“Raine? It’s okay if you don’t want to come down. I can bring up what I want to show you... It might take a while.”
“It will take a long fucking while, but you’re not going tolike that it’s down there in the first place.” Evander cocks his head at Kieren.
It’s the silent stare between the two of them that definitely saysshut the fuck up.
“Okay, okay. Hold up.” I tap Kieren’s bare chest and then Evander on his crisp white designer button-down. “You two are definitely talking to each other.”
“Yes, Duchess. Thunder mates can communicate telepathically. There are rules about only mates knowing.”
“Oh, thank goodness. I thought I was losing it.” I’m still not sure how I feel about it. Though it makes how they move around me with such synchronicity while we’re having sex so much more obvious.
But then it sinks in. They can talk about me in front of me without me hearing it, and it feels rude, like I’m missing out on a private joke.
Kieren grabs my chin and tilts my head to his. His blue eyes lock onto mine. “As a general rule, when you are in the room, we use our voices and our lips.”
“But not always?” I say.
“No, not always.” Kieren’s lips hit mine. It’s a quick kiss, one that’s meant to reassure me. And it does. They’re not human. It’s clear from the deep scratches on the stair treads.
“Are you going to shift?” I ask. My eyes don’t waver from the deep grooves in the stairs. There’s a warm glow from the base of the stairs, which I still can’t see completely. It’s a long way down. There’s no railing on the side.
“We usually shift but not always.” Evander puts his arm around me. “Are you cold? We could do this some other time when you’re wearing more than a thin robe.” He stares at Kieren.
“Do you want to get dressed? I can wait. I didn’t thinkabout the heat difference. And that you might be cold,” he says.
He’s bouncing with excitement, but the wind blowing up the stairs has me shivering. It whistles like the polar express coming down the tracks. The hair on my arms stands straight up. “Wish you’d have shown me this place back in August.”
Roark wiggles his eyebrows at me. “Back in August, you weren’t ready to see this.”
“No, I suppose not.” I take a step forward to descend into the coldness.
There’s a knock on the door. Kieren cocks his head sideways, and Evander marches to the door.
“No one comes in here. They know better.”
“Sir,” Leo says. “I have clothes and a cloak for Miss Fischer.” Leo holds up my favorite jeans, a sweater, and a long blue cloak, along with a cloth bag.
I’m across the giant room in a second. “Oh, that’s fantastic! You always know what I need. Thank you!” I take the pile in my arms.
Evander lifts the bag from the top of the pile and opens it. He eyes Leopold.
“Goodbye.” Leo yanks the door shut with a thud. I pivot and see why. Roark and Kieren are glaring at the door. Evander holds up a pair of blue panties and a matching bra. Roark’s growl vibrates the hinges on the door.
“I’ll take those, thank you very much.” I turn around and slide them on without taking my robe off. I do the same thing with the jeans, then finally turn around to put the bra and sweater on. There are shoes and socks in the bag too. I sit on the floor and put them on.
Evander takes the cloak from the floor and holds it openfor me. “Are you ready, Raine? We have some amazing things to show you.”
I gulp. It can’t be anything more exotic than a portal to another realm.
71
RAINE
“I’ve never wanted to hurt Leopold the Alder family Ancestral until today,” Roark growls.
I place my hand on Roark’s chest. “Are you okay?”
“Are you okay?” he echoes back to me.
