assassin right in front of Oren, my mother, and me.”
I gasped. “In front of your mother?” I knew the Queen wasn’t exactly a wilting flower, but that still seemed like something a husband wouldn’t want to do in front of his bride.
“Unfortunately, she’s used to it at this point, which is…pretty awful to think about.”
“I’m glad I was able to get to him first,” I said. “Otherwise we wouldn’t know it was the Shrouded Shriek who did this to me.”
Kai nodded. “I recognize that father is highly strung because the grand ball is coming up and we’ll have so many dignitaries and nobles there. He wants to awe everyone in attendance and prove that Merrick is safe, but he’s being a fool.”
I nodded along, yet I felt deeply sorry for the assassin. He hadn’t had a choice in the matter, and it seemed so incredibly wrong that he’d just been dispatched without any trial. He was an innocent victim, slaughtered by his king in cold blood.
Kai would never do anything like that. I’d never been overly invested in royal politics, and I was now resolute that Kai’s father needed to go. Immediately. It was because of his posturing and obsession with power that we were stuck in a generational war leading to so much unnecessary slaughter and pain.
It was time for a change in Camdaria, and although I needed to break my curse, I was going to do whatever Kai needed in order to succeed. I truly did believe in him and that he could change our nation’s direction.
