“Who is that, and why is he holding Wren that close?” Thorn’s guarded voice sounded far away.
The only thing I could see or feel was Damien. His shadows cascaded over my cheeks before brushing against my lips, eliciting a small whine from me.
“That’s enough,” Trixie said before I was pulled out of his arms.
I stumbled back a couple of steps before Trixie looped her arm through mine. I blinked a few times to gather my bearings and glanced around the room to find two new people I’d missed coming in.
Thorn was standing in his new uniform, khaki slacks, and a navy blue polo with a striped navy tie around his neck. Next to him was a man with shoulder-length, messy dark brown hair and kind brown eyes that made my heart skip a beat as they locked with mine.
“You don’t have much experience with men, do you, Wren?” Trixie asked.
Thorn flickered his gaze between Damien and me with his jaw clenched.
My cheeks flushed with heat, and I ducked my head down. “Um, no. Not really. Why does that matter?”
“Because you’re a lot more sensitive to advances than other women,” Damien said with a husky voice as he let his shadows twirl a piece of my hair around.
“You tend to let people take advantage of you, Wren,” Thorn gritted out, glaring at Damien. “And I doubt he’s an exception. You should speak up when you’re in an uncomfortable situation.”
Kian’s face was tinged pink as he wrapped his arms around himself, looking like he’d rather be anywhere but here—but he shot me a sympathetic look all the same.
I let out an offended gasp before pulling my hair away from Damien’s shadows and moving it to the other side. “Or maybe Ilikethe way I feel when I talk to him. I wouldn’t let anything happen that I wasn’t comfortable with.”
“You hear that? She likes the way I make her feel,” Damien gloated, and the room spread with an icy chill as Thorn’s powers swirled around him.
The guy next to him held up his hands. “Okay, let’s all just calm down. The lady can do whatever she wants, and it seems to me like she has everything handled.”
“Of course she does,” Trixie agreed, bobbing her head up and down with a sly grin.
Thorn’s powers subsided, but the glare was still in place on Damien. “If you do so much as harm a single hair on her head, I’ll—”
“Kill me?” Damien cooed, his eyes twinkling with excitement. “I’d love to see you try, but I won’t hurt my little bird unless she wants me to.”
“Unless shewantsyou to?” Kian’s head tilted, his glasses inching down his nose. “Why in Kalista would she want that?”
Damien’s smirk grew. “Pain can be pleasurable if it’s done right.”
It can?
Thorn’s face scrunched up in disgust, and he took a step forward.
I unlooped my arm from Trixie’s and stepped forward to wrap my arms around him in a side hug. “I agree with um…” I glanced at the shaggy brunette again.
“Lachlan.” He smiled, showing off his bright white teeth.
“I agree with Lachlan. Everyone should calm down. I can take care of myself, Thorn.”
He huffed out a breath before nodding and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “I know, I’m sorry. But after—” He stopped himself, but I knew he was referring to Grayson. “Never mind. My bad.”
“Who are you?” Damien’s eyes flickered between Thorn and me. “And how do you know her?”
“Thorn. I’m an ice fae. Also, I can read minds, and if you don’t stop thinking of her that way, I swear I’ll—”
“A fae?” Trixie interrupted with a hint of excitement in her voice. “Can a ring of mushrooms really be a fae portal?”
“Yes, they can.” Thorn snapped his mouth closed, not moving his glare from Damien.
Trixie let out an excited squeal before running to her room and coming back with a journal from her belongings and writing something down.
