Arienna turns to me, surprise on her lips and in her eyes. “You went into Aurelia’s Library?”
I shift uneasily in the other women’s presence. My eyes on my wife, I say roughly, “I was looking for you.”
Reaching over, she grabs my hand. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
And fuck, her smile is worth the discomfort of an audience.
Leaning up on her tippy toes, she kisses me, tasting of ambrosia and some other sappy shit that makes my chest feel light. Dropping back onto her heels, she looks at me as if she’s feeling the exact same thing.
“So have you readKing Morningstar Gets Railed By Six…”
Blockingthatmonstrosity out, I pull my wife away with a mental note to order Fabia to burn all her damn books. I make my way to Jace. He’s standing by the table with my brother, eating a gosberry and almond cake. At the sight of me, Nicholas blanches and immediately leaves.
“So about that pegging –” Jace starts, only to curse when my knife slams into his cake, then skirts off the plate. It embeds in the wall behind him, and he laughs at me.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Arienna says, cutting herself a slice from the three-tiered cake on the table. “That photo on Echo’s desk –”
We both still, looking at her intently.
“It’s of a woman and child.”
“Achild?” Jace asks.
I can see her being gay, but I can’t see her being a mum in any regard. “Maybe she kidnapped it?” I say, looking at Jace.
“Maybe she ate it.”
“Sucked its soul into her eye.”
“That’s not true, is it?” Arienna asks. “Can she really do that?”
We both turned to her. “Yes.”
Although I’ve never seen it, I know a lot of people who have.
Jace shudders. “Why would she keep a picture of it on her desk then?”
My skin crawling, I frown. “I think… we’ll need more than a shot of ambrosia to figure that out.”
Fabia walks towards us, rolling her eyes. “You know she will probably end up killing you if you ever find out.”
I scoff. “I’m the king.”
Jace shifts uneasily. Even still, he asks, “You want to help us figure out who they are?”
She shakes her head as she picks up two slices of cake. “No need. I already know.”
“What? Fabia –” Heading off with her, Jace asks her a million questions. She stops beside my brother and gives him one of the slices of cake before turning to Jace, most likely to tell him off.
Laughing, Arienna turns to me. “Evangeline said that’d bug the shit out of him.”
My eyes narrow on her. “Do you know who they are?”
“Nope. And I don’t want to know. Anyone capable of being that close to Echo scares me in all honesty.”
A low chuckle rumbles in my chest, but I can’t help but agree.
