Well, that had been easier than I thought. Maybe Quinn liked Rowan because they had similar intelligence levels. His actual information sank into my brain, and I froze.
“Private quarters?” I stepped in, fists leaving my pockets. “What are they doing to her, you dumb bastard?”
Rowan growled and took a single step forward before controlling himself. “I honestly don’t know.” His blush returned, and his beefy arm came back out of his cloak.
What the fuckdidhe know?
Rowan scratched the back of his head again. “She’s under pressure, yes. But not the kind you’re thinking.” He tucked his arm back into his cloak and frowned. “I don’t understand what’s going on. I’m the Architect’s man. I believe in the family he’s creating, but this? Isolating Quinn?” He grimaced as if agreeing with me physically hurt. “She hasn’t left the Architect’s apartment once.”
My inner voice begged me to cut Rowan off. Information was power, and this man was leaking like a sieve. If he were my enemy, I wanted the drainage, but Quinn chose him. She trusted him, and as much as I didn’t want to be a part of my family anymore, I also didn’t want to be alone.
“…You might be right, Cayden. Quinn might need our help.”
I stepped forward and jabbed my chest with my thumb. “I’m a rune-master, the most powerful in my family in generations. If I can imagine it, I can create it.” I jabbed at Rowan without touching him. “You’re an elementalist. A literal force of nature. According to the rumor mill, the strongest one in Edinburgh. Brawn to my brain.”
Rowan narrowed his eyes at that, but I stuck my hand between us, thumb up, fingers extended for a handshake. “Allies?” My heart twisted. “I want her safe. I want her to live freely, like my daughter will never get to do.”
The last sentence slipped out, and I bit my lips shut, and my hand vibrated with need.
Rowan looked from my hand to my face. The wind whipped between us.
“Does she live?” Rowan asked.
An unbidden tear slid down my cheek. “No. And it’s none of your business.”
Rowan didn’t take my hand. Instead, he stepped forward and crushed me to his chest. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. Family’s all we got.”
I shoved him off, unsettled by the unfamiliar weight of a man’s arms around me.
Rowan grunted but stepped back, holding out his hand instead. “Allies.”
Our palms met. A gust of wind swirled around us, and magic hummed in the air. Rowan furrowed his eyebrows and quickly stepped back.
“I need all the information you have,” I stated.
Rowan grimaced. “Then let’s get out of the cold.”
We weren’t friends. We didn’t have to be. We just had to want her free more than we wanted to hate each other.
Chapter 21
Quinn
Forthethirdmorningin a row, I woke to a sea of black and gold squares, alone this time. My abdomen quivered with molten lust, and my clit ached with need. My cold shower hadn’t helped; my dreams had clearly picked up where Xan and Ezra left off.
If Chancellor Morgen was right, and Xan just wanted me as a baby maker, I’d already be pregnant. But the two lovers worked my mostly clothed body to the brink and used my arousal to turn on each other. I couldn’t tell if I was upset or grateful. And right now, I didn’t care. I was just so horny it hurt.
I rubbed my thighs together. Sparks almost pushed me over the edge, and I bit back a moan, just as something ceramic shattered in the kitchen. Based on the timing, Xan shared my little, almost climax. It was no wonder toying with me rekindled the passion he’d lost with Ezra. Just like the first night, I’d let the two of them explore without saying a word. Being between them was like nothing else. Their glancesburned. Ezra’s rapt attention, Xan mimicking him like an eager puppy.
Was it weird?
Probably.
Was it one of the hottest things I’d ever been a part of?
Yes.
This was about them. I ended every night with a long, cold shower to give them space, but maybe I could help myself out just a little.
