Page 34 of Maleen

“I know that. It’s just I know Killian is worried about falling asleep near me, and I don’t know what Talyn thinks of sharing a space.”

Tal steps up beside Aemon. “I’m fine with it, Princess. More than fine sharing a space with you.”

“And I’ll move my bedroll to the other side of the tent,” Killian grumbles, already gathering his stuff and relocating it away from me.

My heart clenches and my mark burns. It feels like a rejection, even though I know logically it isn’t. Stupid mate bond. “Of course,” I mutter. “If you don’t mind me, I’m going to relieve myself and grab Nero before heading off to bed.”

“I’ll come with you,” Talyn states before Jesper can offer. “You shouldn’t be walking around alone.”

“I’m surrounded by our warriors; I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

He holds the tent door open for me. “Still. It would make all of us feel better. Especially after the last time you were surrounded by warriors.”

Instead of arguing, I head out before realizing I have no idea where to even look for the latrine.

Talyn walks out ahead of me and throws me a look I can’t decipher over his shoulder. “It’s this way. All the camps are set up one of three ways. I’ll walk you through it so you know for next time.”

“I would appreciate that, thanks.” I fall into step beside him, even if every few steps I have to jog to keep up. After the third time, he slows his pace.

“You know,” he starts, “if you really aren’t comfortable with me in the tent, I’ll understand. I’m sure I can bunk with Lennox.”

I glance over at him and see the vulnerability in his gaze. “No, it’s okay. I want you there. I know things have been…” I struggle to look for the right word.

“I’ve been an asshole,” he states. “It’s okay to say it. I have been. Everything that has happened over the past twenty and some years. It made me a cold and uncaring bastard. No wonder no one realized I was under my father’s grasp. I want to be the male I should have been if none of the bullshit affected me. I want to be better for you. To have what you have with Jesper and Aemon and even Killian.”

A dry laugh huffs out of me. “Killian doesn’t want to want me.”

“Just give him time and work your magick on him. It sure worked for me.” We stop on the edge of the small cropping of brush. “When you’re ready to accept my apologies, I will be here.”

“Talyn, I’ve already forgiven you.”

He shakes his head. “You have always been quick to anger—most of the time rightfully so—and yet forgive so easily. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive myself for the damage I’ve done between us. So you will have to deal with a lifetime of me making up for it.”

My breath hitches in my throat. “You can start by kissing me,” I demand.

He doesn’t hesitate. His lips are on mine, our bodies clashing together in a different way from what we’re used to. Instead of rough hands, determined to fling me to the dirt, his hands are strong, keeping me from falling. His fingers thread through my hair, deepening the kiss until his tongue brushes against mine, and a wild fire erupts in the pit of my stomach. A broken dull bond, not completed yet, finally begins knitting back together and something inside me sighs in relief.

“We should stop,” he mutters against my lips. “I want you so badly, but not here.”

“Not here,” I agree, but everything screams at me to throw caution to the wind and let our souls finally join. It takes everything in me to pull away.

His thumb and finger tilt my head up towards him. We stare at each other, both of us unwilling to burst this little bubble. He presses one more quick yet all-consuming kiss to my lips before nodding to the bush, a small path lit by torches. “The female latrine is on the left side. I will wait for you here and then escort you back to the tent so you can get some rest.”

I nod wordlessly and scurry into the bush. Fates, I really need to pee.

THE BRIEFING THIS morning did not go the way I was hoping. While discussing the plan with the circle of trusted fae in our my council, we hit an impasse. My mates and I wanted to arrive in Maleen ahead of the Guard and Vathian troops. The plan we concocted was to circle above and assess, since we have no idea what we are flying into. If the coast is clear, we call in the rest of the Vathians and set up as normal. If we found minimal enemies, then we would handle it ourselves. If there is more than what we can handle, then we fall back and wait for backup from my Guard and the Vathian warriors.

My captains were not impressed and suggested sending a scouting party instead. But with how the last scouting party went, I didn’t think that was wise. Plus the longer we camp here, the greater the risk that the Lords might figure out what we’re planning. After an hour or so of debating, the captains relented to our course of action. I easily could have pulled rank, but that’s not how I want to handle things. Though I would if necessary, I value my mother’s way of doing things—agreement out of respect and the idea holding its own weight. I can only hope the plan I fought so hard for works, since the debating took time away from ironing out details for contingencies.

All of that is behind us now and the plan is in action. The clouds covered our passage over the unsuspecting troops staking out the other side of Wraithwater, and we weren’t spotted by any riders patrolling the skies, but I’m worried with all this luck that we are about to run out.

The closer we get to Maleen the more my gut squeezes with nerves. I haven’t been back since I escaped this place as a fledgling. I’ve avoided all rumors of my past home, and I’m too nervous to ask the state it was left in.

Jesper chimes into my thoughts. “Whatever we find there, we will face it together. But if it helps, it’s been untouched since your mother threw up the protective ward keeping everyone out. My father stated it booted all their troops and themselves from the walls, and they haven’t been able to get back in. It pissed him off no end.”

I mentally nod back. I still have no idea how my mother managed to protect our old home this way, and she’s not awake anymore for me to ask. All I can hope is that she did in fact leave some way for me—us—to get in.

No one says anything else for the rest of the flight, even Jesper and Roz who have been bantering back and forth almost the whole day. It’s as if the closer we get, the more the nerves and anticipation grow in the others, too. There’s no more speculation or planning, not without knowing what we are flying into. So we wait.