“Didn’t have to do what?” I asked as I pulled the door shut behind me, trying to pretend like I wasn’t ogling him.
“You didn’t have to intervene on my behalf.” Einar’s gaze drifted down my body, which was clad in the same form-fitting armor he wore.
A blush rose to my cheeks as I realized my outfit was having a similar effect on him as his was having on me. My mind conjured a very similar image to the last time Einar and I were in the ocean together. Except this time, instead of sharing my breath with him in order to resuscitate him, we were locked in a passionate embrace, and instead of armor, we…
“Are you listening to a word I’m saying?”
I blinked, yanking myself back to the present. Einar was staring at me with one eyebrow raised, looking far too amused. “Sorry,” I said blithely, clasping my hands behind my back to keep them away from his knowing gaze. “I tend to tune males out when they complain.”
Einar smirked. “I wasn’t complaining. Just saying that I would have followed you anyway.” He moved to the side, clearing a path for me so I could walk ahead. “Now, do you want to get going, or do you want to stay here a bit longer so you can finish undressing me with your eyes?”
I rolled said eyes so hard, I was surprised they didn’t get stuck in the back of my skull. “Don’t flatter yourself.” I stepped past him, gaze locked ahead so he wouldn’t be able to see through my unaffected charade. The last thing I needed to do was encourage him.
Einar followed at my side, undeterred. “You could also just undress me with your hands. I find that more effective than using your eyes alone,” he suggested.
“Oh, I don’t know,” I said in a sing-song voice as we traversed the staircase leading down to the great hall. “Hands are great, but I think I’d prefer using a different part of my body.”
The mood between us shifted in an instant, the air charging with sexual tension. “What body part would that be?” Einar asked. The deep rumble of his voice sent a delicious shiver through me, and I tensed my muscles to keep from betraying my reaction to him.
I turned in the stairwell to face him, bracing my hands on the railings as I leaned in. My breasts brushed against his chest, and I allowed my lips the barest brush against his. “Maybe if you’re a good boy, I’ll show you sometime,” I purred into his mouth.
Einar’s golden eyes flared, and I spun away, my laughter echoing through the stairwell as I raced down the steps. His answering growl followed me into the great hall, and my whole body thrilled at the possessive tone. I wasn’t entirely sure why I was baiting Einar like this when I knew I didn’t have an answer for him yet, but something wicked and a little bit feral had awoken inside me the day he’d bitten me, a fiercely feminine beast that grew more outspoken with every day that passed. She knew exactly what she wanted, and she didn’t give a damn about my misgivings.
The fact that I’d started fasting and was on edge from hunger probably didn’t help…but I was going to need to do a better job of controlling her, regardless.
Einar caught up to me as I stepped outside to join Prentis and Cascada, who were waiting on the veranda. I felt all three of their eyes on me as I tilted my face to the sparkling sunlight, but I ignored them all, taking a minute to bask in the balmy morning air. The tang of a sea salt breeze teased my nostrils as it always did when I wandered the grounds. I wasn’t sure of the water temple's precise location, but I knew from our arrival that the ocean itself wasn’t very far.
“Adara.” Prentis greeted me warmly, stepping forward so he could take my hand. He leaned down to kiss it, his lips lingering slightly longer than necessary. “Are you ready for our grand adventure?” he asked, his crystal-blue eyes twinkling.
“I should hope so,” Cascada said before I could answer. “We’ve been waiting for you for ages. I was just about to come looking and see if you needed help getting into the bodysuit.” She gave me a critical once-over, her eyes lingering on my exposed wrists and ankles. “You’re a bit too tall for yours, but at least you’re not bursting at the seams like your dragon guard.” Her lips twisting sardonically as she looked at Einar. “I’d avoid flexing those giant muscles of yours unless absolutely necessary.”
“Noted,” Einar said dryly.
“Are you always this pleasant to everyone?” I asked Cascada as the four of us fell into step together. “Or am I getting special treatment from you?”
“You’ll have to forgive Cascada,” Prentis said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. He walked to my left while Einar flanked my right, Cascada on his other side. “She’s always had an acerbic wit, but it seems to have sharpened even more over the years.” He shot his cousin a pointed look from beneath his brows. “Perhaps spending all those years living beneath that noxious cloud of shadow magic has robbed you of your manners.”
Cascada shrugged. “Or perhaps living my life on the edge of a knife, not knowing if I’m going to be killed should my family do or say anything to anger the king, has made me realize that life is too short to care much about what other people think of me.”
She caught my gaze, and I stared hard at her, looking for any sign of the shadow taint I’d glimpsed in her before. But the crystal blue depths of her irises were clear, not even a hint of the inky blackness I’d seen.
I remembered what Avani, the earth fae hostage, had told me when I’d met her. That even though everyone living in Kaipei Castle took regular doses of everbright potion to ward off shadow sickness, the taint continued to build up inside them due to round-the-clock exposure. Perhaps that was what had happened to Cascada, and now that she was home, she no longer had to fight the constant threat of infection.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Cascada scowled. “For what?”
“For being hard on you,” I said, and I meant it. “You’ve been through a lot, and I…well. I haven’t exactly been understanding.”
Cascada huffed, turning away, but her countenance softened a little. It was entirely possible Cascada’s misinterpretation of the events at Kaipei was through no fault of her own…who knew what effects shadow taint had on the mind? I saw first hand the toll it had taken on Mother, how she’d wasted away to a former shell of herself in only a handful of days. It stood to reason that Cascada would have suffered as well from such prolonged exposure.
Refusing to take her taciturn attitude personally, I turned my attention toward the adventure ahead as the four of us clambered into the carriage.
I thought we would go straight to the docks, but Prentis asked the carriage to stop in the port city, right outside the open-air market.
“It’s customary for petitioners to bring a gift to the temple,” Prentis said as we walked through the rows of colorful stalls. I listened to him with one ear as I took everything in—this place was ten times the size of Fenwood’s weekly market, the air thick with the scents of spices and the buzz of conversations. “I thought we could kill two birds with one stone, and pick up the gift here while also allowing to do a bit of sightseeing."
“That’s very thoughtful of you.” I tore my gaze away from a jar full of butterfly wings to smile at Prentis. Einar had stopped at the stall next to us to examine some knives, and Cascada had wandered off to look at bracelets, so the two of us were alone for the moment. “What sort of gifts do petitioners usually bring to the temple?”
