I shake my head, disbelieving.
“It’ll be entertaining—you’ll see,” she explains, her mind already made up.
She crushes and grinds a small amount of the Crow’s Hood between her fingers, and before I’ve even registered what she’s doing, she rises to her feet, wraps her arm around Therion’s shoulder, while using her other arm to sprinkle a fine layer of the powdered mushrooms in his ale.
She whispers something to him that makes him smile, then returns to her seat next to me, with Therion none the wiser.
“Aren’t you meant to heal people? Not be the reason theyneeda healer?” I ask, my lips losing the battle with my smile.
“I can do both, El—multidisciplinary, some may say,” she explains flippantly, and I drag my hand down my face.
Kael takes his seat again, and he leans in to Rubi. “I suppose I should be ready for the performance?” he asks. Apparently her antics are common—expected, perhaps.
Should I avert my gaze?I ask Kael through the tether, amusement heavy in my tone.
I never want you to look at another man again, El, but this? This is an exception. He returns my amusement.
I watch Therion, waiting for… something to happen. I’m not exactly sure what, butsomething.
The fiddle playing in the corner increases its cadence. A song that inspires people to dance with vigor.
Therion’s shoulders begin to sway with the beat. Increasing in speed in time with the fiddle.
I’ve never seen Therion so much as notice music, let alone move to it.Something is definitely happening.
He jerks, standing bolt upright, moving his shoulders in sharp rhythm.
Oh gods.
Whatever she’s done, it’s working.
“Is anyone else hot in here?” Therion asks, already removing his armor.
“Therion, what are you doing?” Seren asks, looking around confused.
Her eyes land on Kael, but he’s lost to it—his mouth pressed in a thin line, desperately trying to tamp down the hysterical laughter I can feel through the tether like a dam about to burst.
“What have you done?” she asks, furious.
Kael shakes his head. “It wasn’t me,” he chuckles, low and clear.
“Best to just sit back and enjoy the show,Seri,” Jax quips, her ankles crossed on Ronyn’s lap.
Therion unlaces his tunic, slipping it off over his head before his broad chest and shoulders glisten with sweat under the lanterns.
Seren’s eyes rake over his body, taking every inch of him in. And I have to admit, I’m staring, too.
“I said watch, not ogle, El,” Kael whispers in my ear, and my cheeks blaze with heat.Mortified.
But it’s Ronyn who cuts through the moment. “Ah, I don’t know what’s happening, but I like this Therion.”
Therion’s bare torso rolls and shakes, moves and glides as he dances across the stone floor toward the fiddle. Sweat slicks his skin, and his arms raise above his head in euphoria.
“What is happening?” Seren demands, brows furrowed.
“Don’t look at me, kid,” Jax says. “Ask Rubi.”
Seren’s furious gaze lands on Rubi, but Therion’s arm loops around her, pulling her up from her chair and into his bare chest.
