I didn’t mean to outwardly react, but I inhaled sharply, and Orion’s gaze rose to Riordan as if he knew hisskiámust have said something provocative to me in private. His unreadable expression softened with his amusement before he looked back at me.
“She is,” he agreed.
Holy. Gods.This was simply too much. I merely stood between these two men, and all I wanted to do was melt into a puddle. Everyone was fully clothed, and we were standing in a damned prison with dozens of fey—
My thoughts scattered as I remembered the prisoners, and I glanced aside to see some of them watching us in silent fascination. Not to mention Ares who had moved down the hallway to get out of range of our scents.
“So does this mean you will let me interrogate Balor?” I askedRiordan aloud.Not the time or place, I added down our bond, relishing the warmth of his amusement as it shivered down the bond to me.
“If I thought there was anything truthful to be learned from him,” Riordan answered as he took my hand to lead me down the hallway. I was highly aware of Orion as he brought up the rear behind. “But I think that the faun— Sammy,” Riordan corrected with an amused glance back at Orion who snorted. “I think Sammy was right about Balor being a selfish coward. He will not help us.”
Chapter six
SHE IS LIKE GRAVITY
Orion
“Well, that went… well,” Amira muttered once we had walked far enough away from the council chamber.
It had been a few days since I was personally able to accompany her to one of these meetings, and I could not say I had missed it. The King’s Council was little more than a band of egocentric Imítheos bigots with a talent for finding things to squabble over. With the exception of a couple, they were not equipped for dealing with crises. But perhaps Amira could change that.
“As well as could be expected,” I reassured her.
She’d told the council about Sammy, the damned faun she had sent back to Autumn, and they had reacted about as well as I expected. They were all about as skeptical as Riordan was that peace could still be achieved. And they questioned the wisdom of releasing the only informant we had with direct knowledge of Rian.
Amira had maintained her composure quite admirably. Certainly better than Riordan would have if he were being bombarded by a dozen questions at once. She had argued that imprisoning and torturing Autumn Court fey would not be the best way to endear ourselves to the Wild Hunt. She’d insisted that the possibility that Rian might view the release of his envoy as a token of good faith was worth releasing the faun.
I could barely contain my smirk at the memory of how Stamos had almost come out of his seat, veins pulsing in his forehead and neck. I had moved so quickly I’d barely registered it until I was standing right behind her with my wings flared wide enough to eclipse the whole table.
Stamos sat down quickly and had not dared to raise his voice or insult her intelligence again. But I did not return to my place by the wall with the otherskiá. I could not seem to bring myself to leave her side after his outburst.
“I didn’t even get a chance to tell them about Balor,” Amira complained. And I reached out to take her forearm, stopping her so she looked up at me in surprise.
“I know you want to be transparent, but you are within your rights to play some things close to your chest.”
“That’s what Castor said,” she admitted, almost as if she were disappointed. It was moments like that I almost wished we were bonded so I could better understand her in the way I understood Riordan so effortlessly.
Myskiáhad told me what his mate shared with him of her strange conversation with Castor. After watching the councillor today, I was confident of my theory for him.
“Castor is a shrewd man but an astute one,” I began, but she scoffed.
“A smart man wouldn’t have tried to have you killed,” she retorted. An angry flush rose to her cheeks, and gods damn me for the way it distracted me immediately.
“We don’t know it was him, and even if it was Castor, that does not change the fact that he could be a useful ally if you can manage him,” I insisted.
She narrowed her eyes as if she were suspicious of me. “Are you saying you are not holding a grudge at all?”
“If anyone should then it’d be me. But Castor is right. Riordan is best suited to leading in the battlefield. You are better suited to dealing with people.”
She pursed her lips, her eyes wandering to the tapestry behindme, but my attention was riveted on her. I had not been able to look away from her or Riordan all morning. Not since she emerged from their room with love bites all over her gorgeous neck. She had tried to hide them with a tall collar, but every time she turned her head, or Riordan proudly drew attention to his markings, I was captivated. She’d also been moving much more gingerly than usual, subtle enough that no one else would notice, but I had noticed right away. I saw every wince and every attempt to covertly stretch out her aching muscles.
And I had been obsessing over it.
“Thank you,” she said, startling me. I realized I had been staring at the marks on her neck again while my mind was consumed by the most delicious and unseemly fantasies of Riordan putting them there.
I could barely remember what we were talking about but nodded and turned to lead her toward the only landing dais on that floor. We needed to get down to the city in time for her program in the Rookery.
“He told me that you kissed last night,” she admitted so softly that I almost didn’t hear her, but I froze instantly. It took a moment before I could work up the nerve to turn and check if she was upset at me. But she seemed to be as curious about it as I was about her and Riordan.
