“What?”
“Not you, Duchess.” Roark looks away from the painting. “Raine’s sister is coming to visit. When did you say again?” It’s a not so clever ploy to change the subject.
“Friday night. She’ll have to leave Saturday night to head back to Zurich,” I say while getting sandwiched between Evander and Roark. Personal space has gone out the window. Actually, I don’t know that it ever existed in the first place. Kieren though? He’s standing back, his serious blue eyes glued to me. He’s serious, so serious. “Right. Well, shewants to explore the village with me. I hope you don’t mind. Leo said I could take some time off. I worked all of?—”
“You should take all day off. Actually, you should take off tomorrow morning and scout out what you want to show your sister. I’ll come with you. I know a thing or two about the village,” Kieren says.
“Are you sure? You must have a lot to do.” And the townsfolk, or at least the rideshare driver I had, seemed to be terrified of Cloud Rift. But now I’m guessing it’s not the castle but its owner he was afraid of.
“I would love to. I owe it to you.”
I run my hand over the cabinets. I’d really like to be here when the rest of them go in. But what’s here is done perfectly. “I suppose I’d just be in the way here. And it would be nice to know where to take Wren for the best things to see and do.”
“Wren?” Kieren asks.
“Yeah, my parents like being original with names. Just names, though. They gave us names you could never find on keychains and then expected us to be nurses and accountants. Nothing wrong with either. I have a good friend from high school who’s an accountant, but she’s always loved numbers. Me? I was good at math. I didn’t like it, but I was good at it.”
“Evander’s good at math,” Roark says. “Best in the class at the academy.”
“Really?” I don’t mean to sound shocked, but I do.
“What, love? I know it’s hard to imagine: good looks and brains. But what can I say? I’m the full package.” Evander breaks out into an easy smile that has things firing around my body. Normally, when a guy is that cocky, it turns me off. But there’s something about the way he says it that comes off so genuine, it’s endearing.
“You’re full of something.” Roark smacks Evander’s arm. “Good night, Duchess.” Roark bounds out of the collection hall.
“All right. I need to get some sleep. I’ve got a lot of supervising to do in the morning.” Evander leans in to me and kisses my cheek and then the other. He smells of almonds and musk, and I want to hold my cheek against his. “Come on, Kieren. If you’re going to be a tour guide in the morning, I need to chat with you for a few minutes.” Evander loops his arm through Kieren’s and pulls him out of the room.
“See you in the morning,” is all I get out before the door closes behind them.
It leaves me empty and full at the same time. Empty because they are such a trio. I’ve heard of yin and yang before. Two sides. But they are such a trio. Roark’s hard but empathetic. Evander’s funny but smart. Kieren’s serious and... methodical. Methodical is the part that I’m not sure of... It could be a good thing or not. I guess I’ll find out in the morning.
I close the cabinet. A morning off before all the real work starts doesn’t sound like such a bad thing. Then I glance at the stack of paintings I was cataloging and had moved off to the side last night. I could do a little tonight...
31
KIEREN
The bloody portal. My breakfast has gone cold in the half hour I’ve stared at it. I’ve not come up with a decent plan for telling her why my dragon wanted to carry her off. Because I haven’t touched her yet. Because we’ve been putting off the ceremony, and now we need to put it off even longer. What we need to do is?—
“You’re looking glum this morning.” Evander swipes a handful of bacon and sits down in his seat. I raise my eyebrow at him. Not using a plate in the dining room will send our ancestral into a spiral. “What Leopold doesn’t know won’t hurt?—”
“Good morning, gentlemen.” Leopold puts a plate under Evander’s bacon, and I laugh.
“Oh, you can still smile. Good to know, prince.” Evander rocks back in his chair, but one stern look from Leopold has Evander dropping back onto the Oriental carpet.
I glare at him before turning to Leopold, who’s back,placing another cup of coffee in front of me. “Have you seen Raine this morning?”
“I believe she’s in the vault.” He glances at my uneaten food. “Can I get you something else? A sandwich, perhaps?”
I furrow my brow. “She’s in the vault. We’re to go to the village.” I’m up and out of the dining room before anyone can answer me. I’m through the grand atrium and down the corridor to the south wing and the vault. My intuition says to pause and knock on the door, but I’m too worked up that she went to work instead of meeting me in the dining room as I had stated.
The lights are off. The workmen aren’t here yet. I had Leopold call the company and hold them off until later in the day. There’s no glow from the alcove where she’s made an office. But she’s here. The room scents of thyme and chamomile.
“Raine?” I take another step in.
There’s a low snore from the alcove. I step lightly toward the soft noise. Her cheek’s flat on the desk. I step over her discarded shoes beneath the alcove’s arch. Her ankles are crossed, her arm fully extended over the desk, and her fingers wiggle.
I want to touch her so badly my bones ache. Fucking portal—Thessari—not being aligned for proper power until Monday. Things in the realm are spiraling, with a lot coming to a head at the same time, most of it revolving around our lack of a mate, but there’s a rumor that the Firested are up to something. Another attack has something to do with the portals not working right. At least, that’s what the Rivulet delegation that had dinner with my parents last week said. I don’t know. But no good will come from it. Rumors and finger-pointing lead to nothing but battles. It’s the way of the older generation.
