"I know." His arm tightened around her.
They reached the hallway leading to the council room, and Briar could hear voices from within. Her stomach tightened with apprehension.
"What aren't you telling me?" she asked, stopping him before they reached the door. "About what Malus might want with your power? You know something."
His expression went carefully neutral. "I have suspicions. But I'd rather confirm them before spreading fear."
"Eliam—"
"We'll discuss it," he cut her off, his hand finding hers, squeezing once. "After we hear what Arion has to say. After we understand what happened last night and why the marks were able to call to you through Star Court wards."
He was right. They needed information first. But she could see the worry in his eyes, the calculation happening behind them.
They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they reached the council room doors, Eliam paused, his hand still holding hers.
"Whatever happens in there," he said quietly, "whatever Arion says or offers, remember that you're mine. Not his. Not anyone else's. Mine."
"I know," she said, and felt the warmth in her chest pulse in agreement.
Chapter twenty-five
The council room doors opened to reveal everyone already assembled. Snow had accumulated on the window ledges outside, casting strange blue shadows across the floor. Arion stood near the windows, and Briar noticed the way he held himself—careful, controlled. A faint line of dried blood marked his collar where Eliam's thorn had caught him. Sian and Halian flanked him, their usual ease replaced with something tighter, watchful. Thaine leaned against the far wall, still looking at them both with that bewildered expression he'd worn in the garden.
Karse was sprawled in a chair in the corner, one leg thrown over the armrest. His amber eyes tracked them as they approached, lingering on the possessive spread of Eliam's fingers against her waist. His lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. "You smell like sex."
Heat flooded Briar's face. Beside her, she felt Eliam go rigid, but not with embarrassment. With warning.
"Is there a point to that observation?" Eliam's voice was dangerously calm.
"Just noting that someone had a better morning than the rest of us." Karse's tone carried amusement but no actual judgment. "Though I suppose that's one way to deal with attempted kidnapping and ah…territorialdisputes."
"Karse," Thaine said, his tone suggesting this wasn't helpful.
The Drak shrugged, clearly unbothered. "What? We're all thinking it."
"We're notallthinking it," Sian said firmly, though her cheeks had gone pink. "And it's not relevant to why we're here."
Arion's jaw tightened, but he said nothing. His eyes found Briar's for a moment, and she saw something complicated there—hurt and resignation and that same determined intensity from last night. The warmth in Briar's chest suddenly pulled in two directions—toward Eliam at her side and, disturbingly, toward Arion by the window. She pressed her hand against it, trying to quiet the sensation.
He finally looked away, focusing on the room at large.
"Thank you for coming," Arion began, his tone formal. His gaze met Eliam's briefly before settling on Briar. "We need to discuss what happened last night."
"Malus tried to steal her through the marks," Eliam said flatly. "The discussion should be about how to prevent it happening again."
"The discussion," Arion said, his jaw tightening, "should be about why it was possible at all. The Star Court's wards should have prevented any external compulsion. Yet he still reached her. If I hadn't been in the gardens, she would have crossed the border."
Briar felt the weight of everyone's attention shift to her. She touched her throat self-consciously, feeling the autumn marks rustle beneath her fingers.
"What do you remember?" Sian asked gently.
"Waking up at the stones," Briar said. "I was already there, already moving toward the border. I couldn't stop. My body wouldn't respond to what I wanted, only to what the marks were telling me to do." She swallowed hard. "Malus was there. Beyond the border. Waiting."
"He knew it would work," Thaine said quietly. "He knew he could call you through the marks and you'd have no choice but to obey."
"This happened because your wards failed," Eliam's voice carried an edge of accusation. "So much for the vaunted protection of the Star Court."
"They didn't fail." Halian stepped forward, his usual cheerfulness replaced by concern. "That's what's troubling. The wards are intact, stronger than ever. Whatever Malus did, he didn't break through them."
