Page 103 of Bound to Three Fae Beasts

“Lord Gareth.” Rusco sounded unsettled, though he hadn’t flinched. “To what do I owe the interruption?”

I strode forward, my magic wrapped protectively around me. “She is under my protection.”

“Then you’ll take the whipping for her?” Rusco quickly sneered.

I rolled my eyes. “The way I see it, we can either fight or make a deal. Which will it be?”

Rusco started to roll the whip. “What kind of deal?”

“Your father is trying to push through a trade deal with Court Oslo. I will tell my father to back the deal,” I told him, folding my arms. “As an apology for what happened. And in return, I want you to leave her alone.”

I nodded toward Azriel, who flinched.

Rusco rubbed his chin, then nodded. “It’s a deal. But if my father’s trade deal doesn’t go through, she’ll get it worse.”

I laughed and shrugged. “And then I’ll have to retaliate. Ah. Let’s hope it goes through, then.”

Rusco held his hand out to me and I shook it. He nodded at his lackeys, who reluctantly cut Azriel free.

The whip hadn’t yet torn cloth, thank the gods, so I clamped my arm around her waist and dragged her back into the passage. Her nearness made something stir in me, something I didn’t want to examine. She leaned into me as I whisked her to the Thunderwood room. Its entrance was far from the Academy, within a grove of hemlock trees in the forest.

The room itself was still decorated the way my father had left it. It was perfectly like him, all dark wood and black furnishings. I didn’t care enough to decorate it to my tastes.

“Thank you,” Azriel murmured.

I released her and went to the sideboard, where I kept my collection of alcohol. It was all the finest stuff. I didn’t indulge often. Booze dulled the senses. “Don’t thank me. I’m still not happy about all of this.”

She sat on the long black couch. “You mean me being…”

“That’s exactly right. You are everything I was taught to hate and fight. And everything I was taught to cherish above all else.” I made myself a gin and tonic, then poured half into another glass that I brought to her. “A shape-thief who is also my bonded mate. I can’t tell you how much I hate this. How much I feel like I’ve been betrayed by … well, you.”

Azriel took the glass and sipped her drink. “I didn’t choose it. Any of it.”

“I know. And that’s why I can’t live without you.”

Her eyes widened, then narrowed.

I laughed and put my drink aside. “Sounds stupid, doesn’t it? But it’s the truth.” I hesitated, then reached out to touch her stomach. “Did Rusco hurt you?”

“A couple of stripes on my legs. He was just getting started when you interrupted.”

I pressed my fingers over her stomach, causing her to let out a shaky breath. Her pupils widened and her hands tightened on her glass. Her lips parted slightly, then she abruptly put the glass aside and pushed my hand away.

The loss of her against my palm made me feel cold all over.

“I want to know what this is,” Azriel said firmly, twisting to more fully face me. “I am not going to sleep with you if you still want to kill me. It’s not fair.”

Fair. It was such a strange word. “What part of I can’t live without you makes you think it’s a possibility that I’d kill you?”

“Murder-suicide?” she shrugged. “You said I didn’t have to be afraid of you, but I just … I don’t understand how you could have changed your mind about me so easily.”

“You think it’s easy? It’s not easy.” I let out a shaky breath as I reached for her again. I needed the assurance that she was whole, and well, safe—from me. I’d harbored so many thoughts about revenge and killing off the last shape-thief. It wasn’t fair for her to be my mate. “I’m betraying everything. My mother…”

Azriel’s brown eyes filled with sympathy, and she let me pull her into my lap. “My mother killed your mother, didn’t she?”

“Maybe. It’s impossible to know for sure. Your mother may not have been the only shape-thief alive at that time.” I buried my face into her hair and pulled in a deep breath. “Azriel … I swear I will never hurt you. Not on purpose. If I was going to kill you … you’d be dead, and you wouldn’t have seen me coming.”

“The thing is, I believe you. I don’t know if I should, but I do. Gareth….” She breathed my name as she wound her hands into my hair. The feeling of her so close to me set every nerve ending of my body alight.