“A word, before we head inside, Yiri,” Zacal said, stepping away from the females. Nerus and Zoddi moved in closer to keep watch over our mates as I followed my uncle.
“I’d like to keep her close tonight, so let’s make this quick,” I said.
“See that you do,” he said, his jaw tight as he looked over my clothes, inspecting me like I was still an unruly kid under his care. “Bruukto Shek is here. And so is his daughter.”
D'vinda was here? Icy rage slid through me in an instant. I knew it was inevitable that I would have to see her, and that Cora would eventually be near her, too, but I would have liked more time to prepare. More time to test Cora’s security team and make damned sure she’d be safe. No one could convince me D'vindawasn’t dangerous, and after I’d snubbed her for a human, she was probably ready to strike out at me in any way she could.
“Evik?” I asked, looking around for my cousin.
“Late,” Zacal said, displeasure plain in his expression.
“Does he know she’s here?” I asked. Zacal shook his head, but before he could say anything more, Nerus was at my side, muttering in my ear.
“You’re wife is about to run away,” he said. “Might want to go get her.”
My head snapped around to see my mate smiling from ear to ear as she took another male’s face in her hands and brought him in to press her lips to his cheek. The bastard beamed down at her, speaking, though I couldn’t hear him. When he wrapped his arms loosely around her, I saw red.
“Is that…?”
“Qhev’in Kon?” Nerus chuckled. “Yep.”
I swore. I knew I might kill someone before the night was over, but I didn’t expect it to be Bion 8KV’s most controversial rock star.
“What the fuck?”
CHAPTER 30
CORA
The observatory was incredible,built of the same salmon colored stone so many buildings seemed to be made from here, but roofed entirely in a glass dome that had a sort of lens effect, amplifying the view of the night sky so well that I could see rings on one of Venastea’s moons. Della was kind enough to point out a few moons and planets that were visible, and I was wondering how I was going to get through the night without getting a crick in my neck, when someone called my name from somewhere on the steps below.
“Cora,Bay-beeee!”
I craned my neck to look past Zoddi, who moved to place himself in front of me immediately. Rushing up the steps past onlookers in various stages of shock, curiosity, and disapproval, was Qhev. His long hair streamed behind him as he climbed two steps at a time, dodging other gala guests in his way.
“You’re here!” he shouted from a few yards away, slowing as he approached me and my hostile bodyguard.
“Zoddi, it’s fine,” I said, stepping around him to greet Qhev. “I know him.”
“You know him?” he asked, his tone not matching his expression. “How?”
“I met him on BMM,” I admitted. “He’s just a friend, though.”
Zoddi’s brows raised to his hairline. “Uh oh,” he muttered, but didn’t interfere when Qhev reached us, and I threw my arms around him in a hug.
“I knew you were gonna wind up here,” Qhev said, all handsome smiles as he hugged me back. “The last time we talked, I knew it. Nearly broke my heart to lose our chats though.”
“You’ll have to show me how to contact you with my frame,” I said. “It’s so good to see you!”
And it was. His familiar face was such a balm in the sea of staring attendees that I took his face in my hands and pulled him down for a peck on the cheek.
Qhev’s face lit with appreciation, looking around us as he slipped his arms around my middle in a casual embrace. “Where’s your husband?” he asked. “Which one of these obscenely rich assholes snagged himself one of the hottest babes on Earth?”
“This one,” Yiri said, brushing Zoddi aside with a glare.
Qhev turned to look at him and froze. A beat or two of tense silence passed, and then my friend erupted in a deep, rolling belly laugh.
“Babe!” he nearly shouted. “You must be a magnet for famous males. It took you how many hours to catch not just my attention, but YiriIbar-fucking Ahlon’s, too?”
