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The way he looked at her incensed me, like he somehow knew something about her, but wanted to hold that knowledge above her head, out of reach. I wasn’t going to take it.
“She’s my mate, not a spectacle,” I growled.
“Your mate, huh?” Elias’s grin turned wicked. “Do you know where she’s been?”
My body moved faster than my magic did. I punched him in the face, sending him falling onto his ass.
“Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?” I snarled, surrounding his body with flames. His element was air, but he was so much weaker compared to me that he only fanned the fire. “You’re asking me to fucking flay you alive right here in front of everyone.”
Lex and Flint appeared by my side, stepping in front of Arden and nudging her backward. Now that she was safe, I could let loose.
“Listen, you’re being a little sensitive,” Elias said with a nervous laugh, trying to put out the flames creeping up his leg. He grimaced as the fire licked his skin. “We go way back. You know me.”
“So, you’re saying that I have a long history of knowing what a piece of shit you are.” I intensified the flames, making the few guests who were still lingering close to us to back off. The flames flared up the hedges and up Elias’s leg as he tried and failed to quell them. I eased off the flames just enough for him to heal before intensifying them again. “I’m going to be nice and give you a second to apologize before I—”
“I’m sorry!” he cried out. “Please!”
Arden’s fear intensified through our bond, and I stopped immediately.
“Get him out of here. Take him to a holding cell,” I said to my enforcers, stepping back to pull Arden into my arms. “I didn’t mean to scare you, Little Flower.”
“It’s fine. I was more scared for the entire garden.” She lifted her head and gestured around.
“Oh, fuck.” I hadn’t realized the extent of my fire. Most of the hedges were toasted or turned to ash, and the entire party had stopped around us. “I got carried away.”
“I understand why.” She kissed me. “That guy gives me the creeps.”
Aides swept in and started putting the event space back together. We stepped outside of the space for privacy, enforcers forming a line between us and the party.
“We should figure out what to do with him,” Lex said. “Elias went too far, even for him.”
“Ban him from all the events,” Flint said without a pause. “He shouldn’t be here. We can’t let him get away with speaking to Arden that way. To a Royal’smatethat way.”
“I know.” Lex ran his hands through his hair. “And I agree that he shouldn’t be here, but what about the rituals and the eclipse?”
“What about them?” I asked with a snort. “He shouldn’t be able to come to those, either.”
“But what about the blessings?” Lex frowned, absently pacing. “I hate him as much as everyone else does, but he’s a Lord. He’s our liaison to a big part of the kingdom, and I don’t want him to go without it.”
Flint and I glanced at each other. Lex had always taken the Mystic more seriously than either of us. But now that the source of our magic had bonded Arden and me, I was much more inclined to take it seriously. It wasn’t just a bunch of flashy magic to me anymore; it was something I felt every day with Arden.
Elias was a piece of shit, but he did a decent job of making sure that all of our orders were carried out in his land. He needed to receive whatever luck was going to come from this eclipse.
“I agree,” I finally said, before turning to the enforcers. “Ban Lord Elias from the events and from my fucking sight. He’ll come to the rituals, but that’s it.”
The enforcers nodded.
“Are we done here?” Lex asked. “The ritual is done, so I’m not sticking around for whatever’s left of the ball.”
“Me either.” I put my arm around Arden’s waist. “Do you want to stay, Little Flower?”
“No. I’m exhausted.”
“Let’s go in, then. You coming, Flint?” I studied his face. His mouth was pressed into a line, and his gaze was focused on something way off in the distance. He was serious as fuck all the time, but this went deeper.
I had seen Kathrin in the crowd, skulking around, probably trying to find a male of high ranking to leech off of. The relationship between her and Flint had collapsed decades ago, but he was still carrying around the wounds she’d given him. She was probably the reason for his mood.
If he just gave into his feelings for Arden, he’d heal. Sharing her wasn’t at all the same as being cheated on by some status-hungry snake of a female.
