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“I knew I shouldn’t have left!” he exclaimed, running a fisted hand through his still-tousled hair. “And what were you doing out alone in the middle of the night, anyway? With everything that’s happened, Liana…” he groaned, “It isn’t safe.”
I was glad I had time to remove the bandage from my knee, clean the blood from the skin and change into a clean gown before he arrived, or he would have been even more in distress at my appearance.
“And invited the emissary tostay? Why would you do that?”
I was seething, but I knew he had good intentions, and only wanted my safety. “I’m sorry. I just—I had to see it—the Great Hall, and the cauldron. It was like it was calling me,” I said, reigning in the urge to lash out.
He looked at me with patronizing eyes, making me want to cry out with frustration, “Calling to you?” he asked, as though I’d said the most ridiculous thing in the world.
And maybe I had. Maybe it was all a strange dream my stress-addled mind created to play tricks on me. But that couldn’t be true. Ihadgone there, and Ihadheard a voice—a voice that warned me and told me to run and had kept me safe from whoever had been coming to harm me. It didn’t matter if Alaric didn’t believe me.
“I’m sorry,” he said, calmer, coming to rub warmth into my shoulders, “What’s important is you’re alright.”
I nodded.
He sighed, and I relaxed into his embrace, “I’m sorry I frightened you.”
“I’m sorry I shouted.”
Kade came in then, raising his eyebrows at the sight of Alaric and me, still locked together.
“Captain,” he said, jaw tensing, “Silas has requested to meet with you.”
The Captain of the Horde armies?I wondered what for.
“Right,” Alaric digressed, releasing me from his embrace, and taking his time about it too. “I’ll be back soon. Stay with Kade.”
Once he was out of sight, Kade rushed me, lifting me in a tight hug so my feet dangled a foot from the ground. I gasped. “It’s only fair.” He winked.Cocky bastard.“The three of us share everything. The fearsome threesome—that’s what they called us back at camp.”
“Surely you didn’t shareeverything,” I mused, disentangling my limbs from his.
He tilted his head to one side, pursed his lips, nodded, “Most things, yes.”
I dropped back to the floor and steadied myself with a hand on his bicep, “Females?”
Waggling his eyebrows at me he said with a wolfish grin, “Sometimes.”
“So, none of you are bonded, then?”
Kade made a dismissive sound at the thought, “No,” he said, sounding as though he was stating the obvious, “But… we are all bound to you. Not by magic, but by honor and duty.”
That beautiful, warm ache spread through me again. I bit my lower lip to keep it from trembling at the thought of the three males. All bound to me.Mine.Kade followed the motion with hungry eyes, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
His wings whipped out from his back and his eyes darkened, filling with lust. The room heated, and I knew if I touched him, it would burn—but I wouldn’t care. “Don’t ask me questions you already know the answers to.”
The sparring courtyardwas twice the size of the ballroom, closed in on all sides by thick stone walls, the ground made up of soft, dark sand. It took several splashes of cool water before I was ready to leave my chambers with Kade. It was my suggestion, if only to clear my head and get out of the privacy of my chambers. I wasn’t sure if I could restrain myself.
I wanted him. And I wanted Alaric. Finn was just as beautiful as his brother, but with a quiet grace I desired too. They were mine. But was I ready to make myself theirs? The nobles would consider itimproperto take more than one lover. They couldn’tallbe King Consort after all. But why should I have to choose?
Della, one of the seven sisters on the isle was skilled in the art of combat and gave me a little training. Not enough to stand up against Kade, but that wasn’t why we were here. Spread evenly throughout the sandy circle were three short pedestals. Atop one sat a stone bowl, a fire burning inside. The second was filled with water. And the third held a bounty of blossoming flower buds. Hay-filled sacks in the vague shape of bodies stood in a line around the room.
This courtyard, though also used for traditional combat sparring, was made for newly Graced Fae to develop their abilities. Since I didn’t yet know what my Grace was, it seemed the logical place to start.
“Finn said it could be fire,” mused Kade, “Like me.”
“It could be. Can you show me how it works?”
Kade opened his hands, raising them from his sides so I could see, “Your Grace comes from inside you. It’s a part of you. When I first trained, only certain things would trigger it. Like if I was angry,” he said, and a ball of flame appeared in his hand, hovering just above his flesh, “Or if I was turned on,” he continued, tipping his head toward me, his other hand igniting with flame, “Now, it’s as easy as breathing, I call for it, and it comes.”
