He only asked because I was mad last night, but I couldn’t bring myself to hold anything back. “I’m an outsider, but all of this is so hard to watch. How could one man have messed up all these people so much?”
Ezra shook his head. “Everyone wants to belong. If it had been Xan who had died, I might be one of the people hanging from the rafters.”
I took in a sharp breath and squeezed Ezra harder.
“I was wrong yesterday. Xan and I have a rhythm. You weren’t in it, and I got defensive.” He brushed a strand of hair back. “I’m a blunt tool, Quinn. I fix things with my fists. And you”—his voice dropped—“you’re breakable.”
Heat curled low, dragging me to my toes, desperate to close the space. “In my time, the world revolved around couples. Just one soulmate.” I didn’t want to ask, but Ezra’s opinion mattered, whether I wanted it to or not. “You don’t think I’m selfish? Am I doing this wrong?”
Ezra crushed me against him. “You’re not selfish. You’ll choose what’s right.” He lifted my chin, eyes hard. “That heat last night, your confidence, intoxicating, Kitten. Hardest night of my life, knowing I could’ve had you purring in my lap if I hadn’t been a prick.”
Kitten.Heat rose to my face. He leaned down and brushed his lips across mine, but didn’t kiss me. My legs turned to jelly, and I gripped his waist to keep from falling.
He smirked. “I’ll guard your door tonight and every night until you’re back in my lover’s castle.” He slid his hand across my ass and cupped my butt cheek before pulling my junction into his hard quad. “You’ve undone me. I’ll enjoy the slow ache until you’re ready to claim it.”
My breath came out in short gasps, and my insides churned with need. I didn’t know apologies could sound like that. Maybe I needed to find more things for Ezra to apologize for.
A group of women appeared from around a corner. Ezra released me. We stepped to opposite walls and let them pass. His gaze twinkled before he turned and left. I watched his ass with every step. He didn’t have Rowan’s bubble butt, but his blackshugged every sculpted inch. As if he knew, he gave a wiggle before vanishing.
I considered hunting down the nearest cold shower, but unease churned. This was the exact wrong time to be turned on. I took a head-clearing breath and found my way back to Cayden.
Nova’s girls were a group in their late teens and early twenties. With their abusers gone, their tongues loosened, and they spoke not about God or duty, but about how they felt. Nova, despite being a similar age, encouraged them without judgment, keeping the trauma of the outside world to herself. My respect for her doubled.
Soft words like ‘love’ and ‘support’ didn’t seem to be a part of their vocabulary. Pieces of Cayden’s personality snapped into place.
The talk slid straight to sex, what they thought they were made for. My blush might as well have been inked on my face as they compared body parts like veterans trading war stories. Between giggles, I taught them words like clitoris and G-spot. They had no education, yet far more experience than I, and no idea that any of it wasn’t normal.
After all of Cayden’s self-hate, it was a much-needed breath of fresh air.
By the next day, Abernathys trickled in, staggered so no rival noticed, ready to claim the land. Ezra’s enforcers followed. Soon, voids bulged, wagons overflowed, even a birdcage was wedged between dressers. It was go time.
With over forty people, just under half being enforcers and highly skilled mages, and five vehicles, two powered by glowing dark-green magic, we couldn’t sneak anywhere. According toEzra, hitting Edinburgh in the dead of night would prove the least resistance.
I found myself mounted in front of Cayden on his prancing Friesian. His family either found spots in wagons or, like me, had made an enforcer friend. One of Nova’s girls blushed as an enforcer offered to let her ride with him for the first part of the journey.
My heart melted a bit, and I couldn’t stop myself from kissing Cayden’s exposed neck. I wanted the collars off of me, but this had been the right thing to do. His family needed a fresh start. Cayden pulled me close, and soon enough, our caravan rumbled out of the compound walls.
We hadn’t been in the saddle for five minutes when Xan sidestepped his brown Clydesdale next to us. “Quinn rides with me,” Xan stated.
Cayden pulled me closer. “She’s already made her choice.”
“She didn’t get one, Cayden,” Xan continued. “You didn’t ask, and she just assumed you needed her.”
Cayden didn’t respond but squeezed me tighter.
Xan’s eyes flashed. “She’s not your Prophet, Cayden.”
Cayden and I both bristled, and static filled the air around us.
“He doesn’t think that.”
“I don’t think that.”
We spoke over each other.
I bit my lips together, remembering Aludena’s words.He walks in your light.
Xan dropped his reins and laced his fingers together. “The two of you have been tied together for three days—”
