Rowan grunted. “You can’t stay in her mind to defend it, right?” Rowan scratched the back of his head. “You’d be like you were on the horse? Not really present in your body?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“What do we know about Alex?” Cayden asked.
I blinked a few times, hearing my exact trick to get my officers to help me strategize coming out of Cayden’s mouth.
“Alex is not much better than a slave himself,” I answered. “Or at least, he wasn’t when I knew him. He has the mind of a child who fears the unknown. He makes the collars and whatever else the body snatchers need and doesn’t think beyond the completion of his project.”
Cayden focused on the table. “A functional slave collar blocks everything, right? It cut us off until Quinn broke it.” Cayden looked up at me.
I took a measured breath. This is what Cayden was holding back. The same conclusion I’d hated and discarded moments ago. I nodded sharply.
Cayden grimaced. “I hate this.”My stomach twisted. I only grunted.
“What?” Rowan asked.
Cayden and I glared at each other as if the idea was the fault of the other. The rune mage bit his lips together. The bastard wouldn’t say it. I had to look like the bad guy. But that was leadership.
“A second collar would override the broken one, block Alex, and the other three tethers too.”
It took Rowan a second to understand. One muscle at a time, rage contorted his face. He pushed off the table, making it screech against the floor, and sliced his hand through the air. “You want to collar Q-tip. My girl?”
“Our girl,” I corrected. “A temporary one. One that we will take off her any time she asks.”
“Our?” Rowan shook his fist. “I so badly want to support you, sir, but.” Rowan met my gaze. “Have you even talked to her since your Mixer?”
I expected Rowan to protest the collar, not jab into my already churning unease.
Hot anger tightened every muscle in my body. “When would I do that, Rowan?” I stepped toward him. He had height and muscle, but I refused to be intimidated. “When I was ejecting the last of Erick’s coup? Or assessing the damage to my castle and getting work crews and supplies to keep people fed and buildings from collapsing? Or maybe while I was unconscious?”
Although my points were valid, I was also deflecting. I could have made the time for her. But I hadn’t. I’d prioritized everything else, including what others might think. I realized I wasn’t mad at Rowan but myself. It didn’t stop me from lashing out.
“You told me you wouldn’t leave me.” I bore my gaze into the elemental. “But I had to give you better communication because you weren’t a mind reader, only a man.” I pointed at myself. “I’m only a man. You and Cayden were dead on your feet. You needed Quinn as much as she needed you. Do you think I enjoyed watching her walk away?”
Rowan deflated and shook his head once. “She assumed you didn’t care, and her heart bled because of it.”
My heart squeezed. “Thank you for telling me… I’ll fix it.”
Rowan grabbed the table and dragged it back to its original position with another grating screech.
“I get why you’re angry,” I said, forcing more control into my voice. “I’m terrified. Alex could be messing with her right now, and instead of fixing it, I’m standing in a room defending myself.”
Rowan dropped his gaze to the floor. I waited to see if he had anything else for me, but he didn’t. I should have made the time for Quinn. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought. I got out my TB, made a scrawl, and sent it before I could lose my nerve.
“The collar’s going to block us as well,” Cayden said softly.
“Temporarily,” I snapped. “We need to deal with your family and make sure mine’s no longer under threat. Then Alex and the three tethers in Quinn will burn.”
“My family can wait.” Cayden straightened. “Quinn’s more important.”
I looked hard at Cayden. “Can it?”
Cayden pulled back his shoulders and took a breath to speak, but stopped himself. The Prophet was dead. Most of his brothers shared his fate, either by Cayden’s hand or Erick's failed coup. The remaining Lawsons were lambs who’d never left their mothers’ side. Cayden’s gaze wavered, and the lost puppy returned to his eyes.
“They’re people, just as brainwashed as you were,” I said softly. “And now they are leaderless and defenseless. If you really want to abandon them, you can. But I won’t. And I don’t think Quinn would either.”
Cayden bowed his head. “What do you need to know?”
