Kane narrows his eyes at me but turns and wraps his fingers around the bronze handle, pulling the door open. The sitting room is even larger than the bedroom and just as opulent. Two large leather couches face each other over a burgundy and silver woven rug, the light wood floors beneath standing out in contrast. A wall of windows is to our right, framed by velvet cream-colored drapes. There are gold and silver adornments throughout the room, too many for me to focus on as we all take a collective step into the space.
“I don’t remembermuchabout my time in the dungeon, but know that whatever you need from me, I’m happy to provide it,”Haloa says, speaking as if I am important enough to delegate that sort of thing.
“No. You focus on healing and getting to your daughter. Anything else, I’m sure Kane and I can handle.”
“I am indebted to you,” he says quietly.
I move to tell him that there is no debt to be paid when voices sound in the hall. The three of us tense, my gaze flying to Kane’s. “How close is this room to the stairs?” I ask him, Haloa squaring his shoulders and lifting his chin beside me.
“It’s only separated by a long adjacent hallway. We’re not far away from your room” he answers, his gaze locked on the door.
I hobble forward, tilting my head to the side as I strain to listen. My inhale is choppy through my nose, my attempt to slow my heart rate down only causing it to speed up instead, the beat reverberating in my skull.
“There’s two voices,” Kane supplies, Haloa nodding in agreement.
To stay and hide here, where there’s a good chance Tua could return with who knows how many rebels. Or to risk leaving and finding wherever Kai is. Despite the way my head and body throb in protest, I take another step forward. Coming to the same conclusion, Kane moves in front of me, his fingers gently gripping the handle.
When I growl at his back, he looks down at me from over his shoulder. “Of the three of us, I’m the least injured. What was it you said earlier? I’ll be the first one they attack?” He smirks when I narrow my eyes in response before turning back towards the door to open it.
Kane moves slowly, quietly pulling the door open. I force my body to remain loose, preparing for the worst when the voices grow louder. One male. One female. One whose cadence I recognize right away and another whose timbre sends a shiver down my spine.
“It’s—” I’m interrupted when the door’s hinges squeak loudly, all of us freezing in place. The seconds tick by, my heart beating at my ribcage so loudly that I swear it fills the room with its pounding. Except the noise falls out of rhythm with my heart, and when Kane lets out a curse and stumbles backward, the beating stops as someone else comes into view.
His presence fills the doorway, his size even larger than I remember. As if it’s been months and not hours since I last saw him and I had forgotten. Forgotten the breadth of his shoulders and size of his arms. The way he nearly touches the top of the doorframe, and how his face, each line strong and broad, is perfectly carved. Even when he looks angry.Especiallywhen he looks angry, as he does now. His gaze immediately finds mine as a ringing starts in my ears.
“Kai, what are you doing? You’re acting unhinged! And that’s coming from me! You need to—” Jahlee pushes her brother out of the way and comes to a halt, her mouth dropping open. “Bahira,” she whispers, her shock only pausing her for a moment before she runs to me and wraps me in a hug that pulls air from my lungs and sends waves of torturous, fiery misery all over my being. But I wrap my arms around her and bury my face into her shoulder. Her hands squeeze me more tightly while both of our bodies tremble. “Gods, I was so worried about you. I couldn’t find you, and Iknewyou hadn’t left. I fucking knew it. He did too, but he is such a stubbornasshole…”
I lift my head and glance at Kai, only to observe the emotion wiped from his stone-hewn face. His image blurs, tears slipping down my cheeks as Haloa says something to him that draws his gaze away from me. Jahlee leans back, cupping my face in her hands as her shining brown eyes look me over.
“What happened?” she asks softly.
I swallow roughly, shaking my head as I clear my throat. A male grunt shatters my concentration, Jahlee and I both turningto find Kai standing over Kane. The latter is on the ground and holding a hand to his face. “I didn’t fuckingdoanything, youdick!”
“He’s right,” I admit, waiting until Kai meets my gaze again. “He was attacked and brought into the dungeon at the same time I was.”
“Move, Jahlee.” Kai’s deep voice sends a ripple of fear and desire and anger through me. Sandalwood and citrus invade my next breath, and I wish I could burn it out of my memory forever. If only to stop the way my heart softens its beat in his presence.
Jahlee steps back, Kai filling in her place as she goes over to Haloa. “I’m going to take him to Lana,” she says, and I try to protest, but Kai stops me.
“She’ll be fine. The rebels are gone from the palace.”
“Where is Tua?” I rush out.
A faint line forms between Kai’s brows, his gaze flicking to Kane before returning to me. “He’s speaking with the court of advisors on the other end of the palace.”
Though I relax my shoulders, agitation stirs deep in my gut.
“Guards are stationed throughout the palace and at every entrance point. Every rebel that partook in the attack is either dead or locked in the dungeon,” Kai adds. “She can handle herself.”
Jahlee nods her head in agreement and gives me a weak thumbs up that I’m surprisingly grateful for. “I’ll take this asshole too,” she snaps, pointing at Kane who stands a few feet away, his eyes glowing golden.
“Your generosity knows no bounds,” he retorts. Kai growls at him, and Kane wisely lowers his head and lets Jahlee lead both him and Haloa out of the room.
The silence between us, the way I can’t get a read on the shifter king, does nothing to relieve my aching head. But I forcemyself to stay standing, to keep my eyes on his despite the way it ravages my insides to do so.
“You’re here,” he murmurs, and I don’t know if he’s relieved or angered by that fact. His head tilts to the side, a small lock of his dark brown hair falling over his forehead as his face remains impossibly placid. “Who did this to you?” he asks, his large hand gently gripping my chin as he tilts my head up higher.
“Does the name Niko mean anything to you?” I question as I jerk away from him. The action makes me sway on my feet, and Kai’s hand shoots to my hip to steady me.
