“No, he doesn’t. We were drawn to each other, because that’s the way of it. But Lavana will claim him as soon as she’s able, and I’m sure he’ll be glad to accept her. Partly because he doesn’t understand what it means. And partly because... I think he’ll be happier with her. She’ll give him everything he wants. She has the family behind her, the power, the wealth. She’ll spoil him. He likes to be spoiled. His parents sheltered him too much. He’s like a child. Give him sweets and he’ll follow you.”
“And you’re just going to let him?”
“I’m not sure why you think I have any power to stop him. Or Honey. Or any power at all. Did you get this notion before or after I was tortured and thrown into an iron cell? Or was it when I almost died on a warrior’s blade and you had to save me, again?”
“You survived the torture and escaped that cell, and you are still alive.”
“Thanks to you.”
His gaze fell away from her. “I’m afraid if I go with you...”
“I know what you’re afraid of,” she said. “And you’re right to be. But I can’t claim you without your consent, Kaelan. No one can.”
“And what about when you Shine?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I’ll tie you up with gorgon rope and hang you from a tree.”
He smiled, a little. But it vanished quickly. “What will happen?”
“When I Shine?”
He nodded.
She let out a heavy breath. “You’ll forget you want to resist our attraction. You’ll forget you don’t wish to be claimed. But I promise I’ll do whatever I can to avoid that situation with you. You have my word.”
His gaze flicked up to her and then away again, which seemed the only way he was willing to look at her since that charged moment between them at the bottom of Ouda’s tree.
“Honey is determined to help you. To join you.”
“I don’t know when I’ll Shine next,” she said. “It hasn’t happened regularly since I left this world...”
“Do you miss it?” he asked.
“The Shine?”
“No. The human world. Sometimes... you seem very sad.”
“You mean that you feel my sadness,” she said.
He glanced at her again, quickly.
“It’s all right to admit it, Kaelan. It might actually make this all much easier. Just accept that you can feel what I feel and that you desire me, because you’re a Prince. You don’t have to be angry about it. It’s not the end of your life. We can help each other. You love Honey, I understand that. And I—”
Her words caught in her throat. Had she been about to say that she loved Endreas? No, but maybe she had been about to say that she had Endreas. That some part of her already belonged to him. Either way...
“If you help me become Radiant, I’ll be able to claim another Prince. There are always a few... protected by their families, hidden, as you were, until their families find the best match. As Radiant, I’ll be the most coveted Rae in the Lands. I’ll help you hide yourself, with Honey, if that’s what you want. But I need you to help me first.”
“You’ve certainly changed your mind. I didn’t think you wanted to be Radiant.”
“I don’t,” she said, “and yet, I do. You were right. I miss the human world, full of poison as it was. I was truly free there. I made my own destiny. I was poor and weak and exiled, but I answered to no one. And no one looked to me for answers. I just ate pizza and sat on the beach. I woke up and did what I wanted. No fighting, no blood, no constant fear that I would...”
He looked at her fully, finally. “Die?”
“Fail.”
A distant bird shriek spiraled down from the sky, sharp and piercing.
Kaelan’s face closed off again. “The roc is here.”
