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He sighed deeply and flopped down onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I climbed up next to him, tucking my legs beneath me and waiting for him to gather his thoughts.
“All my life, I was told my mother was dead, killed alongside my twin brother in the deep forests. When I visited Aralia after the second Trial ended - after you tasted my blood in the arena - I learned Julianna is alive. That she may be coming for me, though I don’t know what that actually means.”
“She was part gobbelin, wasn’t she?” I asked, remembering our conversation in the labyrinth.
Rush nodded, grimacing. “Tante, my mentor, told me Torrence absorbed more of the gobbelin blood in Julianna’s womb. She claims I have very little gobbelin blood in my veins, although it was still enough to poison you and begin the prophecy,” he added bitterly.
“And... how old was Torrence when he died?” I asked.
“Not even fully grown into a man,” Rush said, his voice barely a whisper. I sighed as I realized what had shaken him so badly. It definitely was a complication, but it also would clear Rush’s name.
“He could be alive too, then. If the gobbelin thought you were him,” I guessed.
Rush slumped back against the bed frame, misery etched over his handsome face. “How could I have known so little about my own family?”
“We can’t help but believe the lies we’re told, especially by people we trust,” I said gently, thinking of all the lies I’d swallowed from my own father.
Rush reached his hand to cup my cheek, the pad of his thumb skimming my lips. “I’m sorry, love. For whatever this will come to mean between the fae and the gobbelins.”
I narrowed my eyes, hearing what he wasn’t saying out loud. “You think your mother and brother might have had something to do with their return?”
“You said it yourself - you saw a vision of me, opening the door to the darkness. To the gobbelins. We thought it was tasting my blood that brought them back, Kana, but what if...”
“What if it was your brother who I saw, opening the door,” I finished, and it wasn’t a question.
It made too much sense to discount. Sure, prophecies and visions could be metaphorical, and blood had power. But it was never smart to ignore this level of coincidence.
“I can’t see the Tri-Kings working with Julianna, though. She was never welcome in their circles,” Rush continued, sounding more thoughtful now.
“Well, at any rate, if the fae are working with the gobbelins, then we have a whole new world of trouble to deal with.” I suddenly felt very tired. How was I supposed to save my city from both the return of the gobbelins and a massively powerful fae kingdom?
“One thing at a time, love. We will manage by focusing our attention on what we know, and on what we can do.” Rush leaned forward and dropped a kiss on my lips, pulling me from the swirl of thoughts that were quickly threatening to drag me under.
Pushing the new intel aside along with the worry, I vowed to take advantage of what I did know, and what I could do now.
“Look, I made myself a promise. I’m trusting you because I know I can survive anything. If you cross me, Lachlan of Aralia, I will gut you and hang you to rot from the tower. And it will hurt, but I’ll get over you.”
“I love you too, Kana,” Rush said, giving me that soft smile of his that was anything but sweet.
Maybe some people wouldn’t find it romantic to say I could survive my love being ripped away again, but I didn’t care.
I trusted myself, and that was the only way I knew how to be open enough to love again.
“Prove it, then,” I challenged my fae, kicking off my boots and straddling him in a smooth movement.
He grinned up at me, that feral look I loved so much focused on me now. “Oh, I have so many ideas.”
CHAPTER FOUR
KANA
Before I could tease Rush any further, he’d pushed me smoothly to the side and disappeared into the bathroom.
I smiled when I heard the water running, and the grin grew wider when he poked his head through the doorway and raised an eyebrow at me.
“Coming, love?” he asked.
“That’s the plan,” I shot back, giving in easily to the magnetic pull he had over me. As soon as I was within reach, he began to peel my clothing away, his fingers skimming up and down each new bit of bare skin while the room filled with steam.
