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“Why else?” Wrapping his fingers around the bars, he studied her. “You might bemyfated one.”
Shock nearly unhinged her jaw. “Me?” she squeaked, thumping her rioting chest to be sure. “Not Lore?”
“Not Lore,” he echoed, stretching an arm through two bars to gently trace two fingertips along the seam of her lips. His thumb stopped to plump the bottom.
Her cells caught fire, torching already cracked defenses.
Perhaps this was what her father had meant? Neeka would find her consort in the flames of passion.
Without conscious thought, she sucked his thumb into her mouth and nipped the pad, drawing a single bead of blood. Oh! Her lids sank as the potency of his power hit. Delicious. Heady. An addiction waiting to happen.
His pupils completely swallowed his irises. Raw possessiveness radiated from him. “I’m keeping you,” he vowed, cupping her cheek. “I’ll never let you go.”
He...no. She shook her head to clear her line of sight. No way he’d said those words. Just no way. “Come again?”
“I’m keeping you.” He moved his hold to her nape, gripping a fistful of her hair, as if to prove his claim. “We are together now.”
A thousand flutters, in a thousand different places stole her breath. He made a future as a couple sound so easy. Just boom, done. “What makes you think I’m yours? Has there been a sign?”
“No, but I don’t need one.”
Just like he hadn’t needed a sign with Lore? Ugh. “We can’t work. We don’t trust each other.”
“Trust will come with time and effort. I’ll even make the first gesture. As of this moment, my stable is officially closed.”
“You’d do that for me?” she replied with her driest tone. But inside...
Do not soften. Don’t you dare!He wasn’t the party who’d been left for dead.
“My kingdom is your kingdom,” he continued, petting her nape now and giving her the hard sell. “I’ll ensure your throne is bigger than mine with a design patterned after our bedroom walls.”
Oh! He just had to go and sweeten the deal. But. Despite his pretty words, he hadn’t morphed into a good bet. She needed to guard her heart.
What if she—a vision consumed her in an instant, and she gasped.
Neeka lost sight of Rathbone, an ancient temple taking his place. Mother-of-pearl covered the columns, walls, and floor from top to bottom, shining with radiance. There was no dais, no altars, or royal seats, just emptiness. A starlit midnight sky stretched as far as her gaze could track.
What was this place? Why was she seeing it? She scanned from left to right, her brow furrowing. What wasthat?
Neeka pushed deeper into the vision, zooming in on two bones. A metatarsal and a femur. Both bore a carving. Oh, oh, oh! The final pieces of the Lore puzzle.
If you wish to save everyone, Neeka, you need only—
The whisper wafted a second time. Was there a connection between the speaker and this place?
The temple began to fade, a large shadow growing in the background. Wait! She wasn’t done here. Wasn’t even sure where here was. Neeka did her best to memorize as many details as possible. An outline of Grenwich! She stood off to the side.
Her mother noticed her and reared back, startled. So. They were both surprised to see the other. This couldn’t be a typical vision, then. So what was it? A summoning?
Whatever the answer, the competition was on. Who would reach the temple first?
The second Neeka blinked, the temple details erased. “No,” she bellowed, spying a smoldering Rathbone. He hadn’t released her.
“What did you see?” he asked, infinitely tender as he continued petting her.
Gah! No time for this. She backed away from his cage. From him. “I must go.” Where, where? She couldn’t visualize the temple, so she couldn’t push the image into a flasher’s mind and teleport.
His lightning-fast reflexes worked in his favor. He snagged her by the nape, stopping her in her tracks. With an insistent tug, he brought her an inch from the bars. “What did you see?”
