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Arden had been training, and she was stronger than before, but she wasn’t strong enough to fend him off without using her earth element. And we couldn’t let her do that in front of everyone.
Flint was even more agile in his wolf form, darting over the rubble. I helped by blowing the obstacles out of the way so we could all get through.
He bit the assailant across the middle and yanked him away, throwing him aside, right at Jagger’s feet. I dove into the open space and scooped Arden up, tucking her against my body. She was limp and covered in dust. My heart pounded out of my chest. No. This wasn’t happening.
“Kitten? Open your eyes for me, please,” I said, my voice cracking. I cupped her face, brushing dust off of it. “Kitten. Arden.”
I was faintly aware of Jagger torturing whoever had done this, but the world around us was far away. Arden was the only one that mattered. Her brow wrinkled, and the tension in my chest blew out in a rush.
“Kitten, you awake?” I asked again, cradling her. She groaned in response, her eyes fluttering but not opening all the way. “Good. Just relax. We’ve got you.”
“Don’t kill the kid, Jagger,” Flint said from behind me. He must have shifted back. “Enforcers, take him. We need to take care of Arden before we question him.”
“I should fucking do it,” Jagger hissed, the smell of smoke and fire momentarily choking me. “I should tear him limb from limb as slowly as possible.”
I stood up with Arden cradled in my arms, nuzzling her hair to steady myself. The moment Jagger saw her, his anger rolled out of him and was replaced by anguish. He took her from me and pressed her to his chest. She had dipped back into unconsciousness. Flint pushed her hair out of her face, the tenderness not matching the stormy look in his eyes.
Flint and I shouldn’t have touched her that way, not in front of all the guests—so gently, like she was ours. Everyone probably guessed that our feelings for Arden went deeper than friendship. I didn’t care at this point. I only cared about getting her away from here and everyone else.
We took her to the central wing of the palace and straight to the healer’s room. Jagger set Arden down, fluffing the pillow behind her head.
“No one touches her,” he growled to the healers who attempted to come close. “Everyone leave.”
They did as he asked, leaving the three of us alone with her. Jagger smoothed her hair out of her face and rested his hand on her forehead.
“Do you want an extra boost to heal her?” I asked.
“Yeah.” Jagger closed his eyes. I took her hand, and Flint rested a hand on her knee.
All fae had the power to pass their healing abilities onto someone else, to varying degrees of effectiveness. If a more powerful fae was injured, it took more magic to heal them. Arden was stronger than most, and we wanted her completely better, so we worked together.
After a few moments, she stirred. Relief washed over me.
Then she opened her eyes, and my entire world flipped upside down.
A whole part of me I didn’t know about opened up, deep inside my heart. I loved Arden before, but now I didn’t have the words for that feeling. I needed her, and without her, my life was meaningless. A wave of elation came into my head from the outside—a new feeling, but not a strange one. Having her connected to me in this way felt like it should have always been like this.
Tears filled her eyes as she clenched my hand. This was what a mate bond felt like? Jagger walked around, feeling like this toward Arden? How did he spend a single second without her?
I lunged forward to kiss her, but I stopped myself just in time, letting out a growl of frustration. I turned to Flint, who was sitting completely still, his face blank.
Emotionless.
That same connection hadn’t clicked for him.
Chapter52
Flint
The whiplash between Arden being attacked, saving her before she had to use her earth element, and healing her in the span of fifteen minutes was enough stress on my system.
And now she and Lex were mate bonded.
My brain went entirely blank, as if I were in the dark and suddenly exposed to a bright light. I never dreamed of this happening. I had already been the odd one out, but now the gap between me and Arden was a wide, deep canyon.
“Flint,” Lex said, probably for the second or third time. The pain in his eyes broke me in a different way. “Please. The spell.”
I took a deep breath through my nose and dug deep inside to reverse it. I wasn’t so cruel as to keep two mates from touching. Something popped inside of my chest—the spell was broken. Then, numbness took over.
