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He chuckled before standing and striding out, carrying his bowl in his hands as he went.
I paceda bit more while my mind spun rapidly. I had to force my damn thoughts back to the moon more than a dozen times in the process, but I needed to think shit through.
As far as I was concerned, I had three options with her. My mate. Whose name I still didn’t know.
I could kick her out of the castle—and in so doing, piss off my possessiveness so much that I wouldn’t be able to think straight. That would only lead to the moon setting and another land invading ours, which would mean more war and unnecessary deaths.
So, it wasn’t really an option, even though it was.
I could lock her in her room, or my room—that second one sounded much better—and not let her out of my sight for the rest of my life. Which sounded pretty damn good right about then.
Or I could let her live peacefully in her own room, in her own space, as long as she stayed in the castle and remained close enough to me that I could hear her if she tried to leave and do whatever was required to make her stay.
None of the options sounded like anything that would make the woman happy—but her happiness and my happiness came after keeping the moon in the sky, because if that fucker fell, it would be the end of all of us. And her death would be far less tolerable to me than her anger.
Without making a decision, I continued to pace and tried to focus on the moon enough to keep it in the sky. It wasn’t setting, but it was close.
My mind went back to my conversation with Horvis. He’d seen her—my fated mate—for much longer than I had, and at a much closer distance.
That infuriated me.
Pushing away the fury and trying to focus on the moon, I made myself think about what he had said.
She reeked, and seemed to hate the rest of the world.
I didn’t blame her; there was much to hate in the world.
I couldn’t do anything about that.
But I could do something about her stench. It had to be bothering her, even if it didn’t bother me.
Fuck, she could smell like literal shit and I’d still want her.
My castle didn’t house servants or any other fae besides me and Horvis for that matter, which meant I could either send him with soap… or I could go alone. Unless I wanted to fetch one of the guards near the prison, which I didn’t want to do.
So I plucked a thick cloth bag off the floor of my closet, then shoved my own bottle of shampoo and bar of soap into her bag. There was conditioner in my cupboard somewhere, from before I’d shaved my hair, so I dug around until I finally found it and then threw that in the bag too.
Remembering the shitty clothes she had on, I frowned when I recalled what bad shape they were in.
Stars, this was a damned nightmare.
My mate, locked in my prison.
I threw a couple pairs of white and silver pants into the bag, then strode across the hall. I didn’t have any shirts, but I’d find some—or I’d have someone find some, I supposed.
The fucking moon started slipping as I approached the woman’s door, so I halted abruptly, leaning against the wall with my eyes closed. It took longer than it should’ve to haul the damned moon back into the sky—a lot longer than it should’ve—but I managed.
With the moon balanced, I knocked on the door once.
No answer.
Frustration and stress had my heart clenching.
I hadn’t heard any doors open and close in my hallway, but I hadn’t been paying close attention. I’d been doing yoga and meditating, trying so fucking desperately to get my mind off my fated mate’s too-slim body and the way her damned hair radiated that seductive moonlight, drawing me in like a damned bee to honey.
I leaned my head to the door and listened in like a fucking stalker, checking for any kind of sound that might suggest she was in there.
Panic gripped me harder.
