Page 10 of Veil of Night & Flames

I’m already drifting, so I close my eyes and let the rhythm of his breathing pull me under, warm and safe in the arms of this man who has guarded me since my mother died.

But as I drift, it’s not Chase I feel. It’s Adric. The weight of him above me in the tent. The silver of his eyes gleaming in the moonlight. The way he whispered my name as if it tasted of passion.

I’m in Chase’s arms, and I’m thinking of Adric. I’m sated and guilty and aching for both of them, and I don’t know how a body can hold this much want without splitting down the middle.

And to top it off, I’m getting engaged in just a few hours. For most women, that’s a fantasy come true.

For me? I honestly don’t know. All I do know is that I love Chase. I’m falling hard for Adric. And that, in some horrible way, the fate of the universe has settled onto my shoulders.

Chapter

Four

The dress transformed her.

That was Chase’s first thought as he walked Cora down the long stone corridor toward his brother’s throne room. It was just cloth—he knew that—and yet it seemed to shine like magic stitched into fabric. Dusky white shot through with silver and pale gold, the fabric moving against the floor like water, her copper hair blazing.

She looked like a queen.

Hell, she was a queen. Or would be soon enough.

Adric’s queen.

She was going to belong to his brother instead of Chase because she’d made a deal to save him. It had worked. He was alive. But now she could never truly be his.

Adric had won again. Just as he had since the goddamn beginning of time.

She squeezed his hand. “I’m the one who’s supposed to be nervous.”

He forced his thoughts away from his brother. “Are you?”

She just cocked her head and stared him down.

“Right,” he said. Because of course she was. And of course she wasn’t. He’d seen the connection between her and his brother. Hell, he even understood it. But Cora was his, dammit.

Except that soon she wouldn’t be.

“It’s a royal engagement,” she said, as if reading his mind. “It’s politics. That’s all.”

He didn’t answer.

“That’s all,” she repeated.

But it wasn’t. Not really. That much he knew in the marrow of his bones.

No. That much he knew in his blood.

And damned if just the thought of it didn’t make something wild and dangerous rise within him.

She loved him. Chase knew that. But was it love she felt for his brother, too? Love, or simply desire? Cold and clean and disposable?

He didn’t know. He wished he didn’t care. But, dammit, he cared too much. Far too much.

“Chase.” His name was a whisper. “You’re the one who’s supposed to be comforting me.”

“I don’t like this,” he said in what probably qualified as the biggest understatement of his entire existence. “Betrothal leads to marriage. And your marriage to Adric is dangerous.”

She looked up at him. “I shouldn’t have asked you to do this. I’m sorry.”