Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
“I know,” she murmured, her hands on his face, wiping away the tears. “But I would have never allowed Jason to be taken from you.”
His brows were furrowed. “I’m sorry about Leda. I didn’t know.”
“Of course not,” she whispered, then nodded.
He sat down beside her, easing her into his arms and hugging her tight. “I love you very much.”
That was it. She started crying, and instead of watching them, my guards bowed, hands, not fists, pressed over their hearts, and Brenna, who always spoke for them, said they would walk the perimeter of our wing.
“Thank you for protecting me earlier,” I told Brenna, then looked at them all.
“It is our sacred trust with you,” Kamari replied with a surprising smile, as they normally did not. Kamari was very serious at all times. “My consort.”
I bowed; they all mirrored me and then left.
“Your guards simply leave?” Cirillo asked me. “What if I tried to kill you?”
Zev scoffed. Loudly.
Cirillo stood up and rushed over in front of Zev just as Hadrian and Tiago walked into the loft. “You need to learn your place, hendr. You’re in the presence of a lord!”
Tiago scoffed loudly as he reached me. “Lord of what? Fucking?” he said with a sneer of contempt.
Cirillo gasped. “How dare you—”
The noise Tiago made was all his own, revulsion and disdain combined with a quick retching cough that, like always, made me wince. Something about the higher octave of his voice to begin with made the sound that much worse. But it also, always, had the opposite effect on Hadrian.
He smiled. Or would have if he didn’t press his lips together tight so he wouldn’t. But still, the corners of his mouth curled up enough to let you know he found his mate adorable.
“I will have you drawn and quartered and—”
“Yes, yes,” Tiago placated him as he turned into me and opened his arms. “I have missed your dear company.”
I hugged him tight, always surprised that even though he looked delicate and lithe, he was powerful, with lean muscles, so it was like hugging a stone column. The kiss on my cheek was a surprise, and when he stepped back, I saw how soft his big sky-blue eyes were as he looked at me.
“I missed you too,” I assured him.
“Of course you have. Now ask me all the news.”
“Where did you find Alrek?”
“Cowering in a brothel in Istanbul,” he answered with a cackle. “Lord Horace Doğan was fairly certain he saw him as he walked the city and so called. His alert was quite helpful.”
“Where is he now?”
“Here in the palace since Varic invited him to the wedding.”
“Not Doğan,” I said with a sigh, because really, his brain sometimes. “Alrek.”
“Oh, he remains locked in his old quarters until Varic decides his fate.”
“You mean the king.”
“No, no. The draugr, the prince, punishes all those who have broken the law. And I do not mean he himself metes out the lashes or the death, but instead, in his name do people receive their justice.”
I did know that. I forgot.
“Keeping in mind, of course, had the king not made Alrek a fugitive, Varic would have never had to hunt him down and bring him back. Once he did, though, he placed the decision of what happens to him in the hands of the prince.”
“I wonder if he did it on purpose.”
“To wash his hands of the whole thing and not have to answer for the life-and-death decisions he no longer has to make?” Tiago asked sarcastically, fluttering his lashes.
“I get it.”
Of course that was why the king had done it. To not be the one to decide the fate of his son. There would have been no way to win. Kill Alrek, and he looked like an unfeeling tyrant. Allow Alrek to live, and he was blinded by love. It was a no-win situation for the king.
“It’s no better for Varic,” I told Tiago.
“It is.” Which meant Varic had already made a choice.
Hadrian stepped in front of me then, and though normally we didn’t hug, he surprised me when he yanked me close and wrapped me up.
I heard Cirillo’s gasp of surprise behind me.
Apparently, everyone knew Hadrian was not prone to bouts of affection.
“I missed you,” he said under his breath. “You bring a light to Varic that is not there in your absence. It is lamentable.”
Nicest compliment he’d ever given me before he hugged me. The hug hurt; it always did with him. He wasn’t used to hugging non-vampyrs, and even the quarter of his strength that he was using was like being crushed in the coils of an anaconda.
Once he let me go and I could breathe again, he turned to Zev, and they clasped wrists, which was a thing they did, and pulled each other close for the quick manly clench.
Varic stepped by them to reach me, squinting even as he hooked a hand around the back of my neck and drew me close. “You wore this for an audience with the king?”