“Fuck off, Pallas. Isolde doesn’t need rescuing,” I snap.
Isolde’s brows draw together, but she stays silent, scowling at me.
“What?” I demand.
She shakes her head. “I was thinking about slapping you but that would be animal abuse.”
“Huh?”
Pallas snickers. “She’s calling you an ass.”
I open my mouth, then promptly close it. Fighting usually feels like foreplay between us, but not tonight. I’m too charged up—the case is calling. When I stop the daemons from coming through whatever rift is open in this city, she’ll want to come clean about us. She’ll finally see me as someone worth being with. Then Pallas will have to swallow his forked tongue.
“If you see Jaxson, tell him I’m looking for him.” I spin on my heel and bump into a firm chest.
“There you are,” Jaxson growls, pushing me back. “Funny how you were told to find me, but here I am findingyou.”
Pallas smiles, clearly enjoying my dressing-down from someone lower in rank. My hands ball into fists. I look at Isolde. She stares at the floor. Yeah, I’m an embarrassment to her.
“I was looking for you when I ran into Sol,” I reply through gritted teeth.
“Don’t call herSol,” Jaxson snaps, clearly in a foul mood. “She’s not your friend.”
Sol keeps her mouth shut. Figures. No one defends me. They’d worship Wilder and lick the mud off his boots. He’s the commander they love and respect, while they’d rather leave me stranded.
Whatever. I’ll earn their respect, then decide what to do with them. Maybe I’ll fire them all for mutiny.
“Let’s go,Domna.” I head for the exit without looking back at Isolde.
I’m nothing to her now. But I will be.
Once I knowno one from the party is following me, tension lifts from my shoulders. I slow down to catch my breath, exhaling a long sigh, relieved to finally be alone.
Ravi needs my help to find the right spell in Aradia’s journals to close the portal. The answer is hidden somewhere in them; we just need to focus long enough to find it before dawn. If we don’t?—
Calloused hands brush my hair as something silky is placed over my eyes, stealing my sight.
Adrenaline sizzles beneath my skin. Before I can call for help, a deep, familiar voice whispers, “Where are you running off to, princess?”
My breath trips over itself at the hot and rough sound.Wilder.
“Well?” he presses, drawing the blindfold snug. His hands are all control, his body heat steady behind me.
My fingers explore the fabric—soft, smooth, decadent. “What are you doing?” My voice is unsteady as he walks me backward, my back pressed to his chest, his pulse as untroubled as ever. He always does this. Wilder’s always calm while I’m a bundle of nerves. “Where are you taking me?”
Urgency nags at the edge of my mind—portal, wedding, Gianna’s endless to-do list. I can’t afford to get distracted, nottonight. Yet, with just a few words, he has me trembling with anticipation. Damn him. He blurs my world at the edges, leaving only himself in sharp focus. There’s so much left to do before tomorrow, yet everything feels insignificant when I am in his presence. I should tell him to stop messing around, to let me go, insist I need to go to bed, but I’m also curious about what he wants and longing to stay close to him, as always.
“You’ll see,” he practically purrs.
“How? I can’t see shit.”
Wilder chuckles.
“Wilder.”
“Don’t you trust me?”
I give a slow nod. Of course I do. Doesn’t he realize I’d trust him with my life by now? I’m keeping secrets, but it’s not about trust. It’s about protecting his happiness. I haven’t seen him this carefree in ages. I want it to stay that way. I refuse to let my actions ruin our wedding or our relationship. We’ve come too far.
