“Yes, I—you’re right. I should.” Arven looked around, then focused on Deyvid again. “I just … thank you.”
Deyvid gave him a little smile. “You’re welcome,” he said.
***
There were no thanks from the queen or her consort for saving their son’s life, but Deyvid hadn’t done it for thanks. It did, however, lead to Prince Arven’s full acceptance of him, which was pleasant.
The prince was actually very good company—a bit of a shy boy, in fact, but a gifted shifter, much like his uncle. He was already promised in marriage to the princess and heir apparent of Mersaighe, a country that valued magic over all else.
As the negotiations around their engagement continued, however, it became clear that there were numerous factions within Mersaighe that would rather see Arven dead than theirprincess engaged to a shifter. The prejudices ran quite deep, and although Arven and his wife-to-be actually seemed quite fond of each other, the assassination attempts didn’t stop. If anything, they only got worse.
“They’re going to try something tonight,” Petur said as he and Deyvid readied themselves to receive ambassadors from Mersaighe in the palace. Tonight was when the betrothal would become official, an occasion that should be a matter of great joy but that both of them already knew would be anything but.
“You’re right,” Deyvid agreed. Five years in, he had to use both hands to count the number of attempts made on the lives of the royal family. He had stopped a good four of them himself, one on each of the princesses in addition to Arven’s and one that had been intended for the queen. Again, no thanks had been received. “We’ll have to look sharp.”
“You always look sharp,” Petur said with a smirk.
“Take this seriously,” Deyvid replied. “Your family is in danger.”
“My family puts themselves in danger. If it’s not mages from Mersaighe, it’s killers hired by our own court.” Tania was still smarting after an attempt on her life by one of her own courtiers the month before. Surprisingly, it had been enough to bring her and Petur closer for the first time since Deyvid’s arrival five years earlier, after Petur had been the one to save her life. In her relief, she had embraced him publicly in front of the entire court. They had shared a meal on a weekly basis since then, and according to Petur, she hadn’t had one bad thing to say about Deyvid, which was truly shocking. He hoped it was the start of a true reconciliation between the siblings.
“No matter how the attempt comes,” he said, trying to steer them back on subject, “the important thing is that we foil it.”
“Of course, we’ll foil it,” Petur said with the nonchalance that Deyvid found, frankly, a bit insulting. “With you on the case, how could we not?”
“I’ll do my best,” Deyvid said, “but—”
“Your best is worth five times what anyone else in this entire damn palace could produce. My sister will be fine. Her son will be fine. Everyone’s going to be fine.”
“Would that I could be as confident as you,” Deyvid said dryly. Petur just laughed.
No one was laughing an hour later as Petur began to rampage in his warrior form through the ballroom where the celebration had been underway. Deyvid still wasn’t sure what had set him off—it wasn’t magic. They’d taken particular care against mages. He didn’t knowwhatit could be until he got close enough to see the unnatural wideness of Petur’s pupils.
Deyvid realized he must have been drugged. The compounds that could force someone into their most potent shifted form even as they lost control were rare and incredibly expensive, but Deyvid still cursed himself for overlooking the risk.
“Brother,please.” Tania extended her arms toward him in a placating manner. “It’s all right. You’re all right with us. You’re safe. Stop this.” She was trying to be reassuring, to be what he needed, and any other time it might have worked, but right then—
She drew back with a cry as her brother’s claws slashed her arm. Blood poured from the wound, but as her consort began to run over, Petur whirled on him like he was going to attack. Jemal faltered and stopped in his tracks, and the scent of the queen’s blood thickened in the air. Deyvid saw an order to strike Petur down trembling just behind her lips. He saw her try to steel herself to do it and knew that if he didn’t intervene, Petur was going to die that night.
Deyvid knew that he himself would die before he let that happen. He sprinted over, throwing off his jacket and ripping his shirt open to bare his skin, and do what he could to fill the air with the scent he knew Petur craved when he was in shifted form. “Petur,” he shouted. The hulking beast turned toward him, madness in his face, drool dripping from his open maw.
Deyvid got down onto his knees immediately, lowering his eyes so as not to appear threatening. “Petur, please,” he said, keeping his voice soothing. “Please, you’re all right. You’re going to be all right. I know it hurts, but—”
Huge hands found his shoulders and jerked him to his feet. One of the little princesses screamed, but Deyvid ignored it. The grip was tight, but not punishingly so. Some part of Petur knew who he was and was fighting the drug’s influence.
“Sweetheart,” Deyvid murmured. “Sweetheart, listen to me. Listen to the sound of my voice. You have to calm yourself. Relax for me, my love.” The low growl that had been continuous for the past three rampaging minutes slowly softened to something more like a purr. “That’s it,” Deyvid praised him. “That’s it, my darling, yes. Calm down. Come back to me. I need you to be with me right now. Don’t you need me in return? Come back.”
With a sudden groan, Petur shifted forms once more. He stood naked but for the tattered remnants of boots on his feet, his pupils still blown but firmly fixed on Deyvid. “Love,” he whispered. Then his eyes rolled back in his head, and he fell to the ground.
As Deyvid went to tend to him, he looked up at Tania, hoping to see an ally there. Instead, he saw a hatred on her face so fierce that it made his heart skip a beat.
Of course. She had tried to comfort her brother and failed while Deyvid had succeeded. He knew there could be no hope for an alliance between them after this, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel bad about it.
Chapter nine
Petur
Petur had stopped expecting decency from his sister with regard to Deyvid after the drugging incident. In the years his lover had been in Delomar, been a part of their family, saved their precious son’slife, she’d barely even wavered in her disdain for Petur’s choice. He wasn’t entirely sure why—whether it was the fact that Deyvid was a former Harrier, the fact that he was a man, or the fact that he’d succeeded in pulling Petur’s attention away from his sister and taken it for himself instead, even when he wasn’t trying to.
