“You can never take it back once this bond is forged between us,” he warned me.
“I am sure of you,” I promised him, kissing his neck and his shoulder in tender affection. I felt him clench me even tighter again as he buried his face in my neck.
“Then have me,” he whispered.
That was all the invitation I needed. I leaned into that magnetic feeling between us, and it felt just the same as it had whenI formed the bond with Riordan. Like my mind shattered and reformed almost instantly in a new order. Even Riordan gasped above us as his place in both of our minds was shifted to make space for the new bond.
It took a moment for us all to catch our breath before Orion lifted his head to look down at me. Now that I was more familiar with how the bond felt, I could better sense it when he lowered his mental shield between us.
Pure emotion speared through me, the kind of awe and gratitude that I could not even begin to fathom.
Hello, little mate,he whispered right into my mind.
Chapter twenty-eight
COMPLACENT DECEPTION
Rian
“You really took over the city?” verified General Oícher once I finished confirming that he and the others were all ready to put our plans into effect. We had discussed the most strategic ways to control the city before I even went to Mionlach, so his question was irksome.
But what agitated me even more was the way his gaze kept straying to Nuala who moved through the war tent to gaze at our maps. Sometimes her head would tilt as if she was listening to something none of us could hear, so I was sure she was using her Sight. She was still wearing that gorgeous dress, which exposed far more of her than I was fully comfortable sharing. And I did not miss any of the eyes that took notice of her uncovered skin.
“I said I would,” I reminded the dyiad sharply enough to make him tear his eyes from her. His moth wings gave a nervous flutter, which caused their iridescent markings to shimmer. He wore the same leather breastplate bearing the emblem of the Wild Hunt as all of our soldiers. But he also wore the white cape of my generals, which had been modified for his wings.
“Of course,” he acknowledged me quickly and ducked his dark head while his feathery antenna bobbed.
“I am personally relieved. The camp was becoming far toorestless for my taste. This will give them something to do beyond watch and scouting,” stated General Drakja, one of two tiefling commanders in the war tent. His skin was a pale lavender grey, his unruly, medium-length curls a dark blackberry colour.
“Agreed,” said General Rajah, Drakja’s female mate with beige-apricot skin and snow-white hair, which she had braided into multiple long plaits.
“There will be absolutely no terrorizing,” I reminded them sternly. “I do not care how bored they have become. I’ll personally deal with any reports of ill behaviour from our soldiers in the city.”
“We will be sure they understand,” Drakja assured me, and the others all nodded in agreement.
“Then you know what to do,” I dismissed them coolly, watching as Oícher glanced once more at Nuala before he took his leave with the others.
“He will not act on his suspicions,” Nuala advised me without turning away from the map she was examining. “He is fully loyal to you. He is merely skeptical of me.”
Ciaran had been flipping his dagger and catching it by the tip of the blade during the meeting, but he stopped abruptly when she spoke. I looked over at him to see that he was also frowning suspiciously at the witch.
“Something on your mind?” I asked, but he shook his head and looked away from her with a sarcastic laugh.
“I have not forgotten your promise to bind me to the whipping post for the orcs. I will not risk you mistaking my concerns for insults,” he smirked.
Nuala spun around abruptly to glare at me in outrage. “You said that?” she demanded, and I rolled my eyes at both of their dramatics.
“Speak without fear of consequences,” I sighed.
Ciaran was happy to capitalize on the opportunity and quickly sheathed his blade. He turned to face me directly as if prepared to go to battle with me.
“Are we really not going to talk about what happened in the city?” he demanded, shooting another glance at Nuala who had also turned to face him. “She is not only immune to your shadows. She canusethem, Rian!”
I had wanted to have this conversation with Nuala in private first, but it was imperative that we moved quickly to secure the city before the council could ready defenses. My goal continued to be preserving as many fey lives as we could to maintain the magic in Ahnnaòin. And that meant we had to conquer the city without any bloodshed. But Ciaran had been hammering relentlessly at my mental shields ever since Nuala produced my power. There was only so long he would allow me to put him off before he did something impulsive that forced me to punish him. And the reality was that I could not rightly blame him for his concerns; nor could I continue to let Nuala deflect me. So I turned with hesitant expectation toward my Seer who seemed even more frustrated with me than ever.
“I alreadyexplained, Rian. You refuse to believe me,” she insisted.
“What did you tell him exactly?” Ciaran demanded.
