Page 5 of Sky’s Edge

Dad teased Mom incessantly about how he couldn’t relax and watch a screen with somewhere to rest his head.

Mom then teased Dad back about how he always had a headrest, and she had close proximity to play with his hair.

Yes, this meant his headrest was her lap.

Yes, this was cute.

Yes, since they were my parents, it was also gross.

And yes, in that moment, it served to further infuriate me because Dad got to fall in love.

Dad got to pick the being he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

I did not.

Hence my very recently arranged marriage to King Tanyn of Sky’s Edge, which segued into me carrying a grudge that might last forever, and obviously further led to me being late to this meeting, which was to discuss my arranged marriage to King Tanyn.

I was seeing someone.

Did that matter to Dad?

No.

Of course, things with Bash were very new. We were only seven weeks into it. I didn’t know if he was the one.

But I knew I liked him. He was interesting. He was handsome. We shared the same interests. I liked watching when I made him laugh. He was good in bed. He had a decent pedigree (a prerequisite for Dad, not me). He made good money (also a prerequisite for Dad, and not me—I could make my own money…and did, not to mention, I was the sole heir of the Truelock fortune).

That said, Bash was no king.

Ugh.

I ascended the gleaming cream steps to the second floor, walked down the hall and heard the murmuring of voices coming from Dad’s study before I hit the open door.

When I did, I saw Dad sitting behind his desk, Mom sitting in one of the chairs in front of it…

And King Tanyn standing at the window behind Dad, but off to the side.

Ambush, gods damn it.

All of their attention shifted to me when I appeared in the doorframe.

Mostly (all right, totally), my attention was on Tanyn.

Honestly, why did the male have to be so farging gorgeous?

That healthy, thick dark hair. That lean, tall body. His strong jaw, straight nose, heavy brow.

Those electric blue eyes.

I didn’t want to, but all I could think of was the kiss he’d laid on me after the troll attack at the Midnight Masque. This he did after I’d only just met him. This he did before he told me to get rid of Bash and he’d be in touch. His “in touch” meaning he was going to contact my father, not me, to negotiate for my hand, and he would do that without my knowledge, until Dad told me the arrangement had been made.

Thankful for that last thought, which meant I glowered at him before I looked at Dad.

“I thought this was a family meeting,” I noted.

“As the king will be wed into this family, it is,” he replied, and I saw the warning sign of the streak of red lightning flash first through one of my father’s dark eyes, then the other, before he said, “You’re inexcusably late.”

I strolled in. “I have a job, Dad.”