“You grow so tiresome, Ander.” Fieran clasped his shoulder, half-pushing him aside so he could lock eyes on me. “Cara will discover the truth, I’ve no doubt. She was born to stand at my side.”
The air thickened between us. I hated how my pulse tripped, howeasily he could pull a reaction from me just by saying my name. “You don’t decide where I stand.”
Fieran couldn’t seem to look away from me. “I’m the only one in this kingdom who can give you what you truly want.”
“I’ll fight for her brother’s life and her sister’s magic,” Ander told him fiercely. “I won’t use them like you have.”
“And I’ll fight for her power.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Ander’s anger finally boiled over, and Fear’s answering grin was triumphant.
“Stop,” I warned them both. “No one’s fighting for me—or over me—tonight. I want to drink in peace.”
Fear took a flagon off a tray carried by a passing mortal and left us with a dismissive wave over his shoulder. “Watch your people, Ander. They aren’t sure of their new mortalsister.”
Ander bristled. “My people will fall in line. They’re none of your concern.”
Fear glanced back, his gaze catching mine. “She’s always my concern.”
Then he was gone, moving through the crowd.
“Asshole,” I whispered, and Ander’s faint smile was a reward.
“Yes.” Ander put a gentle, warm hand on my shoulder. “Werethey unkind to you?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Fear’s right, they’re not sure of me. But they weren’t unkind. They just want to know I won’t…let you all down.”
“You won’t.”
He invited me onto the dance floor, where the shifters were partying with a wild jubilance they had not shown the night before.
But I was lost in my own dark thoughts, and all I wanted was to be alone.
The terrible feeling of having been maneuvered like a doll once again gripped me.
I found Fieran alone later in the inner courtyard—just beyond the stone arches where the torches flickered low and the night pressed in, thick with the scent of fresh lavender and old magic.
He sat on the edge of the fountain.
He didn’t turn when I stepped into the light.
“Was that beating worth it?” I asked. “Or was it the cost for some reward we won’t see for a long time?”
His head tilted slightly. “What are we talking about, Cara?”
My jaw clenched. I pulled the ring from my pocket and tossed it. It clinked against the stone at his feet.
“You gave me that. Forprotection.”
He looked down at it. Then he finally met my gaze.
“It is for protection. And more than that, for your power.”
“You knew I’d use it. You knew I’d try to help him.”
“I knew you might not choose me. I gave you freedom.”
That simple.
