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“It’s fair game, as long as you’ll be able to get us all out of here safely.” Silence sighs, his warm breath fanning over my neck.
“Fair enough,” Malice says.
I know he can see that I’m awake, but he doesn’t acknowledge me.
Dark smoky tendrils dance out over me, latching on to Silence. I hold my breath as he goes rigid behind me.
Malice slides a hand down, intertwining our fingers. I’m pulled into a memory, or possibly a nightmare, that Silence fears will come true.
My jaw falls open as I see my sister with Triton and Korso at her side. She’s ordering my retrieval and immediate return to Winter Court. It’s the coldness in her tone and the audience of mercenaries she commands that send a shiver down my spine.
Silence stands stoic with Hex at his side, but both his fury and concern seem to fill my chest as if it were my own.
The scene morphs.
Silence kneels in front of my sister on the throne.
She’s busy berating my husbands for losing me while threatening their lives if they betray Faere.
I release Malice’s hand, snuggling back into Silence. His grip on my hip tightens, but I roll under his arm to face him. I bury my face in his bare chest, breathing him in as my mind races.
Ary reminded me a little too much of my mother.
I’m honestly not sure if I want to know if that was a memory or something he fears could one day be possible. No, I’m definitely afraid that was a memory and she’s been hunting me all these years while I’ve been hiding from the ramifications of saving her life.
ChapterTwenty-Three
Atlas
My feet pound the floor as I pace Ali’s living room. Her house is nice, but neither of our homes are truly built to house five people. Her furniture, especially, wasn’t constructed to hold a half giant.
Hex sits in the club chair, staring at the clock on the wall. It’s been hours since Silence updated us. It’s difficult being away from her and, at the same time, I know there comes a point when I have to start trusting them.
The part that’s tough to process is that I’m sure they want to keep her safe as much as I do.
Being a Highborn leader of my people didn’t prepare me for the reality of having to share one day.
Giants aren’t necessarily monogamous, but they do tend to form small family clusters with two or three males per female.
Orcs are quite the opposite of giants and fae. Where it isn’t unusual for multiple males to share one female in either of those societies, it’s nearly unheard of for orcs. The higher the rank, the more leeway the male is given. He may have a mate and several other willing partners, especially if his mate doesn’t produce offspring. The thought fills me with shame as much as it does fury.
My father claimed my mother as part of his spoils of war, but he wasn’t prepared for the consequences that came from his people when his only heir was also half giant. I had no interest in fucking my way through the countless willing orc females. I intended to take a mate and be an honorable leader. Thankfully, life had different plans.
I know Ali fears what happens if I slip into rut. For orcs, the condition is only resolved by breeding. Our systems know when a fertile partner has been successfully bred.
The entire situation is absurd.
I’ve spoken to Meena and Nadia about magical intervention if it ever got to that point, and they’ve assured me they would do their best.
I’d rather die than hurt Ali, but I suppose I’m selfish. I couldn’t walk away from her if I tried, which I haven’t, because she’s my fucking flame.
The universe wouldn’t have given me a mate—the most sacred gift we can be given—only to tear it away because of her magical backlash.
I refuse to believe fate could be so cruel.
“Tension vibrates off you,” Hex says absently. “You trust Malice. I trust Silence with my life and, more importantly,my mate’slife. They’ll be fine.”
I nod, spinning and pacing back in the opposite direction. I am tense. Perhaps it’s due to the fact Ali’s quickening is nearly here. I was just as riled the last few times, but she never extended the offer for me to join her in her nest.
