B’nar’s mouth curled in a small smile, and he deliberately looked at his coffee pot, breaking my challenging stare. Reaching out, he poured himself a generous measure of thick black liquid into a small gilded cup, which sat in an equally pretty saucer. He might be Prince Regent, but he was perfectly capable of pouring his own coffee and wouldn’t ask his staff to do it. I almost growled in disappointment at his acceptance of my attitude. Fucker was always so calm. Even my snarling at him didn’t make him lose his cool. Connor, our brothers, and I were the only ones who would ever get away with treating him like an equal.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, ashamed of my outright challenge. “I’m a little…on edge.”
He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “Think nothing of it. I understand.”
Silence settled. It was strange to see such a massive and powerful Fae lift that delicate cup in his big hands without dropping it. It looked almost ridiculously tiny as he raised it to his nose and inhaled deeply. He took a generous mouthful,savoured it, then swallowed. The cup and saucer clinked a little as he lowered it. He leaned back and cocked his head, going back to studying me.
“Perhaps it would help to shift and run in the woods near here? The land is crown land, so you will not be in danger.”
I took a deep breath. Being a shifter didn’t mean I was any less Fae; it just meant I had added strength and power. I had never once resented it, yet, along with my father, many in Faery would happily hunt me down and kill me. Not on crown land, though, that would be signing their own death warrant. He was right. I’d be safe.
“Thank you, B’nar. Perhaps I will.”
The smirk he aimed my way told me he knew I wouldn’t, and he knew why. My brows dipped, not sure why I couldn’t leave Shannon for a few hours while she slept. Shifting would ease my tension and give my wolf some much-needed respite. Deep in my soul, he grumbled, definitely not on board with that suggestion. He was unhappy at having Shannon out of his sight as it was. Tension swept into my muscles, and I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck, trying to ease it. It didn’t help, so I picked up the fruit tea and inhaled its sweet fragrance, much as B’nar had done with his coffee, hoping the aroma would soothe me. It didn’t. Since we’d arrived here, nothing except being in Shannon’s vicinity eased the tightness of my muscles, and even then, I wasn’t relaxed. I watched her like a hawk, ready to make her drink if she looked thirsty or eat if I heard her stomach growl. Her refusals and sass only fired my need to make sure she had everything she needed, even if she didn’t want it. Shannon had had her chance to prove she could care for herself. She’d failed miserably. And until she was healed both mentally and physically, she had no choice but to accept my presence and interference in her life.
As much as I appreciated B’nar’s help, I had another place in mind that I believed would help Shannon heal. She needed space and time to build herself back up and to find out who she was without the pressure of being an Alpha female amongst the male-dominated Shadow Sentinels.
I took a sip of tea, enjoying its smooth warmth as it travelled down my gullet, and stared at the window’s frosted panes. Many of Shannon’s recent mannerisms and behaviours had me suspecting her Alpha persona was more of a choice for survival and not her true nature. She needed the chance to explore who she really was, away from prying eyes, and I intended to give it to her.
I saw the grateful look in her eyes when she didn’t want to decide what to eat or drink or even when. It was like she was too exhausted to make even the simplest of decisions, and until she was strong enough to do it herself, I would make sure she didn’t have to.
“So, you have somewhere in mind you’d like to take Shannon for her convalescence?”
I nodded. “I do. It’s far enough away from my father’s lands that he shouldn't find out I’m back.”
B’nar’s expression didn’t change, but his eyes narrowed slightly. He knew as well as I did that my father had spies everywhere. “You know it will be hard for me to intervene if he does.”
“I do.” Cold sweat prickled near my hairline. My father was hard-hearted and powerful. He was an ancient High Fae and had always had a seat in the court of the Winter Kingdom. He was cruel to his family and ruled his large army and subjects with an iron fist. Yet, he was fiercely loyal to the crown of Faery and protected Winter’s borders from the dark Fae. He fought constant skirmishes and kept the Unseelie monsters from flooding into the rest of Faery. I thought about Connor’smother. She was a dark Fae and had been heir to the throne of the Unseelie kingdom until her blood and rivals had betrayed and sold her. She’d lived in servitude to Berith until Zander had rescued her. I didn’t know her whole story, only that she'd sired two sons. Zander and Connor. Zander was Connor’s half-brother. Technically, both brothers were heirs to the Unseelie throne, yet Connor was the Alpha Prime of Shifters, the Shifter King, which left Zander as the true heir to the Unseelie throne. He’d never acknowledged that fact, nor had he shown any desire to leave his brother’s side to take it.
None of that helped me though….
“I have other houses and estates you could go to for a while. It would be safer for both of you if you stayed far away from your father’s influence.”
“Which is why I’m going to my cottage. It belonged to Gwen’s family before it became ours—until we decided it was safer to leave.” I swallowed to clear the thickness from my throat. Talking about her freely was strange and left my heart heavy. “It’s in a small village just inside the border of the Spring Kingdom and quite under the notice of that kingdom’s lord. And I know you understand why leaving here is something I must do; I need to provide for and protect Shannon through my own merit. It’s also isolated and peaceful there. It will give Shan time to think about who she is and where she wants her life to go.”
B’nar’s brows drew down, and he brushed a thumb over his bottom lip, but he didn’t seem angry, merely thoughtful. “The Spring Kingdom High Lord is a volatile and power-hungry shit. If your father gets wind of your presence and sends troops into Spring’s lands, it could cause a war.”
“I know, my friend. Which I would never expect you to fight on my behalf. Yet, being in Spring could be an advantage, too. It means that if anything happens to me, you won’t be held responsible by Connor.”
“But I will be,especiallyby Connor…”
“Which is why I won’t tell you where we are going. You have deniability.”
“I don’t like it, Stone. Faery is as dangerous as ever, even the Summer and Spring kingdoms. Shannon is a shifter, and her human blood leaves her vulnerable to our kind.”
“I know.” I clenched my jaw. He was right. High Fae had the power to coerce the minds of lesser Fae and humans, and there were other Fae who loved to deceive and betray and would happily cause mayhem and death to gain even a grain more power. They sold information to those who loved to traffick humans for the way their pheromones made the Fae feel. Whether coerced or not, a human’s lust is addictive. I’d been very careful not to use Shannon’s real name in front of anyone. I trusted Blue and B’nar with it, but no one else, not even the staff who cared for her. There were very few Fae around who were powerful enough to control me, and Shannon didn’t know my birth name, so she couldn’t slip up and reveal it. No one but my mother knew my name. It had been our secret. It still was.
In Faery, either parent could name their child, but once it was said under the Faery moons and whispered to the goddess of Faery, it could never be changed. My mother had known as soon as I was born that my father would use my shifter strength for his benefit while always hating that I existed. She had hidden my name from him, letting him believe he had named me. He’d thought himself more powerful than me until he discovered that he couldn’t force me to do as he commanded. That was why he’d commanded my mother and me to live in his mausoleum of a house, so he could control me—and her.
“You need another name for her.”
B’nar’s voice roused me from my thoughts.
“I do. I’ll think on it.”
“Good. Does she remember the rules?”
“Yes, she still knows how to be careful. Even after all this, she’s still an SBI agent. She might be vulnerable right now, but she won’t put us at risk.”
