AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m here.”
And I was. I was here. For now. Eventually, I was going to have to leave Dra Skor so she could marry Zaire or some other jackass and give Dra Skor the heirs that were apparently so damned important.
Walking away from her after everything that had happened since I arrived in Dra Skor might just break me all over again.
Good thing I was used to the dark.
We landed on my balcony, and I carefully moved to dismount Malachi with Esta still in my arms. Amory already had the door open for me, and I strode right for my bed, placing her in it and removing the ridiculous hat from her head.
Amory pulled my curtains shut, which I had begun leaving open to see glimpses of the shifters. Malachi and Whit stood on my balcony. Emric had slipped in when we arrived, wanting to make sure our trip back had gone well.
Amory began pacing. “I need both of your help.”
“What do you need?” Emric asked.
Amory took a deep breath. “I’ve thought it over this whole day. We are going to say Esta is at her lair grieving. I will have to continue on here as if things are normal. I cannot just hide away in here all day to be with her tomorrow no matter how badly I want that.” She paused her words but not her pacing. “We will say that you have burnout, Keir, and I will send food here shortly for whenever she wakes up, but I need the two of you to watch her for me. And whichever of the guards you brought with you who you trust most. I—” she gave her head a shake. “I am asking this of you all, to safely hide awayourqueen, and I know it is probably a horrible idea, but I don’t know what else to do because I no longer know who I can and can’t trust?—”
She cut off because I stood in her way and stopped her.
“Amory. We came to help. We will help.”
She looked from Emric to me and back again. “You will not leave her side? And send for me as soon as she wakes?” A tear slipped down her face. “What has happened to Dra Skor that I am more comfortable leaving my queen in the company of our enemies than risking some of her own finding out about this?”
“We’ve never been your enemies,” Emric stated calmly.
She threw an arm around me and gestured for him also, the result that we were all hugging.
“You’re becoming quite the hugger,” Emric commented.
“Shut up,” Amory snapped with a sniff. “It’s been a rough few years in here.”
I ruffled her pure white hair and for the first time wondered if that was related to her tigress coloring since I had noticed Esta’s hair and scale color were close. “Wouldn’t even be the first time you locked us up here, so don’t worry about it.”
“Send John to me in the morning with updates,” she said. “For now, absolutelyno onecan know about this.”
CHAPTER34
Esta woke in the morning extremely out of it. I wasn’t sure if she even knew who we were. Or her own name. I convinced her to take a few sips of water and take a bite of bread, and then she passed back out.
It appeared it was going to take a few days for her to recover.
John and Emric switched on and off checking in; Dex and Miles were keeping a lookout in the hallways, making sure that no one showed up unannounced.
John stopped in just before heading to the library to see if there was any change. There wasn’t.
“If they find out she was here after changing,” John warned me.
I gestured with a hand for him to go. “Zaire suspected I was here for her from the moment my feet landed in Dra Skor. It isn’t something I haven’t already been accused of.”
“Well, this could make things worse,” John whispered.
I gave him a shrug. “I don’t really care. We were able to shift her back. That’s all that matters. Now it is our jobs to make sure she stays safe while she recovers. If Zaire has an issue with it, which I am certain he will, he should consider why Amory and Malachi trusted us more than any of them to watch over her.”
John patted me on the shoulder. “I only worry for you, My Prince.”
I gave him as much of a smile as I could muster. “I will be fine. I always am.”
“When will you try again on another shifter?” he asked. “I am sure Amory will wish to know.”
