Grey smoke streamed from Vale’s lips, and his pupils shifted from thin slits to normal. "I won’t let him wed you,mate." The last word was a hissed claim. More than the King, but his dragon.
Never, Bastian echoed in her mind, and she met the vampire’s gaze, seeing fury within the scarlet depths.
Az’s jaw was tight with rage, knuckles white; and Graves, the winged liar, snapped his wings out, forcing him to stumble a step closer. When had he stood? She’d been making a marked effort not to look his way, but had missed him rising and walking closer, standing an arm’s length away from where she sat between Vale and Tharen.
Emarelia’s deep sigh stole their attention. "I glamored your wings to emerge only when you experienced pleasure with someone you cared deeply for. Someone you felt safe with."
Everything stopped. The room tilted, breath locked in her chest, and Luella could not bring herself to turn her head and look at…Tharen.
38
STILL AIR
LUELLA
"What do you mean?"
Each word Tharen said was punctuated with a low growl.
Luella couldn’t even look at him. Her heart was in her throat, hands fisted in her skirts, and eyes trained on the low table set between her and Emarelia, where the female regarded them all with unwavering interest, curiosity, and above all, power.
"I mean what I just said, Prima. I glamored Luella’s wings to unlock once she experienced pleasure with someone she cared for," said Emarelia. "It is a cruel world, dear Luella. Males take what does not belong to them. Your body… your wings… they were at risk. I wanted to ensure you would be cared for. I made it so your wings would emerge only when you were in the presence of someone you felt safe with."
Shame beat against her.Oh.
Oh no.
Luella couldn’t wrap her mind around it.
What Emarelia was saying… did it mean Luella feltsafewith Tharen? The most volatile and ill-tempered of her five Vincire. She didn’t think she would ever forget what it had felt like in the Temples, upon the altar. When he had goaded her, each wordlike the snap of a whip, building her up, making her shred her reservations—until she came undone with the mere touch of his hand.
He had been brutish and rude, positively angry. And yet, she had feltsafewith him? The same male who had first awoken her in her bed, held a dagger to her throat, and ripped her away from everything she had ever known.
But… Luella recalled the feel of his hand between her thighs, covered by the thin fabric of her gown. He hadn’t forced her when she told him she wished to keep her clothes on. She remembered how he had pushed and pushed, desperate to touch his lips to hers—but as soon as she had saidno, he had backed off.
Her body tingled like electricity simmered under her flesh.
The swirl of stardust, warm and playful as it danced in her hand and caressed her skin, guiding his touch.
Ina, Osa, Nyxila, Ori, Ven, and his trio of wolves…
All evidence of the Prima’s soft heart—buried deep behind a wall of thick, unyielding stone.
Luella looked up—she was caught in Emarelia’s gaze.
A low growl filled the air, and the seat of the lounge shifted as Tharen roughly stood, stalking away from the room without a word. The swish of the curtain alerted Luella to the fact that he had left.
She didn’t look away from the female before her.
Still air hung heavy.
And a hand settled on her thigh, breaking her from her trance to stare at Vale. His green eyes held her captive, more pressing than anyone else could ever hope to replicate. Questions were within. Was it strange, for Luella to know this male so well that she could understand the words he didn’t say?
She dipped her chin, raising a shoulder at the same time. As if to convey,I’m not okay, but I am okay.
She was splayed open, put on display for everyone in this room. Emarelia may not know the truth of what her words had revealed, but the others did.
Vale’s palm was hot on her thigh. "Can you aid Luella in better understanding her powers?" the King asked.
