We stared at each other in shock.
“Stay here,” he said, already pulling out of me. We both groaned at the loss. He yanked his pants up and left his shirt hanging open as he headed for the stairs.
Like hell I was staying behind. I scrambled off the table, trying to pull my pants back up with one leg still tangled. Settled for just making sure everything important was covered and grabbed my shirt from where it had ended up on the floor.
Mal shot me a glare when he saw me following. I shrugged. He should know by now I didn’t take orders well.
We crept down the stairs together. Another sound came from the back of the store. The archive room where I kept older inventory and supplies.
I grabbed a massive tome from the nearest shelf, some ancient encyclopedia that weighed about fifteen pounds, and held it like a weapon. Mal’s lips twitched but he didn’t comment.
We moved toward the archive. The door was open. I could see a shadow moving inside.
Mal pushed the door open fully.
A man stood in the middle of the room, tall and broad and wearing actual armor. Like, metal armor. The kind you saw in fantasy movies. He had dark hair pulled back from his face and eyes that glowed faintly in the dim light.
I screeched and threw the book at his head.
He ducked with inhuman speed, growling and scowling at me. His hand went to the sword at his hip.
“What in the seven hells-”
Then Mal stepped forward, putting himself between us. “Aurion?”
The man froze mid-draw. His scowl melted into shock. “Malachar?”
Wait. Aurion. As in his brother? The King of Noctherion?ThatAurion?
The growling man who’d just pulled a sword on me was Mal’s brother?
“Brother!” Aurion crossed the room in three strides and pulled Mal into a fierce hug. Actually lifted him off the ground. “I thought we lost you. I thought you were dead. When you disappeared from the challenge circle, when that cursed light swallowed you - Mother has been beside herself. I have been searching for days-”
“Weeks,” Mal corrected, hugging him back just as fiercely. “It has been weeks here.”
“Time moves differently between realms?” Aurion pulled back, gripping Mal’s shoulders and looking him over. “You are unharmed? You are well?”
“I am more than well. I am-” Mal turned to me, his expression softening. “I am mated.”
Aurion’s eyes followed Mal’s gaze to where I stood, still holding my shirt and trying to look dignified despite my disheveled state. His eyebrows climbed toward his hairline.
Silence.
More silence.
“You are mated,” Aurion said slowly. “To a…”
“A human. Yes.”
“A human who throws books at armed warriors.”
“In my defense,” I said, finding my voice, “you appeared in my store wearing armor and carrying a sword. That’s pretty threatening.”
Aurion’s lips twitched. “A fair point.” He looked back at Mal. “And you were-” His nose wrinkled. “Brother. I can smell what you were doing. Rather strongly.”
My face went nuclear. “Oh my god.”
“We were completing the bond,” Mal said without an ounce of shame.
