“Go.” Drustan waved to Sergei. “Bring her to me. Unharmed.”
That was the night that Sergei and Leon attacked me on my boat.
Ilianeverwanted me. It was Drustan. It wasalwaysDrustan.
Suddenly, Drustan was stalking the corridors of Fergus’s family estate, following the sound of my hum as I studied the vases and drapes of the hallway. Practically hypnotized. He had no qualms about ditching his cousin while she obtained the recipes his father asked them for.
Because here I was. Dressed as if I belonged in Hyvenmere, with him. When he startled me, and I gasped, impaling him with my cake knife, he couldn’t find it in himself to focus too much on the pain. Instead, all he kept thinking was,my mate is stunning.
My voice echoed in his head;I just stabbed someone. I just stabbed someone. But as far as first meetings went, he figured things could have gone worse. What was I doing there? In the realm? He thought Audrey had fought Sergei and Leon well enough and would go out of her way to keep mefarfrom Hyvenmere. Why on earth would Audrey dare to bring me here? So close to him?
Did AudreywantDrustan to find me?
I was terrified, but bubbling under the surface, he could smell other emotions coming from me. Curiosity. Recognition. Attraction. His mate wasso closeto realizing it.
Got it, should we go?Caelena’s voice entered his mind.
Not yet, Drustan responded to Caelena as he inhaled my scent.She is breathtaking.
Then we were back in the human realm.
Drustan was watching me flirt with my handsome stranger for the first time, in a random human disguise as I fluttered my lashes and gave him teasing touches.No. Wrong. Mine. Drustan’s mind kept repeating. The flirtations were cut short, and as Drustan watched me run outside the coffee shop, searching for something, he noticed how the man looked more uninterested in me than before.
Then, an idea formed in Drustan’s mind. He turned a corner, needing privacy as he found a window to an empty shop to observe himself in. Staring at his reflection, Drustan shifted. Presenting himself exactly as the human male I was flirting with.
Perfect.
Then we were at Bandthral, and Drustan’s hackles rose when he saw that his deranged father had made me sit next to him. It took every muscle in his body to casually place himself between his father and me.
Then we were in my room.
Drustan was determined to visit me while I was awake this time. To perhaps attempt explaining why he put his hands on me so thoroughly at Bandthral. That he couldn’t sit with the knowledge that my back was in so much pain. He simply couldn’t focus on anything else.
But a complicated discussion couldn’t be had, because I was hallucinating in my bed. The faint smell of blood mixed with the smell of the tea Audrey gave me made Drustan’s heart twist as he stared down at me.
I was smiling up at him. I hadn’t done that before. Not when he looked like himself, that is. Of course, I wouldn’t be of sound mind the first time I did that. When he tried to ward off my advances, and I started thrashing and crying, he gave in and ordered me to touch myself. The smell of my arousal perfumed around both of us, drugging him with need.
“You know I want you,” Drustan cooed at me.
Then we were in the courtyard in Enhavenn. The night Caelena stole the former Fae Queen’s journal.Gods, she’s mouthwatering like this, Drustan thought as he stalked me in the shadows. He bit back a groan of arousal as he stepped in front of me, letting me crash into him, and pinned my body against his.
How could the simple act of holding me against his body feelthisgood?Thisright? As if our bodies should never be separated again.
Who knew that mating bonds could be so cruel? Surely, Tynara was punishing him for all the lives he’d taken.
Another change.
Drustan was chained in the cell, his father standing in front of him. His father’s voice commanded every muscle in his body.
“Stop,” Ilia’s sharp command ghosted over Drustan’s entire body, forcing him to halt his movements, but leaving the agony that filled his mind. “You will never disobey me again, son.”
Then reality started to blur again.
Chapter 28
Caelena’s command was still echoing in my head, and when reality started to fade back to me, I was only vaguely aware of what Caelena had used her whismerra for. Memories Drustan had shared with her were shoved into my brain, becoming my own. The information dump was instant, meaning time didn’t actually slow down at all.
I just blinked and suddenly had new information.
