“He will, Summer. It is perfect,” Sage promised as he leaned forward to kiss me softly.
Chapter one
NOT A LESSER CREATURE
Amira
Present
Adrop of moisture fell onto the letter I held in trembling hands and soaked into the parchment, blotching Ornella’s heartfelt words. I read them over and over until my vision had gone blurry and unfocused from unshed tears.
I suddenly felt like I was going to be sick.
“You do not know it was written by—” Helena tried once more to console me, but I shook my head.
“She wrote it. That was clear from her reaction when he was taken by the Sylvan.”
“You mean when she used Light magic to kill a dozen griffins and an unknown number of fey?” verified Ares. His corded arms crossed over his golden breastplate as he frowned at the letter in my hands.
“Her mate was being dragged away from her! I think we can agree that she… Can any of you honestly say you would not have reacted the same?” I demanded.
I glanced at Riordan for support, but my king was still standing at the window with his back to the room.
We had not had a chance to speak in depth about what hadhappened. He had been forced to spend the last two days meticulously mending the damage Rian had caused in our realm while fighting the Sylvan. I had been dealing with the King’s Council as best as I could in his absence. Orion had been capturing all the traitorous fey that Rian left behind after portalling them into the Vale to escape the collapse of the Spring Court.
The same stress and exhaustion I had been combatting during the last couple of days was visible on every face in the room. Every day was a series of meetings and every night I fell into our bed, alone and asleep almost as soon as my head hit the silk pillow. Aside from the kisses on my forehead, which woke me briefly when the king finally came to bed, I wouldn’t have even known Riordan was sleeping in our room. He was gone before I awoke.
But I did know we were not on the same page in terms of how we viewed what happened with Ornella.
“She lost control,” Helena said, although I was unsure whether she was reassuring me or condemning Ornella.
She was at ease with her hip propped against an accent table and her thick, waist-length braid of dark hair tossed back over her shoulder. But even in repose, Helena was fiercely intimidating, taller and broader than most human men with her sword strapped across her back. Tattoos and scars covered her muscular, olive-brown arms that were exposed by the standard gold cuirass that was worn by all Kórinthian soldiers. The formfitting armour looked like it was painted on her breasts and rippling abdominals. The leather pleats of her kilt were longer in the back but fell to mid-thigh in the front, which revealed her powerful legs above golden greaves.
“She claims Rian is an ally, but I saw the way he was looking at you, Amira,” Orion insisted firmly. He was the only griffin in the room who did not wear gold armour. As usual, he opted instead for a leather cuirass and guards that more fully covered the vile slave brands I knew he had on his forearms. Along with the skin around them that was scarred from his attempts toremove the marks. Riordan didn’t know about it, and Orion wished to keep it that way. “He wanted to kill you,” Orion pressed.
I shivered as I recalled those emerald-and-gold eyes shifting to me with cold fury. I could still see the moment Rian had realized I was the key to inflicting maximum pain on Riordan in retaliation for threatening his riders.
My mate tensed at the window, his wings ruffling at his back, so I knew he remembered that look too.
“His riders are his family. How wouldyourespond if someone had lured everyone in this room somewhere to be killed by—” I began.
“He would have killed you, Amira,” Riordan cut me off without turning. It was the first time he had spoken since Orion brought Helena and Ares into our Ergastiri apartment to inform us of the official envoy from Rian. One who had carried a letter that Ornella clearly wrote to me before the Spring Court had collapsed. “While I can understand his reasons, it does not mean I trust or forgive his actions,” Riordan added a little more levelly.
“But he never actually hurt me—”
“Even if I were still prepared to consider an alliance, that will no longer be an option forthem,” he interrupted again. His right wing shifted out of the way as he finally glanced back at me with stern golden eyes.
“But you don’tknowthat,” I insisted softly.
“I do. You saw him, Amira. He would have sooner torn this world apart than let them take the Light Wraith. Alliances may have been on Rian’s mind before, but if he survived what the Sylvan did to him, then he will want for naught but vengeance now. And based on that letter, it is reasonable to suspect Ornella will feel the same about her mate being taken.”
“She would never hurt me,” I asserted, insulted that he would even suggest something like that.
“I am not convinced of that! And even if youaresafe fromher wrath, what about my people? Can you be so sure that her grief will spare them?” Riordan asked.
I could not make him that promise. Ornella could be so vicious and vindictive at times. She had always insisted dryads did not feel empathy, but I had always suspected it was more complicated. After reading her heartfelt words about her mate, I knew it was. Centuries of fending for herself had hardened her heart and sharpened her edges. And if she had finally found someone with whom she could feel safe, only to have him ripped away, then there was no telling what she might do.
And that was an uncomfortable thought.
