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Camille sighed. “I think I convinced them, but. . .I’m not sure.”
Ian checked the territory. “Or this could be a trap.”
I stared at Camille. “I don’t care as long as my queen is safe.”
Ian rolled his eyes and headed off. “I will get dressed. Let us see what comes.”
Hours later, the mage removed the line of troops from the area, but no one witnessed where they went.
Camille and I rode on a striped horse toward the two mage leaders.
Our wagons trailed behind us full of our people.
Ian refused to ride a horse. Instead, he sat inside his wagon.
A mile in front of us, only two mages stood—a black woman wrapped in a beaded blue gown and a tall man decorated in wolf skin.
Camille whispered, “Remember, the man is called Spenrik, and the woman Tru. They are Tribe Flame and Tribe Rock’s chiefs. And the ones that will be getting married.”
The fact that the chiefs stayed there without their members demonstrated to me that they believed they could overpower us.
They were wrong.
The king within me rose to the surface as if to sniff the air.
I inhaled them—rich mint and the smoky fragrance of fire.
Their power flooded the land. It was an invisible force pushing against me, trying to keep me back.
Hmmm.
Once we traveled over their territory’s borderline, the air thickened with it. Power pushed against my skin, clogged my nose for a few seconds, and buzzed across my flesh. It took several seconds for me to adjust to the jarring sensation of immense energy. Every nerve ending screamed in response.
There’s old power here.
Suddenly, Ian’s whispering floated from the wagon’s walls.
I quirked my brows, trying to figure out what he was saying. The words were too muffled.
I glanced over my shoulder at Camille. “Who’s in there with Ian?”
“His dead queen.”
“Are you joking?”
She rested her head on my back. “I wish I was, but no. I heard Ian talking to her during the day.” Camille sighed. “He refused to talk about it, when I asked him later.”
“And this is the vampire you think should deal with the tribal chiefs?”
“Ian understands their customs and is familiar with vampire-mage politics. I’m sure he had the opportunity to witness it with his father. And even better, he was king himself for a period of time.”
“This talking to a corpse worries me,” I said. “He’s crazy.”
“Don’t say that.”
“He is.”
“We’ve all done things in these past days that many would consider insane.”
I gritted my teeth as the vision of my forcing my fangs into Camille’s neck returned. “You’re right.”
“Let me handle Ian. I’m going to sit him down tonight and make him talk to me about it.” She let out an exasperated breath. “Maybe he’s so heartbroken and lonely from her death that he can’t help himself from talking to her body.”
Which is insane.
“Then there is another option,” Camille added. “One that may be harder to conceive, but true.”
“What’s that?” I raised my eyebrows.
“What if she’s talking to him through their mind-to-mind connection? The one that he surely would’ve created through the blood. . .?”
“You’re forgetting that she died.” I urged the horse to go faster. The distance between the two mages and us quickly closed. We would be there in a minute. “When you died, our bond severed. That is the same thing that would’ve happened to them. If something is talking back to him then it’s—”
“Evil.”
“Yes.”
No. Ian, we need you to be sane.
A throb emerged around my temple as a headache dawned.
I’d already been stressed about the upcoming fight with the Quiet King, dealing with the mages to gain their support, and trying my best not to harm my queen.
The one constant normalcy with us had been Ian.
When I was in doubt about being a vampire king, I knew I could seek his help.
If it hadn’t been for Ian, Camille would’ve never entered that wagon this morning and tamed me.
Yet he has been acting out of character.
Ian’s hand between Camille’s legs played in my head.
A growl broke through my throat.
I don’t like that he took advantage of the situation when I was coming inside of her. I’ll have to watch him.
Camille lifted her head from my back. “What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t like Ian’s hands between your thighs.”
She stiffened. “Let’s worry about all of the other hundred things that we need to deal with and forget about that.”
“Did you feel disrespected?”
An exasperated breath escaped her lips. “No. . .I know I should have, but. . .no.”
I gripped the reins of my horse tighter. “Did you like his fingers there?”
“This is a dangerous conversation, Xander.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Then let’s stop talking about it.”
We approached the two mage.
I stopped in front of them.
Camille hopped off as if trying to escape further conversation on that subject.
You’re safe for now, but at dawn we’ll discuss this more.
Chapter 19
Surprising Connections
Xander
Ian’s human servant rode the wagon my way and then stopped it by my horse.
