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The enforcers had a car waiting for me to whisk me to the far side of the palace grounds. Somehow, the attack felt like it had happened years ago. I tried to clear away the emotions around it—the surprise and fear of Arden being attacked when everything was supposed to be secure.
The facts were left. A young fae in dark clothing had managed to slip past security to attack Arden. He’d obviously caught her by surprise and tried to silence her. Was he trying to take her somewhere? That opened up another set of problems. How was he going to get her away from the carnival? Were some of our enforcers corrupt? Had the guests not been vetted enough?
We arrived at the prisoners’ complex, and enforcers guided me deep within the building. The hallways constantly shifted just in case a prisoner got out—they’d get lost immediately—but the enforcers navigated it with ease.
The cell holding the assailant was heavily guarded, even though he didn’t look like a physical threat. He had to have been in his late teens or early twenties, based on his build and his attempt at a beard.
“His name?” I asked.
“Bradley,” an enforcer said. “Didn’t give a last name.”
Another one opened the door to the cell, and I stepped inside. Bradley shrank back on the bench lining the back of the cell, looking down at his knees.
“Explain yourself,” I said. “Who are you, and why were you trying to attack Arden?”
Bradley’s heartbeat picked up so fast that I heard it pound in his chest. “I…I was given orders.”
“I don’t have time to drag each answer out of you. Tell me everything—who gave you the orders, where you came from, all of it—or I can make this interrogation a lot more painful.”
“I’m a Forsaken Lunar.” Bradley straightened up but still looked at his knees. “I was given orders to take Arden, not to kill her. I was supposed to take her from the bathroom silently, since the carnival was so busy and people might not have noticed until it was too late, but she screamed before I could follow the escape route. Some other members helped me drug an enforcer and take his place with a glamour. We caught him before he even left his apartment to come to work today.”
My jaw clenched. Our enforcers were good, but they weren’t on duty at all times. They must have used powerful magic to glamour this kid enough to get past our deeper detection spells—like to the point where they might have killed someone to wring out every last bit of that energy. I wouldn’t put it past them. They wanted her badly.
“Take him away. Keep him alive just in case we need more information, but put him under the tightest security.”
My exhausted heart ached. We were strong enough to stop the Forsaken Lunars, but they weren’t giving up. I was still going to protect Arden, even if she had two other mates. It was the least I could do for her.
Chapter53
Jagger
Iwanted to fucking kill Flint.
He couldn’t feel Arden’s heartache the way Lex and I could. He had no idea what he had done, really. First, he’d had that stupid spell, fucking over himself, Lex,andArden. Now he’d broken it, told her he loved her, and just refused to be with her? Because he felt intimidated by our mate bonds?
Flint was one of the most important figures in my life, and I respected his intelligence, but he could be a fucking dumbass when it came to his emotions. Arden was in love with him, genuinely and fully, which didn’t get erased because she had two mates. She had more than enough love to give. He just had to keep the past behind him and let it happen.
Arden dragged us back to my quarters, just to decompress and for her to rest. I was too worked up to do anything. Flint was handling the assailant, anyway, and Lucas and the enforcers were shutting down the carnival. We needed some space.
“Want to take a shower?” Lex asked, massaging the back of Arden’s neck.
“Yeah. I’m still a little dusty.” She sniffed, even though she wasn’t crying anymore.
I helped her peel off her sweater, and Lex helped her with her jeans. She handled her bra and panties, leaving them in the hamper in the corner. I stripped, too, then started the shower. It was more than big enough for all three of us, with multiple heads hitting us from all sides. I took Arden’s hand and helped her inside.
Her body relaxed the moment the water poured over her head. The heat of the water made her body flush pink. Seeing her naked stirred up my arousal, as always. And as much as I wanted to bend her over, her mouth on my cock, Lex buried inside her from behind, she didn’t need that right now. She just needed comfort.
Lex stepped in, shutting the shower door behind him. Steam filled the shower, fogging up the glass. I grabbed Arden’s shampoo and handed it to Lex, who squirted some in his hand. She raised an eyebrow and reached for her face wash, but I stopped her.
“Don’t say you can do it yourself,” I murmured to her, brushing away some water from her cheeks. “Let us take care of you.”
She sighed through her nose, tension leaving her body as Lex washed her hair. We methodically cleaned her from head to toe, barely lingering around her breasts or ass. Lex’s emotions lingered on the far side of my bond with Arden, like Arden was a filter for them. I’d have to get used to it.
“Thank you,” Arden sighed as we finished rinsing her off. She leaned her forehead against Lex’s, then gave him a kiss on the lips.
The kiss started off as affectionate, but it quickly spiraled into something hot and needy. Lex wrapped his arm around Arden’s waist as her knees wobbled and picked her up, propping her against the wall so he could continue kissing her. Her long legs wrapped around his middle. Her sweet little sounds of pleasure and the way she ground her core against Lex made my cock start to harden.
“Oh, shit,” he said with a grin, pulling back from her for a moment. “I can feel how much you’re craving me, Kitten.”
