“Of course not.”
A smile blooms on Kari’s face. “Then I would like to meet your brother, kind sir. If he’s half as handsome as you are, I should be delighted.”
There’s just one last dragon to slay. I turn to Zyla.
“I’m coming with you,” she says, before I can even open my mouth.
“To see your sister?”
Zyla arches a brow. “That is one of the reasons, yes.”
My heart sings, even as I shake my head. “I cannot take a mate. I’m a warlord. My entire life is battle, and I could not protect y?—”
“You assume I need protecting,” Zyla cuts in. “If you chose the right mate, then would she not fight back-to-back with you? Would she not beyourshield when you needed it, and thus your brother’s shield too? You would be keeping your oath to your mother as well as earning your own happiness.”
“Children—”
“If anyone touched my children,” she says as she bares her teeth, “then I would burn their kingdoms to the ground.”
The beast inside me rumbles its approval. She could almost bedrei, this one. I knew it the moment I saw her in that cell. Utterly magnificent. Fearless. Impertinent. And so fucking beautiful my heart skipped a beat right then and there.
I’ve never yearned for someone for myself.
I’ve never dared.
You could break your oath to Kasaros.
It would invite the God’s disfavor. I don’t even know if I care anymore, for the way I feel about her… It would be worth any sacrifice.
“You’re a fool,” I breathe.
Zyla slides her hands up my chest. “Only for you.”
Capturing her face between my hands, I kiss her so deeply that it takes a moment to realize Kari is clearing her throat for the third time.
“I love you, my little lioness,” I whisper into her ear. “And if you’ll have me, then I will claim you, now and forever. I will destroy all who seek to harm you, and risk everything to put a smile on your face.”
“Now and forever,” she whispers fiercely. And then her cheeks heat, her gaze growing distant as if she’s struggling to work her way through her feelings. “I-I love you too.”
The words sear right through me, for I know how hard she had to work to get them out. This must terrify her—to deliberately make herself vulnerable for me.
I squeeze her hand. We’ll have many years together for her to heal and grow comfortable with the emotions within her.
“I am trying not to listen,” Kari says loudly, staring deliberately at the sky. “But perhaps we should venture through the doorway so you can both procure a room.”
Kari grabs Zyla’s hand and the two of them whirl toward the door.
A bee buzzes past.
Then another.
The drone of them becomes a slightly threatening undertone, and I’m halfway to the doorway before I realize we’re no longer alone.
Thousands of bees stream together, sweeping into a tall figure that stands between us and the portal to my home.
Kasaros.
I push past, planting myself between the God and the women.
