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“I’m going to kill him for this,” Cam told Dom.

“Get in line,” Dom told him.

I was shocked when Sloan moved to Cam, touching his chest and saying something to him in a quiet, soothing voice. Cam didn’t shove her away, in fact seemed to huddle her closer, his head bending down to her until his mouth was at her ear.

“What’s up with them?” I asked Dom quietly. “Don’t they hate each other?”

“They’re… complicated. But it’s not really hate between them. It never was. Cam’s overbearing nature has always been at its strongest when it was directed at Sloan, but it was only ever born from concern. Sometimes the person you love the most is the one you fight the hardest.”

Whoa. Holy shit. I couldn’t wait to tell Christian.

I’d known there was chemistry and complications there but love? No one knew them better than Dom, and for him to say a thing like that… I kept stealing glances back at them until Dom put his arm around me, blocking them from my sight.

“Behave yourself,” he told me, a twinkle in his eye.

“Have you met me?” I asked him, but I was effectively distracted from trying and failing to eavesdrop on the strange pair when he pulled me into his chest for a warm hug.

“I missed this,” I said, voice muffled as I nuzzled against him.

The crowd went suddenly silent, and with a heavy sigh, Dom kissed the top of my head and moved toward the balcony.

“Give me a moment,” he told me politely, and Cam was suddenly there, placing a crown of massive antlers on his head that would have bent a lesser man. As he did this, Sloan hooked a mic up to his lapel.

Without pausing, he strode out to the balcony to greet his people like royalty.

And he was that. Their perfect druid king, out of this world beautiful and more powerful than the ones that came before him. I wasn’t alone in my enthrallment of his devastating presence.

The crowd went wild. I wasn’t sure how long they would have gone on, but when he raised his hand the enormous crowd bowed to him as if on cue, a silence that lasted until he spoke.

“I’ve been called here to oversee an ancient rite of our people,” he began, his deep voice captivating. I wondered how much of that was magic and how much was just the man himself. I honestly couldn’t tell at this point what all of his powers entailed.

“My fifth lieutenant, Collin, has challenged my fourth lieutenant, Patrick,” he continued, clear disapproval in every syllable. “The timing is less than ideal, but it’s brought an issue to the fore that I’ve long been planning to address.”

I had no idea where he was going with this, and by the looks on Cam’s face he didn’t either. Sloan’s expression, however, was stone-faced to a point that made me think she was in the know. Interesting.

“The challenge has been issued and accepted. So be it. But I forbid any more deaths in the arena from this point forward. You will fight to victory alone.”

There were murmurs in the crowd, the volume growing until Dom roared, “Silence,” and they went deathly quiet again. “I am your Arch and this is my right. We need to stop throwing druid lives away with these petty games. Anyone who does not agree is welcome to challenge me.” By the continued silence, I was guessing that wasn’t going to happen.

“Contenders!” he spoke to the two men in the center of the ring. “Prepare yourselves! When I give the word you may begin.”

The crowd went wild.

He turned and motioned for the three of us to join him.

I went with dread, but my head was held high.

The mood of the crowd shifted, but I think they were too excited to let even my presence get in the way of the spectacle to come.

Dom turned off his mic, took my hand, and placed it on his arm deferentially. Sloan and Cam flanked us on each side.

The contenders were still getting ready, stretching, undressing, and conferring with their seconds.

“Your people love you,” I told him quietly.

He didn’t respond, staring ahead, looking like a beautiful, exotic king in his crown of antlers.

“Look at them,” I told him quietly. The crowd was looking at him more than even the fighters in the ring. “And look at you. You were born for this.”