“What are you doing?”
“Stopping you.”
“No shit. Why?”
Tristan steps back and raises his palms when Nymeria and Anika approach, their heads lowered and fangs bared.
“Just let me inform the queen first, and when Kian gets here–”
“Argh!” I yell in annoyance, cutting him off.
“I understand your frustration.”
I let out a harsh laugh. “Oh, did you open your eyes during a relaxing bath to find a stranger hovering over you?”
Tristan rubs the back of his neck. “No, but–”
“But nothing! I’m going to find the answers we need, and I won’t be discrete.”
The way I’m acting should startle me. I don’t know where this person has come from. This is very unlike me. I typically shy away from conflict, but my personal space was invaded while I was in a vulnerable state, and a surge of instincts has overwhelmed me.
“Look, we need to be slow and strategic, like a mushroom.”
His words are enough to give me pause, and I glare at him in confusion. “What?”
‘Stóirín?’
‘Maxon?’
‘What’s wrong? I can feel your emotions from miles away.’
I give Tristan a hard stare and walk off toward the balcony.‘We had an intruder in the castle.’
Maxon's fury ignites my own, but I can also sense a tinge of alarm race through him.
‘Who? Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine. I promise.’I hesitate, not wanting to cause him any further distress.
I literally feel Maxon’s growl in my chest.
‘Tell me, Stóirín.’
‘The seelie prince found his way into my chambers.’
‘What?’Maxon’s voice in my head is calm, but the emotions hammering my senses are anything but.
‘Everything is fine.’
‘Everything is not fine. I won’t be back until tomorrow.’
Nymeria and Anika come to sit next to me as I peer out over the gardens below.
‘I miss you,’I whisper.
‘I miss you too, Storin.’
A flicker of movement catches my attention in the garden below. “What is that?”
