“She’s spiraling,” Anayla observed helpfully, clapping Fieran on the shoulder as she passed. “Fix it, Fear.”
“What did you do with the amulet when you found it?” he demanded.
“I threw it into the sea.”
A shadow of tension skated over his face. “I see.”
“What are we going to do, Fieran? How do we get rid of it all?”
He closed the door behind Anayla. “Stop pacing, Cara. You’re clever. Think this through.”
“Think through who would set me up?”
He rubbed his hand over his face as if I were exhausting. “Dragons hoard.”
“Yes. Anayla explained that.”
“Dragons hoard fortheir matestoo.”
I stared at him, trying to make sense of his words. He let out a groan.
The last time I’d seen him in his room, he’d been toying with a gold coin.
“You’re not my mate,” I said. “I’mmortal. We don’t havemates.”
“You and I are not mates,” he agreed.
“Well, thank the fucking gods for one star left in the sky tonight.” I sank onto the edge of my bed.
He cocked his head at me. “Today you won a battle in front of half the kingdom, earned the adoration of the mortals in this city, and discovered enough gold and jewelry in your room to build a small castle. Why do you sound so dour?”
“No nagging, Fear. Just tell me what’s going on.”
Somehow he was already across the room, his always-suffocating presence towering over me before he crouched.
“You and I may not be mates.” His golden eyes searched my face. “But my dragon thinks I should take care of you.”
For a few long heartbeats, I could not make sense of what he’d said.
“Your dragon made you hide gold around my room and send me into a panic?”
“Well. Neither of us expectedgiftswould make you panic. You continue to surprise me with your odd mortal wounds.”
Of course he mademesound ridiculous. “That is insane, Fear. You can’t force riches on someone.”
“Apparently, you can. What are you going to do about it? You can send it to your family if you like.” Then his face shifted. “Please, just don’t throw it into the sea.”
I got up and paced. At least I could send it to my family. “What was that amulet?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
There was a command I was certainly never going to obey. I always worried about things, and he had yet another secret he wasn’t telling me. “I don’t understand any of this. Why would your dragon think we should be mates? How would that even work?”
“It wouldn’t,” he cut me off before I could keep asking questions. “My dragon’s lost his mind. Shadowbane’s mate refuses to come to our plane, and he grieves for her, and he thinks I’m a fool…” He swallowed, looking more uncomfortable than I’d ever seen him.
“Well. Shadowbane and I agree on something.”
The ghost of a smile touched Fieran’s lips, and he had that faraway look the shifters all had sometimes, as if they were listening to another conversation. It always made me feel lonely even when they were with me.
