“Good thing, I’m not yourwifethen.”
A fang falls over his lip, and my body heats. “Yet.”
He turns to Fee, glancing around as if looking for an attack. “Where’s Reid?”
She rolls her eyes, a typical sibling response, crossing her arms stubbornly. “Gambling in the stables, probably. You know how he is.”
Kaden growls under his breath, using two fingers to call over a guard. “Get my brother and bring him to the throne room. He needs to be present.”
The guard hurries away on clunky steps and I glance back to Fee, curious at the urging. The princess shrugs. “Kaden doesn’t want us separated when our father summons us.”
“Why?”
Fee tilts her head, trying to understand me. It’s not the first time she’s tried.
“You should stay near Kaden too, blood summoner,” she insists, gaze swiping over my body, staring at the necklace with narrowed eyes. “This is not a friendly place to be alone in. Especially when my father calls.”
Chills break out over my arms at her ominous tone. Zelos is going to get me soon enough, why would Kaden protect me? Why would she worry? Isn’t this the moment he hands me over, allows his father to show off his war trophy? My fate is already sealed.
Fee darts the extra steps to her brother, mouth frowning. “So that’s what happened to Mother’s necklace? You kept it for your future queen?”
Kaden rolls his eyes, not bothering to glance at her.His mother’s necklace?“As heir, it’s my right to decide what happens to the previous queen’s items.”
“You know what this means.” There’s a threat in her words.
“Drop it, Fee.”
“You know,” she drawls, glancing back to me, annoyed. “We’ve lost four guards at the gates.”
With my interest piqued, I raise my brows. “What’s happening at the gates?”
Fee smiles, gesturing for Kaden to answer.
“It’s your beast,” he drawls, hard eyes narrowing at his sister. “It’s taken him time, but he’s finally found you. And he’s less than pleased to be blocked from entering.”
Relief rocks me to my core. After the battle in the woods, I thought him gone, taken, maybe killed. I spent weeks in the dungeon mourning my life, my friends in the Coven who I would never see again and the beast I saved.
I should have known a creature blessed by the God of the Dead wouldn’t be so easy to defeated. “So, let him in. What use is he outside of the palace?”
“None,” he agrees. “But letting him in too soon would not benefit either of us.”
I yank against his hold again, irritated. “Benefit us,how?” He’s my protector, he does not follow the laws of mortals.
Sighing, disappointed, the heir pulls me close. “We may have need of his services and I will not announce his presence unlessabsolutely necessary,” he whispers. “To do otherwise, would be stupid.”
“And when will that be, heir?” I growl, body heating in aggravation. The Fae talks in riddles, never revealing anything unless it suits him. Too many secrets, too many tricks.
“Soon.” He nods. “I have no intention of keeping a beast made from Hell from you for long, but we cannot be impatient.”
Fee snorts next to her brother, hand tapping her dagger securely. “Better figure out when, big brother. Because he will kill everyone to get to his master, and no matter how badly you want to keep him a secret, someone will figure it out when the bodies keep amassing.”
We stop at the grand black doors, more etchings of fearsome Fae staring back at us. The guards who flanked the heir disperse, with only Zeke standing behind me. Two more guards are stationed at the throne room, looking ahead, faces stoic. They seem to shrink under Kaden’s gaze, avoiding his attention.
Is everyone here afraid of the heir? Or is this respect?
Boots slapping on to the black granite pulls my attention to the side, seeing Reid’s smiling face running to catch up to us. He’s chaos in Fae form—shirt unbuttoned, jacket grasped in his hand. There’s ink drawn on to his chest and shoulder but I can’t make out the design. Tattoos aren’t completely unheard of, but they’re rare in the Witch Covens.
When he skids to a halt beside me, he slips an arm around my shoulders and tugs me close into a brotherly half-hug. “Hey! You’re free! That’s a fun turn of events. We could use more good news around here.”
