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It was clean, and smelled nice. There were both feminine and masculine touches to the space, and my chest ached at the thought that Akari might live there.
To think that my sister had a life, had found a mate…
Fuck, the idea made me almost happy enough to cry.
“We should wait outside,” I whispered to Laith. “It would be weird to wait in here.”
Just then, I heard feminine voices on the stairwell.
My eyes widened.
Shit.
This was going to be awkward.
Laith hissed a curse, dragging me deeper into the room and stepping between me and the doorway.
I shoved my way out from behind him, stepping up next to him
The door opened and he threw an arm around my waist, his grip tight and slightly panicked as he pulled me closer.
“Vena,” Akari breathed, as she stopped just inside the doorway. Fuck, she looked different. Softer, and happier, with healthy weight on her bones for the first time in her life. Her hair had been chopped short, and it suited her perfectly. “Stars. You’re here. How did you—”
Her eyes landed on Laith.
“Akari, is it?” my king drawled.
He justhadto put on that damned evil king mask again.
My sister stepped back, her palms and hair starting to glow. She hadn’t mentioned or looked closely at the markings on my neck, so I assumed that Laith’s magic was already subtly working its charm.
“He’s changed,” I said quickly, flicking a hand backward to smack Laith lightly on the arm. At the same time, I stepped the rest of the way in front of him, letting him pull my back tightly to his chest. “You’re not in danger. We’re here to surrender.”
I saw the doubt in her eyes before she said, “I’m going to need a better explanation than that.”
Laith spoke up, his voice still that slow, low tone he put on when he was trying to act more evil than he was. “I fell in love with this bewitching creature, and she’s not willing to mate with me unless I give the throne’s magic to one of my brothers.” His arm slid around my abdomen and tugged me impossibly closer to him, but in the edge of my vision, I saw his arm sliding down my abdomen. An illusion of me crushed it to my pelvis, as if worried he was going to grope me or something, and I tossed him a dirty look over my shoulder.
Why did the man insist on coming off so different than he truly was?
“He invaded my mind and relived the torture and abuse I experienced, and in the process, decided he doesn’t want to hurt anyone else,” I lied, looking back toward Akari. “And I refused to consider him anything more than a friend unless he gives his magic to one of his brothers. The throne’s portion of dark magic is too wild for him to control. I think everyone in the whole court will agree with that.”
Akari looked like she believed me, which was a relief as much as it made me feel like shit.
I fucking hated lying to her.
“And Vena will die if we don’t return to her homeland,” Laith added. “My magic is no longer enough to sustain her, and I can’t leave the court with part of its throne magic in my veins.”
Stars, what was he doing?
He was the one who wanted to lie to them!
“You’re dying?” Akari’s gaze jerked to mine.
I was careful to remain steady, so she wouldn’t think I was afraid, as I said, “Not if I get back home.” If she thought I was afraid, there would be no getting rid of her. She would swim all the way back to the elemental lands with me if she thought I needed her to, so she couldn’t know.
“Espen and Namir are ending the lives of the men who ran our prison,” she admitted to me.
Oh, fuck.
