“I didn’t say you can’t talk,” he said gruffly. “Of course you can stay. As long as you’re sure Fieran won’t murder me for having you in my room.”
“No,” I assured him, then added, “Well…maybe we should move to the common room.”
He scratched his enormous unshaven jaw as we walked out to the couches together.
“Any idea which dragon might claim you?” he asked after a moment, as I flipped through the new book, searching for Lightbringer. “Or rather, which one you’re claiming—since it seems you’re in control.”
“I’ve never said that,” I protested. “I’m not like Fieran, always scheming.”
“Aren’t you?”
“I do have a theory,” I admitted.
I flipped through the books. There were no mentions of Lightbringer. But there were torn out pages.
“Hmm,” Kiegan prompted.
“I’m still working it out,” I murmured, fingering the torn edges of the pages. Why would Fieran have torn them out of his own collection?
“I think he needs to marry me for his plan,” I said slowly. “To protect me, yes. But also for something else.”
Kiegan leaned forward, his protectiveness flaring. “You don’t want to marry him?”
I had no interest in answering that question, or even asking it within myself. Fieran and I certainly didn’t know each other well enough to be bound forever. But a marriage could be temporary. It could serve us both.
And beyond the practical reasons, I couldn’t deny the pull between is.
“Relax, Kiegan. If I did marry him, it wouldn’t have to mean anything. It would just be pretend.”
He sat back, skeptical. “Is that how it works in the mortal world?”
“Are we not romantic enough for orcs?” I shot back.
He snorted. “No. Gods know I’m not the result of a love match. Or a mated bond.”
I wanted to ask more about that, but I knew he wouldn’t talk. It was obvious from the way he held himself, guarded and steady, like a wall no one wise would try to breach.
But I wasn’twise.Only clever. Eventually, I’d tear down Kiegan’s walls.
Still, I couldn’t let myself get distracted. I was on the verge offiguring out something important. “All the pages about Lightbringer are missing. I’d like to know who ordered the purge of those records.”
Kiegan’s brow furrowed. “What are you thinking about Lightbringer?”
“I don’t know much about her. But I have a feeling she’s supposed to be my dragon. I think Fieran wants to marry me because Shadowbane and Lightbringer are mates—and maybe us being married will help bring her into this world. I thought I’d damaged Fieran’s plans by going to Clan Amber—but what if I didn’t?”
Kiegan’s head snapped up, his attention fixed on something behind me. I cut myself off.
Fieran stood in the doorway.
I couldn’t read the look on his face.
“You were too young. But did someone else manipulate my dragon mark?” I asked. “To make me the vessel for Lightbringer?”
He looked as if I’d slapped him. Something heavy plummeted in my chest.
“Cara, you clever, cursed mortal,” he said quietly. “What have you done?”
“Is that the reason I’m marked?” I asked, though it was impossible. He’d been a child when I was born. Still, I touched the mark on my skin, trying to make sense of it all.
