“You found another one?”
“Last week,” I informed him. “It followed us as we were walking in Stellara.”
“Someone knows she’s yourkyrana, then,” Azur said.
“Everyone in Erzos knows by now,” I said, scoffing. “I wasn’t exactlysubtle. It’s not like I could hide it.”
“Do you know who would want to track her?”
“House Arada,” I replied, my jaw tightening.
They had the most to lose if I chose Millie over Lyris. Kaan had told me himself that he wanted his daughter to marry into House Kaalium, to have our Houses tied together in history. His call to my father had been a desperate action. And when yet another moon winds had gone by without my proposal to Lyris…it must have tipped his patience over the edge.
Eliminating the only obstacle that stood in House Arada’s way would have been a tempting option. The only question was who’d given the order. Or had it been all of them?
“You’re certain it wasn’t an outsider?” Azur asked, knowing the implications of what I’d said if it were true. “Zyre? The Thryki?”
“It’s possible,” I allowed. A blood-mated Kylorr was a dangerous thing, especially one who was an heir of the Kaalium with legions of soldiers at their beck and call. “But why not go after Gemma too? No, it doesn’t make sense.”
I stared down at the tracker in my hand.
“The brace against the door wasdrava. The bolts too,” I said. “They were builder grade. Not everyone has access to materials like that.”
“What are you going to do?” Azur asked, his tone grim. “To threaten the life of your mate bears grave consequences indeed. Death, even. But…”
“I know,” I growled.
We still needed House Arada.
And the bloodlust I felt at the thought of confronting Kaan—or perhaps Hanno or even Lesana—should have made me pass the responsibility onto my brother, who’d likely have a cooler head in a situation like this. When I envisioned it, after I got the confession I sought, I would likely rip them in two. Fordaringto threaten Millie, to try to burn her alive in the cottage that mattered so much to her. Her screams still echoed in my mind, and I felt the pierce of my claws into my palms, black blood beginning to drip.
Theonlything giving me pause was Zyre’s request. And despite what Iwishedto do as a mated Kylorr…I was still theKyzaireof Erzos. Murdering the heads of an entire noble family—or even stripping them of their possessions—set a dangerous precedent, one that mirrored a darker time that hadn’t been all that long ago.
Even if I wanted to…I couldn’t.
But I can still make House Arada bend to my will,I thought, watching Millie pick her way through the rubble.And I can still punish them for daring to harm my mate.
I made my decision right then, another path opened to me.
I would make House Arada pay for every burn and scratch on Millie’s body. I would make House Arada pay for every tear she’d shed, every ragged cough that shook her shoulders, every scream and cry that would haunt me for the rest of my life.
But first, I would win Millie back.
This time, I wouldn’t be the biggest fucking fool in the entire universe and let her go.
No matter what it took, no matter how long it took, I would not rest until she was mine once more.
Crushing the tracker in my hand, I strode through the burned wreckage of Millie’s cottage, heading straight toward my mate.
I saw her watch me out of the corner of her eyes, and my gut gave a harsh twist. What I wouldn’t give to have herlookat me again, to smile at me warmly, openly, in that special way that made me feel connected to her. But I knew that I’d cut her deeply. That she felt rejected, tossed away, abandoned. And how could she not feel that way?
“Don’t tell me to rest,” she said.
“I won’t,” I said, even though all I wanted to do was take her back to the keep, back to my bed where she fuckingbelonged, and keep her there until every wound healed on her body. I hadn’t realized how vulnerable humans were. How easily their skin could blister. “What do you need? What are you looking for?”
Millie still didn’t look at me. On the ground, she toed over a charred…blanket? The fabric crumbled into ash.
“A trunk from the bedroom,” she said. “The inside was lined with Jobarrian metal, so I hope…”
