“Nothing of importance,” he says casually, his head tilting to the side as his gaze goes to me. “Just curious about the comingsand goings in the palace. Making sure all is safe after the rebels’message. After all, it did happen in broad daylight while our king was still on the premises. They are bold—I’ll give them that.” He glances quickly Kai’s way, the corners of his mouth drawing farther apart as his grin hones into something more cruel.
“You were here too, were you not?” I ask, drawing his attention back to me. “As the supposed liaison between Crown and people, one would suspect that you would have better intel on these rebels. Enough so that an attack inbroad daylight,as you said, would be nearly impossible.” I take a small step forward, Kane’s eyes narrowing as I do. “Where wereyouwhen the rebels came?”
His responding snort is tipped towards the edge of fury. “You’re not suggestingIhad something to do with it?”
“Did you?”
Kane’s pupils become framed with gold before his hand shoots out to grasp my arm. “Foolish of you to make an insinuation without proof,” he snarls.
My chin dips, and I gaze up through my lashes at him, holding eye contact for a few seconds before I send the heel of my palm right into his nose. He shouts out in pain, his grip tightening on my arm before I latch onto his wrist and twist inward, forcing his fingers to release me. Blood trickles over his lips, the gold in his eyes growing as he bares his teeth at me. I flash mine right back. Kane moves to take a step forward when his gaze flicks to Kai. Whatever he sees there has him inhaling slowly while wiping the blood off of his face with the back of his hand before spinning on his heel and storming towards the palace entrance.
Turning slowly, I find Kai glaring down at me, his own chest rising and falling with quick breaths. Tua’s warning to not make Kai lookworseto his people makes me internally cringe as I watch the palace staff walk by and avert their gazes from us.Shit.
“Kai, I’m sorry—”
His hands cup my face, tilting it upward as his lips crash into mine. Burning need pierces my veins as I reach out to claw at him, tugging him closer and wrapping a leg around his hip. He forces my back against the wall while his tongue tastes my mouth, desperation sharpening our edges while the outside world fades until there is only him.
“So defiant,” he mumbles as he leaves my mouth to show attention to my neck, scraping his teeth along the delicate skin there. “So indignant.” I scoff but arch farther into him as his hands drag down my sides, skimming over my breasts. “But so unexpected,” he pauses, licking where my pulse flutters at the base of my neck, “and so fucking magnificent.”
Air rushes from me as I squeeze my eyes shut against the onslaught of emotions his words bring. My fingers spear into his hair, holding his head to me so he doesn’t see what I’m sure is written all over my face. The urge to tell him the truth about me pokes and prods until it leaves me feeling nauseous.
“We should stop,” I say hoarsely though my grip doesn’t loosen. Kai immediately lifts his eyes to meet mine, something guarded building in them the longer he looks at me. “Not because I don’t want this, but I’d rather not get caught by another person, like your sister.”
Kai relaxes, his body slow to lean away. “Technically, Kane didn’t catch us doing anything.”
“True, but I think the intention was obvious.”
“Hmm,” he says, taking a step back as he smiles at me. I stare as though I’ve just uncovered something forbidden, something that I wasn’t meant to see. “There is a hot spring near the waterfall you followed me to after the rebel attack. I want to take you to it. I thought we could eat a meal there under the stars.”
“Kai Vaea, king of the shifters, are you asking me to go on a picnic date with you to a hot spring?” I enjoy the way his brows draw down, his frown drawing a laugh from me.
“It’s not a picnic.”
“It is, by every definition, a picnic,” I retort, reaching out to grip his arm when he attempts to walk away, grumbling under his breath. “I would love to go with you.”
He huffs out a breath but then nods. “I will come to your room when it’s time to leave.”
We descend the stairs together, he off to check in with the members of his court while I head to the library. But the image of him smiling and the thought that it is because of me, stays cemented in my mind. I wonder if, when I tell him the truth, he will ever smile at me like that again.
Chapter Sixty-Two: Bahira
The library is silentupon entry and nearly empty, only the librarian and, surprisingly, Tua occupying the space. I walk up to the small table Tua is seated at, a book splayed open in front of him. “May I join you?”
“Bahira. It has been a bit since we’ve had a conversation. How are you?” He gestures with a hand to the empty chair across from him.
“Well enough,” I reply, taking a seat and leaning my elbows on the table. “And you?”
Tua smiles, the wrinkles around his dark eyes crinkling with it. “I cannot complain.” His pause is laden with a knowing glance. “Have you been keeping out of trouble?”
“Not much time left for trouble when I’m helping Kai gain the trust of his people back.” I enjoy the way Tua’s eyes flare for a moment. I had thought him to truly care about coaching Kai, but it’s become abundantly obvious that Tua has his own agenda. What that is exactly, I’m not sure of yet.
“Ah, yes. How do you feel you have fared in those efforts?” he asks, tilting his head contemplatively.
“It doesn’t matter what I think. What have his advisors said?” Admittedly, Kai had not told me much about their feedback.
Tua joins his hands together beneath his chin, his gaze biting as he exhales in an exaggerated manner. “They did not find merit in your ideas that he brought forth, and they let him know as much.” My eyes widen in surprise. Not that the advisors had not liked the ideas, but that Kai would go against their advice and do them anyway. The realization that follows makes my fingers tremble—he did it forme.Tua nods his head as if he has access to my inner thoughts. “I cannot say I blame them. Many of the nobles of the court predicted that it would turn into a disaster, which I hope you can agree with.”
A denial and rebuttal rest on my tongue, but I hold them there and cock my head to the side, studying Tua. Though a lot of people had attempted to degrade Kai with their insults and accusations about how he was to blame for the blight, the ones who came to him with problems that were legitimate had their issues resolved. Kai and I talked about the things he had done on our way back from Honna. He had seemed pleased with the results of working closely with his people, and I couldn’t help but feel pride in him.
