Xae leaned in to whisper, “What a waste.”
I chuckled, turning my head to the side, and caught movement down the hallway. Going tense, my stare shot to the corner at the end of the wall just as the tip of a wing disappeared around it. The feathers were black, and I wasn't sure, but I thought they glinted green.
There was only one man with wings like that in the citadel, and he had only just arrived.
Fuck. Had Jath come across us fucking? Had he watched the whole thing? Or did he arrive just in time to see me standing there half-naked with a handful of cum? I don't know what was worse.
“What is it?” Xae lifted his head and followed my stare.
“I thought I heard something.”
“It's a little late to be paranoid.” He kissed my cheek, then took my unsullied hand. “Come on, let's get you cleaned up, my sweet boy.”
I went with my lover back to our suite, but the sight of those feathers haunted me.
Chapter Five
While I'd been meeting Jath, then fucking Xae, Rath had been meeting with the Emperor. He was waiting for us in the sitting room, the entry room of our suite. A fireplace in the far wall, to the left of the bedroom door, had no back and no fire in it, so it framed a low view of the bedroom. Or rather, the sitting area in the bedroom. I don't know why there was a sitting room and then a sitting area in the bedroom. I guess when you had a fireplace, you were supposed to put chairs around it, and this fireplace was shared by both rooms. But Rath wasn't sitting before the cold hearth. He was at the round dining table to the right of the bedroom door, drinking a glass of wine, with the bottle and two empty glasses before him.
“What did the Emperor say?” Xae asked as he tossed my armor on a couch and went to the table.
“Hold on!” I rushed into the bedroom and then to the bathroom where I washed my hands. Clean again, I hurried back out and took a seat at the table. “All right, go on.”
“What was that about?” Rath asked.
“I fucked him in the corridor, and he came into his hand,” Xae said.
Rath blinked. “All right. Well, the Emperor said Ember's magic is a first of its kind and therefore, unpredictable. His advice was to learn as we go and adjust to the magic.”
“So, we can't fight without Ember,” Xae concluded.
Rath poured wine into the two empty glasses and slid them over to Xae and me. “It's what we already assumed. I didn't go to the Emperor for advice. I went to update him.”
Xae grunted.
“Do you know Lord Jathalion?” I asked Rath.
Xae stiffened and shot me a glare.
Rath looked from me to Xae and back. “Yes. What about him?”
“He's back,” Xae growled. “I found Ember with him in the garden.”
I waved a hand at Xae. “This is why I brought him up. You two say you want me to take more lovers but when Xae saw me with Jath—”
“Jath, is it?” Rath drawled. “It rhymes with your nickname for me. How charming.”
“Right, so you're going to be a dick too.” I nodded as if unsurprised. “I didn't give either of you your nicknames, by the way. I just use them.”
“How am I being a dick?” Rath leaned forward. “And just what were you doing with Jath that set Xae's teeth on edge?”
“I wastalkingwith him,” I said. “And he's not even interested in me.”
“Oh, he's interested,” Xae growled. “I smelled it on him.”
“First of all, reel it in, Wolf.” I pointed at Xae. “Second, that's bullshit. The guy hates me.”
“Why the fuck would he hate you?” Rath asked. “You just met.”
