Rage surged. I held. “We’re not her captors. If you believed that, you wouldn’t be in my five.”
“Then let me see her,” Rowan demanded. “Prove it.”
I exhaled. He wasn’t wrong. Keeping her close looked bad. But he’d tell her. His posture screamed defiance. Xan just needed days.
“If she asks for you, I’ll set it up,” I said at last.
Rowan’s teeth ground, sparks snapping off him. With a thought, he could dust the table. He was fast; I might not reach a shadow beforehe punched me through the wall. The Alun had limited us. Here, nothing would.
Rowan clenched his fists. The magic around him snapped. Wind and heat whipped through the room with a crack.
“‘If she asks for me,’” Rowan ground out.
The air stilled. His posture dropped.
Relief or frustration, I couldn’t tell. The Alun fight had given resolution.
This didn’t.
Rowan took a calming breath and walked out of my war room.
My control slipped, leaving me in a void of frustration.
My day of reports and training drills dragged. The sun set in pinks and purples—not that I saw it from my windowless war room.
Rowan was actively pursuing Quinn. While I did… what?
‘We’re done for the day.’My lover’s voice in my head made me jump. ‘This will be a slow process. Her magical blocks run deep. I plan on teaching her about the families tonight. Will you bring maps from the war room?’
I sent my lover a mental nod.
‘Do you want to eat with us?’my lover asked.
‘No.’I didn’t want to eat. My body burned, and I needed to move it until I had control over myself. ‘I’ll have maps ready when you’re finished.’
My lover didn’t respond, and I didn’t question it. I went to the gym, pushing and pulling heavy weights until my muscles screamed and my nerves calmed. By the time I re-entered my home, the soundsof eating and talking came from the kitchen. Quinn’s adorable laugh drifted through the door.
I’d never felt so much joy radiating from my home, and I basked in it.
The maps didn’t fit on a table, so I shifted them around the bed until they worked. My stomach growled, and I shoved a protein square into my mouth.
The door opened, and the two spilled out.
Although my lover wore his simple trainee uniform, Quinn hadn’t changed out of the clothing we left her with this morning. A pair of light boxers barely peeked out from under one of my tunics, hanging off a single creamy shoulder. Her hair was up in a messy bun, and a pair of Xan’s hoop earrings dangled from her ears. She looked more relaxed than I’d ever seen her. Bare legs. Sleepy eyes. Wrapped in pieces of both of us.
Our clothing. Our girl.
Xan looked at the maps and beamed at me. He stepped away from Quinn to kiss me on the cheek. “Perfect.”
I gripped him around the waist, bringing our hips together, and met his baby-blue gaze. Hope, joy, and fear looked back at me.
Fear.
My heart sank.
Whatever was going on between us, he needed my support. The world feared mentalists. They feared him. Outside of me, he had no real connections.
But Quinn wasn’t afraid. She made him laugh. The two of them got to know each other and loved every moment of it. She literally lit up our home. My lover moved around her in our space with confidence and ease. He wanted her in our lives, even if we hadn’t figured out how yet.
