A soft laugh slipped from me. “We fell asleep by accident.”
“Was trying not to,” he confessed, his arm cinching me closer. “But you were warm. And we did…exert ourselves.” He shifted again, a smile audible in the low rasp of his voice. “You should consider sleeping naked.”
I elbowed him lightly. “I have no intention of making it a ritual.”
“Rituals are sacred,” he said, nuzzling my neck. “I’d be very devout.”
“Mav,” I chided, though a grin betrayed me.
His hand rose, settling over my heart. Without thought, mine covered his. We lay there breathing, unarmored, the night folding softly around us. The tether pulsed, gentle as the purring of a cat.
BANG!
The door flew open with a thunderclap.
37
QUINN
Iscreamed. Before the echo had faded, Mav stood between me and the flood of guards pouring into the room.
“Not one step further,” Mav growled. “Lay a hand on her, and I swear?—”
“How touching.” Edric stepped fully into the room.
My stomach plummeted.
“Tell me, Quinnie,” he condescended. “Ishewhy you hesitated? Why you looked at me as though I were a stranger?”
“Mav did nothing wrong,” I said, finding my voice at last. “If you must be angry, be angry with me.”
“Oh, I intend to be.” He snapped his fingers.
Two guards lunged. Mav erupted into movement. Unarmed and outnumbered, he felled the first with a driving elbow, spun, and drove a knee into the second’s gut. But a third guard struck low, the hilt of his sword slamming into Mav’s ribs. He grunted, folding forward.
“Mav!” I shouted as they wrenched his arms behind his back.
“I’m—” he rasped, blood shining at his lip. “I’ll be fine, princess.”
“No,” I gasped, shaking my head. “No?—”
Edric crouched beside him, a serpent moments before striking. “You will love the dungeons,” he murmured. “You’ll find them free of…distractions.”
Mav bared his teeth. “Touch her,” he snarled, “and I will end you.”
The king released a wry chuckle. “No, you won’t.” Edric rose, brushing invisible dust from his sleeve. “Get him out of my sight.”
They dragged Mav toward the hall. “Quinn!” he shouted, twisting to look back at me.
“And round up her little friends while you’re at it,” Edric added.
“Leave them out of this!” I shoved the king in the chest. “They have done nothing?—”
Crack.
Edric’s palm met my cheek in a brutal slap. White fire burst behind my eyes. I staggered, copper blooming across my tongue. My hand flew to my burning skin.
“Quinn!” Mav’s roar carried from the landing.
