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“It appears so.” I was also working on another theory. It was clear Ayla was incredibly powerful, even after years of living in self-enforced exile. If she was surrounded by magical peers and had access to the vast trove of information in the royal library, I had no doubt she’d flourish. We were being hunted at the time, yet I hadn’t forgotten how much my own abilities were amplified after we’d first slept together, both opening ourselves up to our fated match. I’d regrown my own damn leg, for gods’ sake. Not unheard of, but normally it would take a shifter a week or two while on a protein and potassium-rich diet. With Ayla’s help, I’d done it in moments.
It still ached from time to time, and I felt it more acutely after shifting, but I had a fully working leg.
However, I didn’t say any of that out loud because I wasn’t an idiot. Ayla had so much on her plate already, and I didn’t want to float that the Shriek saw her as a major threat. Not yet, anyway.
“I know you don’t like your family, Kai, but what about the staff you mentioned? The innocents all around the castle and in court? The curse is much more vicious with people I care about, but it hurts people who are in close physical proximity to me as well.”
“Wait, you know for certain?” The curse was so multi-layered and vicious, I wasn’t quite sure what was proven fact and what was paranoid, if sorely earned, caution on Ayla’s part.
“I’ve got a good idea. I don’t think little baby me could tell my nanny from anybody else when she was violently killed in a freak accident.”
That sounded traumatizing, but there was also something off about it. “If you were a baby, how do you know your nanny was killed by the curse?”
“The coven told me when I asked them why I’d been sent away by my family.”
That’s what I thought. I remembered the total disdain in Tabit’s eyes whenever she regarded Ayla. “So, you don’t necessarily know it’s true.”
My mate drew herself up, squaring her shoulders as she affixed me with alook. The coven hadn’t really been all that good to her, but she still felt a certain way about them. “The covenneverlied to me.”
I wasn’t the smartest man in existence, yet I knew this was an argument I didn’t want to broach.
“I understand, but in any case, now that I’ve found my mate, I’m not going anywhere without you. I need you safe, and I honestly can’t imagine going back to a life where you’re not in it. I was and am completely serious about the promise I made to you after the whole scene with my uncle. Iwillhelp you break your curse.”
She opened her mouth, no doubt to argue, but I kept going. I didn’t make it a habit to talk over people, as I believed it was asign of a poor leader, but I knew in this case it was important to not let Ayla keep going into a self-shaming spiral.
“I intend to use every resource possible to help, and frankly, I have a wealth of them at the palace I just don’t have here at Canid. I want to start with requisitioning an enchantress living in the capital who might be able to help us figure at least some parts of this curse out.”
“You’re willing to risk everyone’s lives for that?” Ayla didn’t sound angry, just bewildered, and it made my heart ache that she couldn’t understand how important she was to me.
Instead, I held out my hand, my voice deadly serious. “Ayla, I’d risk theworldfor you.”
It sounded outrageous, but it was the truth. I’d only truly known her for over a month, but it was like she’d rewritten my DNA. I’d finally found that missing part of me, and I wasn’t willing to have it ripped away from me again.
“You can’t mean it.” Her voice was down to barely a whisper, those bright eyes of hers trained on the floor. Still, her hand slid into mine, her smaller fingers gripping my palm like I was the last lifeline mooring her in place.
I was happy to be that for her. I’d be her haven in the storm, her anchor in a choppy port. I’d be as strong and supportive as I needed to be to make sure my mate felt safe, that she could flourish.
“But I do.” I allowed this to sink in for a long moment before continuing. “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but it’s doable. Yeah, we’re gonna have to take extra precautions with keeping you away from people. You’re also about to get a whole lot more experience with your counteractive and protective spells. But I truly believe we can contain your curse while we try to break itandkeep others safe.”
She didn’t say anything for a long moment, and I just let her think. I could feel thought after thought tumbling through herhead, but I did like that she wasn’t arguing anymore. It felt like she was really listening, which was a marked difference from placing a curse on me without my consent.
“What about the fort?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m a third of the healers here, and we’re already understaffed. Just two healers for this whole military instillation would be a huge danger to every soldier and auxiliary staff here, especially since Canid is already losing its captain for an indeterminate amount of time.”
She had a point there. “You’re right, that would be detrimental. I guess I’m going to have to play hard to get.”
Ayla grinned, and I appreciated the break from the drama. “I think we can both confirm, of the two of us, I am the hard-to-get champion.”
“Exactly. I learned from the best, and while I’m not going to tell my parents you have a curse, I can try to negotiate with them through my uncle. I’ll only return to the capital if they send one of the best healers in their employ to Fort Canid, along with another worthy military captain to take my place in the interim.”
“You really think that’d work?”
“My mother will no doubt be eager to have me back, and though my father tries to keep her under a tight leash, she does know how to wear him down on things that are really important to her. And her son returning to Merrik isveryimportant.”
I could tell Ayla was still debating in her head, no doubt shuffling between a thousand and one reasons why she should and shouldn’t go along with this.
