“Why don’t we see what has His Royal Kingliness in such shock?” I gestured toward them.
“His Royal Kingliness?” she asked.
Her cheeks held a pinkish tone, which wasn’t from blushing but pleasure. She was stunning when she let her joy shine.
“It’s one of my many pet names for him,” I said.
She shook her head, taking her hand to her messy bun to unfasten it. Black spilled across her muscular shoulders, and I had to fist my hands so I wouldn’t reach for the silky strands of her hair. Already, I knew how soft they’d feel between my fingers.
Distance. I needed distance.
I dropped my hand from her back, and when we stood beside Elias and Everly, Finley let out a startled laugh.
“Are those sling-stones growing from the tree?” Finley asked.
I sensed Everly’s angry eyes on Finley, sharp as the blade at her hip. Protective. Condemning.
My chest tightened, a growl rising in my throat before I even thought to stop it. Everly didn’t see what I saw, though. She didn’t see the way Finley’s hands shook at her side, the way our bond tugged and tore just as mercilessly at her as it did me.
To Everly, it was simple. She and Teddy both believed Finley had used me last year. But it was more than that. It was the bond dragging her to me while her heart still belonged to another male.
I bared my teeth, my canines pulling past my lips as I glared at Everly in warning. My arms shook at the sudden rage that built inside me, letting my primal instincts edge forward. I would fight anyone, friend or enemy, for Finley.
Finley noticed, because my mate saw everything, cataloging even the tiniest detail. Her smile fell. I shook with the urge to draw out my sword, ready to defend Finley even from this silent accusation.
Because no matter how it looked to others, Finley wasn’t the villain. And I would bleed before I permitted anyone to make her believe otherwise.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Elias said, his tone friendly as he gave Everly a stern shake of his head.
Everly snapped her attention from Finley, but her posture remained rigid.
Again, Finley noticed, and her expression crumbled even further. She quickly masked it with cold eyes. I wasn’t surprised when she tilted her chin up in that beautifully defiant way of hers.
It was a look I remembered from our youth. A look she’d perfected throughout the years. It softened me, pride flowing through me at the way she held herself together despite the emotions clambering inside her.
I brushed my knuckles over hers, wanting to bring her gentle comfort. It wasn’t simply her anxiety that I felt through our bond, but her insecurity. Since her youth, she’d always felt like she didn’t belong. None of my friends had helped her feel welcome.
She pulled away from my touch, clasping her hands in front of her. Heat spread through my tightening chest.
“She didn’t pull away because of you,”Hoshiko said.
I let out a cutting laugh while I braced my arms across my chest. Elias turned a questioning look in my direction.
“Hoshiko thinks himself a comedian now,” I said.
“It’s important to her that others see she can stand on her own,”he explained.
As if I didn’t already know that about Finley. Still, her rejection hurt because I knew, despite how much she may need someone to depend on, she wouldn’t turn to me. Etienne was the only one who’d broken through her shields, the only one she allowed herself to rely on.And I’d nearly kissed his intended. Vith.
Elias nodded, quirking a brow at Finley. While he meant it as a companionable gesture, I felt her mistrust.
I wasn’t certain who she mistrusted, though: Elias and Everly or herself.
“Why would a tree grow sling-stones?” Elias asked.
Breathing deeply, Finley shoved her shoulders back so that she stood taller. She met Elias’s eyes. “Maybe the stones serve as a defense for this realm.” Her words came out like steel, as if the war of emotions swimming inside her wasn’t happening.
That’s my girl.
