“Crossed a line?” He frowns down at me, looking genuinely bewildered. Then he reaches out and grabs my arm, pulling me to a halt in the middle of the corridor. “Wait, were you actually worried that I would disapprove of what you did?”
Suddenly feeling incredibly self-conscious, I glance around the corridor before meeting his intense gaze again. “Yes.”
“Oh, little rebel.” He heaves a deep sigh and then slides his hand around my throat. “With me, there are no lines that can’t be crossed.” Leaning down, he kisses me possessively and then smirks against my lips. “I thought I already told you. If you want to be villains, let’s go be fucking villains.”
A relieved laugh, full of gratitude and love, escapes my mouth. I kiss him back.
“I love you,” I whisper against his lips.
“I love you too, little rebel.” After stealing one more kiss from me, he pulls back and lets his hand drop from my throat. Then he gives me a serious look as we once more start walking towards the door that will take us out into the garden. “So you never haveto worry about things like this with me. I love you. All of you. And I will never judge you. For anything.”
I almost tell him. Right then, when he is looking at me like that and saying things like this, I almost tell him about how badly I’m struggling with the side effects of my magic. But in the end, I can’t bring myself to do it.
I’ve seen how much it weighs on him that he always has to take on the heaviest responsibility for everything, and I want him to feel like he can lean on me. I want him to feel that I am shouldering some of the responsibility too, so that he doesn’t always have to take care of everything.
But if I tell him about my problems with my magic, he will feel that he needs to be there even more for me. And I don’t want that. I want to take care ofhim. He deserves someone who takes care of him too.
So instead of spilling my most embarrassing secret, I just give him a smile and silently vow to get my fucking issues under control myself.
Thick gray clouds still blanket the heavens when Draven and I walk through the side door and into the garden where we will be holding a meeting with all of our allies to determine our next steps. Neatly trimmed bushes with dark blue roses frame one side of the beautiful garden while a massive jasmine bush in full bloom provides privacy from the other direction. I sweep my gaze over the table filled with drinks and light food in the middle, impressed that Orion managed to arrange all this in such a comparatively short amount of time.
“I just need to talk to Galen a moment,” Draven says while leaning down to kiss the side of my neck.
A ripple of pleasure rolls through me when his lips brush the sensitive skin below my ear. He chuckles against my neck and then walks away towards where Galen is standing on the other side of the table.
Isera stands a few steps away as well, watching everyone withthat customary cool expression on her face. As if she is back to normal. I’m pretty sure she’s putting up a front. But then again, so am I.
By the table, Orion checks something about the glasses, but he keeps casting glances towards the door, as if he is waiting for someone.
I drift over to where the Dryad Queen, Lavendera, Alistair, and Lyra are standing.
“We could have used your help today,” I comment to the Dryad Queen as I take up position next to her and turn so that I can watch the rest of the gathering as well.
She slides me a glance from the corner of her eye. “If Lavendera dies, so does the Mother Dryad. And if the Mother Dryad dies, there will be no new dryads. Ever. My deal with you was so that I could move her out of harm’s way. I intend to keep her there. And besides, I hear you managed just fine without us.” The hint of a smile, sharp as a predator’s, ghosts across her lips for a moment as she adds, “At last, the thief is dead.”
Since Bane was the one who stole the Soul of Trees from the dryads, she hated Bane even more than she hates Jessina.
“Is he…?” I begin, but I can’t seem to finish speaking the question out loud.
Is he now trapped in that cold nothingness, barred from entering any of the afterlives, just like you told him he would be?
That predator’s smile on the Dryad Queen’s mouth grows wider.
The sight of it, and the answer it implies, sends a chill down my spine. I’m suddenly really, really glad that the dryads are on our side.
Orion jerks upright from the table. Blinking in surprise, I glance towards the side door to see who caused such a reaction from him.
Rin Tanaka, leader of the Orange Clan, walks out onto the grass. Her long black hair flutters down over her elegantlydecorated dragon scale armor, and surprise flits across her beautiful face when Orion walks up to her.
“I would like to make a deal, if possible,” he says without preamble.
She raises her eyebrows in surprise. “A deal? For what?”
“For whatever you want.”
Her black eyes widen in shock. And to be honest, so do mine. I stare at Orion, my heart beating painfully in my chest when I realize where this conversation is heading. And what he is willing to give for it.
“In exchange for?” Rin asks, still looking at him with genuine surprise on her face.
