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“Are you well?” I asked him carefully.

He nodded slowly. “Just attempting to figure some things out. Choose the right course. Now that I have you back, I can’t let her get her claws into you again.”

“I won’t go anywhere with her, unless you tell me so,” I said, stroking from his stomach up to his chest. He caught my hand and I thought he’d tell me not to touch him, but his grip tightened.

His expression was grim and I frowned. “Do you think she can force me? Is that what she can do with that power?”

It was as if a door closed between us. My heart leaped in my chest, a bolt of fear. I gripped his hand and shook my head. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what? I’m only—”

“Don’t close me out, Voski. Please. Not now that we’re back together. I’ve missed you so much—”

“Shhhh, don’t worry. I’m not. I was only… I wasn’t pushing you away. It’s instinct for me when anything feels unsafe—and right now I’m terrified of her trying to take you. Yes, the power could help her in that, though I don’t know how far she’d go. She wants us together. She just wants us under her thumb.”

He stared down at me, our fingers twined and palms clasped. Neither of us spoke for a moment, but I felt him take a deep breath, then the bond unfurled again, and that rush of warmth and need returned. Along with my heartbeat.

“That’s better,” I murmured.

He nodded. His throat bobbed, then he met my eyes again. “I was talking to Kham last night, while you slept.”

“They were close enough? I wish I’d thought to reach for Koa.”

“They were leaving us to our… reunion,” he muttered with a wry smile.

I grinned back. “I suppose I’m glad for that.”

“Me, as well.”

More warmth. More love. And now the simmering heat alongside it. I dropped my chin and let my smile grow broader as Voski obviously decided to let go of whatever he’d been worried about for a time, and pulled me into his lap.

I smiled and pushed to my knees, leaning on his shoulders, about to straddle him as he took my hips in his hands, so we’d be eye to eye. But before I’d even settled over him, he froze. I went still as his eyes locked on mine and a jolt passed between us through the bond.

Quick as a flash, Voski flipped me back to the bed, throwing a quilt over me as he darted off the bed—so fast, yet the curtains barely fluttered from his passage.

Before I could ask what had happened, there was a knock at the door and I yanked the blankets up to my neck.

There was a bare inch between the bed curtains to give me a view of the room, but I could see the path to the door and Voski bent over.

His trousers jingled as he snatched them up from where he’d dropped them on the floor—the belt was still in the loops—to pull them on as he barked at the door.

“Do not enter!”

“Please, Vane. I’ve seen you since your birth—”

He froze, his head snapping back toward me as we both recognized the voice of his mother. I instinctively dragged the quilts higher, to cover me to the shoulders. He’d torn my dress last night, so I had no clothing.

His jaw went tight and he turned on his heel, crossed the floor in a blink, then opened the door a bare inch. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he growled.

The door swung open and I saw him flinch, but he caught himself, glaring as his mother swept past him, her eyes scanning the room—catching on me peering through the gap. She smiled and turned back to face Voski as Jade ducked her head and followed her into the room, a bundle in her arms.

‘Don’t move,’ Voski growled in my head. ‘Let me handle this.’

I stiffened, but I had no clothing. I didn’t want to get out of the bed.

Voski took a beat, closed the door carefully, then turned to face his mother and folded his arms. “What the actual fuck, Mother? How did you find us?” he seethed.

“A mother always knows, Vane. You know that,” she said pleasantly. “Poor Grace is here with no clothing, nothing with which to wash. I am merely fulfilling my obligations to watch over her, don’t worry. We made certain no one saw us approach. I hope you let poor Grace get some rest!” The moment she turned toward where I sat, frozen in the bed, he moved, darting past her to stand between us, feet shoulder-width apart, fists now at his sides.