Our now-absent brother, Darius, the resident firewalker, had a short temper. Known as the Royal Four’s renowned hothead, he’d literally earned the title. But at least with Darius, you knew to avoid the fireball sure to come your way.
With Marcus, retaliation might not come for days or even weeks. Cool and self-possessed, the River Prince’s cutting arrogance would not allow him to fly off the handle. Marcus preferred guerrilla tactics that would do the Djinn proud.
Not anything I needed to deal with at the moment. Though I couldn’t complain about his taste in women. Tessa Sheridan put courtesans from home to shame. That bright red hair, those glorious curves, all wrapped in a gorgeous package that —
“Hello, Aerolus?” Cadmus snapped his fingers. “I think you need to lay off the sorcery for a while, windboy. Your brain’s been fried.”
My brother had a real knack for picking up local idioms. Unfortunately, he also had a knack for causing undue aggravation.
I cleared my throat. “I’ll tell you about Arim as soon as Marcus comes down, so I only have to tell it once.”
“Speaking of Marcus, I believe he and that gorgeous redhead are well on their way to creating a new Royal Four. I was going to bring them something to eat earlier when I got the distinct impression not to disturb.”
“Really?” I tried to sound disinterested, but I could feel my face heating. Images of Tessa stirred uncomfortable longings I had no time for. I’d been doing my best to suppress sexual desire since taking this new path to sorcery.
Usually, my work kept me satisfied. Maybe steer clear of naked women, idiot.
“Really.” Cadmus repeated, sounding as if he’d swallowed a laugh. “So it probably wasn’t a good idea to barge in on them the way you did.”
Shit.
Cadmus sounded more than interested, and his brown eyes sparkled with mirth when he asked, “Is she even half as hot naked as I think she is?”
“Yes, Aerolus, what can you tell us?” Marcus entered the room, his voice cold enough to cause an ice burn.
I took a deep breath and slowly let it out before turning to face my brother. Arctic-blue eyes begged me to give the wrong answer. Despite Marcus’ infallible control, he seemed to be hanging on a precipice of rage.
Not good.
Not a fan of conflict to begin with, I held up my hands in surrender. Arim’s news was more than enough to ruin everyone’s day. I didn’t need Marcus adding to the misery.
“Apologies, brother,” I said. “All I can say is I’m sorry. I had no idea she would be sleeping in your room, let alone wearing…” I coughed, glancing back to see Cadmus hanging on every word. I tried not to show how much he irritated me, but he must have noticed because his grin widened. “Suffice it to say, I’m very, very sorry. I would never intentionally intrude on your privacy.”
A truth my brother, thankfully, recognized.
The tension on Marcus’ face eased, and his familiar arrogance returned. “I shouldn’t have jumped to the wrong conclusion.” We ignored Cadmus’ disappointed mutterings. No doubt he’d hoped for a fight. Marcus added, “Had you been anyone else—” he looked pointedly at Cadmus, “—I wouldn’t have believed you.”
“Well, thanks for small favors.” Cadmus huffed and shot me a pitying glance. “Unlike Saint Aerolus, I have sex drive that reacts to a woman like that.” He whistled and looked beyond us. “And speaking of Lady Fine…”
Tessa Sheridan entered the room with eyes as round as saucers. She stared from Marcus to Cadmus to me, then focused again on Marcus.
“You did tell her you had identical brothers, right?” Cadmus asked, all innocence.
For which he received an icy glare. “I didn’t have time to mention it before Aerolus burst in this morning.”
And caught an eyeful, I didn’t say. Fortunately, my brother didn’t read minds. Not like Darius. Now that would have been a real nightmare, because Samantha was just as pretty as Tessa. And just as sexy.
Tessa stared suspiciously at all of us. I could only pity her. Humans didn’t understand about magic.
In this world, bereft of the sentience of our fae homeworld of Tanselm, humans lived together and worked mundane lives. They could imagine but not replicate true magic, not in tune with the energy of the many layered worlds that made up our existence. So they read or watched shows about demons and dragons and gods, not realizing those creatures lived alongside them.
The magir, the few creatures in this realm who did handle magic, kept to the shadows. Vampires, shifters, deities and the like blended in with their human counterparts. Humans had the potential to grow and understand…along with a capacity to destroy that which was different from them.
Yet a few, like Tessa, got to peek beneath the curtain and see reality.
Darius’ human wife had handled the news of four identical brothers with elemental magic in stride, a definite indicator of her potential as his affai. Would Tessa accept the Royal Four and our current predicament so calmly? Could Marcus be so lucky?
I glanced at my brother and saw him trying to appear calm as he awaited Tessa’s reaction. But his clenched fists clearly indicated nervous anticipation.
