I knelt beside one of the dead plants, reaching out with my magic to see if anything could be salvaged, but I found nothing but empty husks.
“This is someone who thinks several moves ahead,” I said. “Someone who could predict exactly how we’d react to seeing Lord Turren act suspiciously.”
“Who could handle something this sophisticated?”
Someone patient and methodical. A person who’d positioned themselves as a regular court member with the sole intention of undermining my court’s magical foundations.
The festival would begin tomorrow evening. If they struck then, during the height of emotional energy and celebration, they could permanently cut our court off from the magic that defined who we were.
My people would be left hollow, unable to feel the deep connections that gave our lives meaning. The court would survive in body but die in spirit.
Unless we stopped them.
I stood and tugged Sasha into my arms, holding her, needing her support as much as I ached to give it to her.
Magic flickered away from us and a few of the still surviving plants along the edges of the greenhouse shivered, proof that our connection was strong.
“They think they’ve won,” I said. “They think there’s nothing left we can do to stop them.”
Her eyes met mine, and I found my determination reflectedback at me.
“But they’ve made one mistake,” I said. “They’ve threatened my people, and I won’t allow it to continue.”
Around us, a single orchid, one we’d missed in our initial assessment, began to straighten. Its blackened petals slowly regained color, responding to the emotional connection flowing between Sasha and me.
It wasn’t much. It wouldn’t save the festival or stop whatever this person had planned.
But it was a start.
Stepping back, I took Sasha’s hand, squeezing it. “I’ve got a plan, and we’ll put it into place tomorrow.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
SASHA
Iwoke to sunlight streaming through Dominic's bedroom window and the weight of his arm across my waist.
For a moment, I lay still, cataloguing the sensations I’d become used to over the past few days. The warmth of his body against my back. How the steady rhythm of his breathing soothed me. And the flash of heat spiraling through me.
We’d shared the same bed since that first night, but nothing more had happened. But we were tired at the end of the day and stressed about the drain on the court’s emotional magic.
And we were still getting to know each other better. This didn’t need to be rushed.
I’d spent my entire adult life sleeping alone, alert even in rest, ready to jump out of bed to soothe one of my sisters. So many nightmares. We’d all suffered, but I’d done my best to make sure they suffered the least.
Sleeping with Dominic felt different.
This was trust and sharing the night.
We’d spoken with the gardener before going to bed, and first thing today, he would travel to other greenhouses to replace the plants that had been killed in the greenhouse. We’d set guards and the festival would continue. The plants might be slightly limp from being transplanted today, but they’d still emit emotions. Our court would be renewed, and we could hunt down the person responsible before they could do any further harm.
Dominic stirred behind me, and his hand slid up to rest over my heart. “You’re thinking too loud.”
“How can you possibly know that?”
“Your breathing changes.” His lips brushed my shoulder. “You get this little crease between your eyebrows.”
“You can’t see that with my back faces you.”
