I heard Dathal talking softly in fae, and Axel’s answers sounding a little shaky.
I shoved my stool back, but Rys came into the kitchen and shook his head.
“Give them a minute.” His gaze tracked over me and he snorted. “Here.”
I caught the bundle he threw at me.
“I guessed you might need something to wear.”
“You guessed right.” I dropped the towel and tugged on the clothes he’d brought for me. “Thanks.”
Rys leant against the worktop, arms crossed over his broad chest. “I take it things went well last night?”
I couldn’t stop the huge smile that burst forth. Didn’t even try. “Yes.”
Rys grinned back, then reached for me and pulled me into a hug. “I’m so fucking happy for you.”
“It still feels a little surreal, but it’s slowly sinking in.” I stepped back but didn’t like the frown that he was now sporting.
“You don’t look all that happy.” I crossed my own arms. “Explain?”
He lowered his voice. “Have you talked about what Axel’s going to do about the high court wanting him to go back?”
“We’ve not really had a chance.”
“No, I suppose you haven’t.” Rys sighed. “Look, I don’t want to piss all over your happiness—Goddess knows you both deserve to catch a break—but in my experience, the high court don’t mess about when it comes to these decisions.”
“No, they don’t,” Axel agreed, as he and Dathal entered the kitchen.
Rys didn’t so much as flinch, obviously having heard them coming, but I startled, too fixated on Rys’s words to pay attention to my surroundings.
Axel came to stand next to me and I automatically put my arms around him. “I’m not going to force Talis into a joining pact just because the high court want me to go back.”
“You wouldn’t be force—”
“No.” He turned in my arms. “It’s been hard enough for us to get to this point. I want to savour the time we spend together now, not risk ruining everything by rushing into a joining pact that neither of us are ready for.Yet,” he added at whatever expression he’d seen on my face. He kissed me, not caring that we had an audience. I held him tight, indulging in it until Rys pointedly cleared his throat.
“What are you going to do then?” Rys rubbed his jaw, gaze flitting between us. “I meant what I said before. About wanting you to stay and be the Gatekeeper. And I’ll happily tell the high court as much. But I suspect I’ll have little sway in their decision making.”
“I don’t know yet. But we have time to come up with something. They have the mess with Zh’alek to sort out and the gateways to reopen. And I suspect Lady Sarhin is already pleading my case.”
I hoped she was.
She’d managed to help Dathal get permission to stay here, and from what I understood, his being a member of the fae guard had made things more problematic. If she could persuade the court to let him stay, then surely she could do the same for Axel?
After telling me to take the next few days to myself, Rys left, promising to check back in with us soon.
Dathal waited until Axel went upstairs to the bathroom to corner me in the kitchen. The air around him shimmered for a split second and then a pair of silver daggers appeared in his hands.
I crossed my arms and waited.
“I like you, Talis.” He grinned at me, daggers held loosely at his sides, but I didn’t doubt he was lethal with them. “But as Axel’s cousin and only relative this side of the gateway, it falls to me to do this.”
“Go on.”
“If you purposefully hurt him or betray him in any way, I will kill you without a second thought.” He delivered the line as though we were discussing the weather, and it took a moment to register what he’d said. “Is that clear?”
I grinned back, all teeth. “Perfectly.” I heard Axel coming back downstairs but it took Dathal a moment too long to realise.
