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Each one felt like a punch to the gut.
I hope we’ll get to grow our family.
I hope we don't go to war.
I hope I can bring my mother home again.
Kai stiffened, and Isla had to have felt it because she did, too. Her hand settled atop his around her waist.
That power within him opened an eye and beat against his chest like a war drum.
Murderer.
It had been lulled before, quieted by her, by their time together, but with the shot of emotion, all chains had been stripped away. Now, it was a thrashing against his ribcage, a pounding on his skull. He shoved it down—down, down, fuckingdown—and cleared his throat. “Are you hungry?"
Isla turned, eyes trailing over his face. “I could go for something.” At his lofted brows in question, she added, “Surprise me?"
Kai nodded. “I'll meet you back over there.”
He kissed her temple, but before he could go far, Isla spun, inclining her head in an ask he’d never refuse.
His lips met hers in a simple embrace that shouldn’t have stunned him the way it did. From one shared breath to the next, he felt himself unraveling beneath her, the threads that created the fabric of who he was hers to control as she pleased.
He’d meant it when he said it earlier: he would happily be at her mercy until the end of time, but as her essence seemed to spill into him through this kiss, through their connection, something inside him reacted—violently.
Kai broke the kiss, stepping back.
Isla mustn’t have felt the vicious retreat as she stared with furrowed brows. “Are you okay?”
He wasn’t sure. Whatever had resisted, though, seemed to slink back into a darkened corner of his soul—crouching in wait.
Kai sighed. “The usual,” was all he replied. All he could really understand right now. “I’ll be at our table with Rhyd and Jonah when you guys are done." Her stare was doubtful. To avoid it, Kai lifted his head to Ameera and Davina in the distance. “Do either of you want anything?”
“Alcohol!” Ameera answered immediately, and Kai did his best not to frown.
A long night for her, then.
“I’m okay,” Davina said. “Tell Rhydian to come over here in ten minutes so we can release this together.”
Kai nodded and gave a wary Isla a peck on the forehead before disappearing into the crowd.
* * *
Breathe.
Kai took his time getting to Rhydian and Jonah, his hood pulled over his head as he maneuvered through the crowd. Monitoring.
He counted each of his paces, timing them with his heartbeats, as he checked to ensure all guards were at their assigned posts. Some of them had slipped away, it seemed, in the merriness of the night, and a few he sent towards where Isla remained, ordering them to keep a distant eye on her.
He didn’t catch any off-scents. His rolling net ofsensedidn’t snag on any volatile emotions. No rogues. No spies. No bak. No witches.
Still, paranoia gnawed at his insides, stoking his own erratic emotion.
I hope we don’t go to war.
Where was Malakai? Where was Sebastian? General Eli? The Imperial Heir? Their guards? He hadn’t seen them since the ceremony…
Goddess, he couldn’t think like this. Couldn’t doubt them and imagine the worst. They were Isla’sfamily, but—
