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Regret made my heart hurt with a kind of desperate longing that threatened to overwhelm me, so I pressed a kiss to his cheek to hide my tears.
Tristan glanced away, a trace of disgust on his face. “As I was saying, I just got my fucking life back, my fucking family fortunes back and now you’re going to make me lose everything all over again.”
“Wedidn’t involve you in this, Tristan. The Oracle did. And you were all in, so long as there was a big payday for you at the end.” As if he sensed my turmoil, Raz’s eyes turned velvet-soft and he skimmed a gentle kiss across my forehead before turning back to Tristan.
This was the first time I’d gotten a good look at Lord Tristan DeVayne. He wasn’t as heavily muscled, or as big as the others. He was lithe and lean, but somehow…he fit.
Tristan possessed the same innate grace and ease of movement, dangerous and deadly, as if he was one bad decision away from violence. His skin was sun-kissed, in fact, it was like the gods had bathed him in fire, golden flecks burning in his hazel eyes, his auburn hair.
And the closer he leaned to the fire, the higher the flames grew, bathing the room in a blaze of heat. His fire magic could be a fearsome weapon, I realized with a jolt, remembering how he’d incinerated Solok to ashes in seconds.
But…what was wrong with me? I had no right to think of him—of any of us—as weapons.
“Take your fucking bad attitude to Tempeste and the fuckers who caused all of this, because the rest of us? We’re stuck in the same shitty situation as you.” Raz spat. “Don’t act like a fucking martyr, because you have more to lose now, with your big fancy castle and piles of money.”
I blinked.
Oh, right. Raz and Tristan were fighting.
“All I wanted was what was rightfully mine, nothing more.”
Raz dragged a hand through his hair, and I took the opportunity to scan him for injuries from yesterday. But he looked perfect…except for that cursed mark on his face I couldn’t unsee.
My hand drifted to my side, and for a second, I imagined the lightning mark along my ribs throbbed in response. My heart cracked open a little bit more. I knew there was a price for using the magic…I’d just hoped none of us would have to pay the cost.
“Where did you come from yesterday?” I asked Tristan pointedly. “We haven’t seen you in weeks. Then you appear out of nowhere, shoot an arrow straight through Solok…”
“And you.” He added drily.
“And me.” I rubbed my nose, still feeling a phantom sting from yesterday. “Care to share where you’ve been?”
It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Tristan, it was that I didn’tknowTristan. Besides those days on the trail to Blackcastle, when he mostly ignored me, he’d been a ghost. And his perfect timing couldn’t have been a coincidence. There was more going on with him, but I couldn’t figure out what.
“My castle. Alone. Where I should have fucking stayed.”
“You just so happened to show up in the woods at the exact right time to shoot Solok?”
“And you.” He grumbled, then shook his head. “Yes, that’s exactly what happened. Would you have rather I stayed away?” But he went to great lengths to look anywhere but at me.
“Hmmm.” I turned to Raz, trying to keep my voice light. “So, in other news, Montgomery proposed to the king he was taking me to Warrington Hollow, wherever the fuck that is, to meet his father, who’s probably dead, for a family visit.”
Raz growled low in his throat and I went instantly damp, warmth spreading through me at the primal, possessive sound. “I declined the invitation. Told him I was staying here with you and Zor.”
“Warrington will definitely work.” Tristan murmured, crossing the hut in three strides and peering out the filthy window. “What did the king say?”
“I’m not going.” I muttered when Tristan just snorted. “I mean, never in a million years.” I smiled sweetly at the archer. “Tavion Montgomery can go fuck himself.”
Tristan’s eyebrow went up. “She’s gotten mouthy these past few weeks.”
“Oh, you have no idea.” My smile turned syrupy. “So, I told Tavion to fuck right off and…”
“Warrington Hollow?” Raz put so much emphasis on the name my heart started hammering. “For how long?”
“Two weeks.” I didn’t like Raz’s long, strained pause, nor the speculative gleam in Tristan’s eyes. “Again, in case I was not clear, I am staying here.” I slid my hand into Raz’s. “With Raziel. Where I belong.”
And they could pry Raz from my cold, dead hands, as far as I was concerned. Even death might not split us apart, given how tightly the ancient magic bound us together. The ache in my chest grew worse, edged with desperate fear at the thought of us being separated.
No, I wasn’t leaving this male. Not ever.
