“I told her my proposals, starting with the Lunar Witches, and she didn’t even let me finish before she shut me down.” Anger seeps into Leigh’s tone. “Why would she do that? It felt like an attack.”
Janus knows Leigh is the reason she was poisoned last October. If she harbors resentment, the two of them need to resolve it. It will be messy initially, but it will ultimately benefit the country’s stability.
“What exactly did Janus say?”
“She said it was personal for me, and then my grandmother told me that we need to worry about external threats.”
My Blade instincts perk up. “Such as?”
“Stellan’s articles, the Labor Laws, Lua.” She lists each on her fingers. “My grandmother is afraid the wolves will plan something now that there’s new leadership. Paw prints were spotted in our territory.”
I tense, racing through potential scenarios and security protocols. “How many?”
Leigh shakes her head. “Unsure. My grandmother is going to Glaucus tomorrow. Official business, she says—checking for threats.” A pause. “But really, she just wants to escape.”
The vulnerability in her voice cuts deep. Her grandmother running to Glaucus, her mother gone silent, and those haunting letters from her uncle in prison. She’s being abandoned, piece by piece.
I came here craving her comfort, but seeing her like this—so close to shattering—I know she needs mine more.
“I’ll contact the Glaucus Blade Commander at the precinct tomorrow. We’ve had a few conversations. If Lua is threatening our borders, she’ll tell me.”
Her soft eyes meet mine. “Thank you,” Leigh whispers, leaning into my touch.
I smile. “Always.” Then, to lighten the mood, I add, “Now, tell me more about this proposal of yours. What exactly did you say to ruffle Janus’s feathers so much?”
As Leigh recounts her meeting, frustration and hurt radiate from her in waves. The strain between her and Janus, the pressure from her grandmother, the looming threat from Lua—it’s all piling up, threatening to crush her.
“But the Lunar Witches,” she insists, shoving at my chest when I suggest she listen to Jorina and Janus and focus on stabilizing her Council first. Janus isn’t dismissing her proposal to help the Lunar Witches, just tabling it. If Leigh could see what I see as a Blade—the raw hatred that’s surfaced since those letters leaked, the daily violence—she’d understand why Janus believes the asylums, for now, are safer than the streets. But that’s not what she wants to hear.
“Sometimes we have to work with people we don’t like, and meeting Janus halfway on this doesn’t mean your fight to liberate the Lunar Witches has to end,” I tell her.
Leigh laughs. The sound is tinged with frustration. “So, you are on her side?”
“Leigh, you taught me that sometimes peace requires chaos. If anything, I am following your example.”
“If that’s true, then you’d come with me right now and free all the Lunar Witches.”
I fold my arms. “I’d follow you anywhere, but are you sure that’s a good idea? It’s snowing and you look more ready for bed than a massive prison break.”
Leigh pouts. I smile, and she rolls her eyes. Yeah, that’s what I thought.
“Don’t look so smug,” Leigh says.
“How should I look?” I ask.
“Like you want to kiss me.”
The energy in the room shifts as our eyes lock. I lean in, capturing her lips in a kiss that steals my breath and stirs my element to life. The outside world disappears.
“Like this?” I whisper against her lips.
Leigh pulls away, and I watch as she slides the loosened straps of her dress down her arms to reveal her round breasts and toned midriff. The dress falls to the floor, leaving Leigh clad only in her lacy panties. She’s a vision of beauty I’ll never tire of witnessing.
The words “I love you” hover on my tongue, but Leigh presses her finger to my lips before I can utter them.
“Shh . . . no more talking.”
I nod, even as the organ in my chest aches to express the depth of my feelings.
