“Anyway, it struck me that his necklace blocks magic, and mating bonds are magical, right?”
My pulse hushes before picking up speed.
“Mating bonds are fated,” Izolda says, “not magical.”
The slow-churning orbs in the fireplace reflect in Ksenia’s intent stare, lending it a starker, crueler shine. “Beg to differ. Anything that comes from the Cauldron is magical, and mating bonds are Cauldron-made.”
“You’re right. They are magical.” I narrow my eyes right back on hers. “But there’s a little loophole in Konstantin’s amulet—it protects him fromevilmagic. Everything else filters right through.”
When Ksenia’s eyebrows dip, Izolda crosses her arms in front of her chest and juts out her hip. “I don’t know what your problem is, but?—”
“My problem is that Konstantin should be focusing on healing our kingdom and not on cozying up to a specie that believes itself superior to ours. Can you imagine if her Shabbin genes counteract her Crow ones, and Kostya and Isla manage to produce a child? Three of the four lands will be ruled by shifters!”
“I understand you have reservations about us.” I don’t, given that her twin is mated to Aodhan. Nevertheless, I play the empathetic card. “But we have the best interests of both humans and Faeries at heart.”
“Sure you do…” Ksenia sneers. “Humans are still on the bottom rung of the food chain in Luce.”
“You’re overdue for a trip to my homeland.”
“I’ve no interest in visiting a land infested with winged vermin.”
“Perhaps, but one should never form strong opinions about a culture they’ve no comprehension?—”
“Did you just refer to my fiancée as ‘winged vermin’?” Konstantin’s voice has me pivoting.
He’s striding into the library, unhooking the fur cloak pinned to his shoulders. Though he worried at first that the shifters who’d remained in Glace would take offense to him wearing it, Naeva and Vance promised that the sight of fur—put to good use—didn’t turn their stomachs. Unlike serpent scales and tusks.
“No.” A manic smile cuts into Ksenia’s face. “I just pointed out that they have flying rats in Luce, like we have flying reindeer in Glace, and you know my aversion to vermin.”
Konstantin tilts his face as he hands off his cloak to a guard. He cannot possibly buy her justification, can he? “Ironic, seeing at how much time you spend in the human district.”
“Humans aren’t vermin, brother!”
“I wasn’t referring to humans. I was referring to the actual rats and mice that infest the poorer neighborhoods. I hear they’re everywhere. Was I given false information?”
“No. They are everywhere, no matter how many traps are set out.” Her tone has cooled, as though her brother’s awareness of the insalubrious conditions pleases her.
“Where have you been this past week?” he asks.
“Here and there.” Ksenia massages her neck. “Aiding as much as one lone woman can.”
Fresh snow clings to Konstantin’s white hair. As he dusts it off, he asks, “Something wrong with your neck?”
Ksenia lowers her hand, revealing a small, weeping gash just above her clavicle. “Isla strangled me with her shadows.”
Konstantin stiffens beside me, his silver irises hardening to steel as he takes in the wound that hadn’t been there before. I hunt her hand for a ring sharp enough to slice through flesh butfind her fingers bare and her nails too blunt to score anything.Couldmy shadows have split her skin?
“She wasn’t bleeding a minute ago!” Izolda exclaims.
“Could you take Isla’s sideanyquicker?”
Izolda sucks in air. “This has nothing to do with?—”
I lift a palm, not wanting the sisters to fight because of me. “Forgive me if I cut you, Ksenia. My intent was to quiet you, not to cause you physical harm.”
“Sure.” A corner of her mouth coils in derision. “Did you know that in Glace we have a saying:an eye for an eye? Right, Konstantin?”
Izolda’s mouth rounds around a screeched, “Are you mad?”
