Instead of leaning into my frustration, I asked, “Where will Callum sleep?”
“With me,” Riordan said, beaming. “Don’t you worry about a thing, Cadence. I’ll take good care of your brother.”
Callum made a choking sound in his throat as his eyes screamed at me to help him.
I gave him an apologetic smile as I watched Riordan whisk my brother out of sight.
Tomorrow.
We’d regroup tomorrow.
Chapter Seven
Cadence
I rolled over and studied the sleeping Adonis lying in the bed next to me. Ryker had decimated the pillow wall I’d erected between us, but I had managed to escape his tight holdthroughout the night. Now he clung to one of the pillows he’d been so eager to dispense with.
The image brought a smile to my lips.
If only he didn’t have to wake up and inevitably ruin things by opening his damn mouth.
I scooted to the edge of the bed and held my breath as I slid my legs from beneath the warm blankets. Careful not to make a sound, I padded to my closet and pulled out the first thing my fingers touched.
I dressed in silence before pulling my hair back and twisting it into a braid away from my face. My thoughts drifted to the previous night as I worked. I still couldn’t believe that Callum was in the Unseelie Kingdom. He’d risked his life to come for me, and he’d almost lost it again when Ryker found him.
A shiver raced down my spine at the memory of my brother, bleeding and bruised, on the floor. No matter what happened next, I would die before I let Ryker take him from me.
I strode toward the door, and when my fingers brushed the handle, a voice sounded behind me.
“Going somewhere, Temptress?”
Ryker’s deep, rumbling tone made me jump, and I turned around to face him.
“Anywhere you are not,” I said as I crossed my arms over my chest.
Ryker rose from the bed, and my eyes roved over his muscular frame without my permission. When my gaze lifted to meet his, a knowing smirk pulled up his lips.
“Try again.”
I scowled at him and resisted the urge to do something juvenile like stomp my foot in frustration. Ryker only waited, as if the notion that I might not answer hislordshipnever crossed his mind.
“If you must know, I’m going to take Callum to breakfast.”
“And you had to sneak out… why?”
“Because I want to be alone with my brother.” When he gave no sign he intended to respond, I added, “Alone, as in, without you.”
“I understood you the first time, thank you, Cadence.”
“Good. Then I’ll be on my way.”
Ryker was across the room before I could blink, pressing his palm against the door, holding it shut.
“But here’s the thing, Temptress. I don’t trust you.”
“That makes two of us.”
A slow grin spread across Ryker’s face, but it was far from friendly. “You can see your brother, Cadence,” he said, ignoring my comment. “But I’m coming with you.”
