His nostrils flared, and his eyes darted up to my forehead, my runes. His face changed. He pulled the axe away from my throat, and I could breathe again.
But then I watched as Keir brought the weapon to his lips.
His tongue darted out to lick my blood off the blade’s edge. His normally too-bright eyes guttered to a slumbering gold and flicked back to mine.
I didn’t know how to describe that look. It wasn’t bloodlust or even anger. It was something else entirely, and it held me captive. I couldn’t look away from those peculiar eyes. They seared into me and covered the rest of the world in a blanket of quiet, the only sound my haggard breathing and thundering heart.
Then someone was shoving between us.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Rade demanded. He slammed his palms into Keir’s chest, knocking him back a step.
Keir said, “She’s fine.” But his voice sounded dazed. Soft. Not a trace of his usual growl.
Rade glanced at me, instantly spotting the line of blood on my neck. His red runes mirrored the rage in his face. “My orders are not suggestions, Keir. She was not to be harmed. What you’ve done is treason.”
Keir blinked, finally looking away from me as he came back to himself. “Treason?”
“I am yourking.” I’d never seen Rade so furious, but his eyes were like the flames of the jinn. “Senko,” he barked, and his new Second stepped forward. “Lock him up.”
Keir scoffed as Senko approached. “You can’t be serious. She’s fine, Rade. Look at her.”
Rade turned to the rest of the Seven. “If he resists, use force.”
Keir gaped as he looked from Rade to the Seven, ultimately stopping on Velka. His jaw tightened. “I told you not to interfere.”
“And I didn’t,” she retorted as she reached his side. “The king did.” She helped Senko wrench Keir’s arms behind his back and pushed him forward.
But as he passed me, Keir looked me dead in the eye.
And grinned.
FORTY-EIGHTSAMIRA
Your cabin’s been marked,” Rade said. “The Shifters can’t protect you there. Come with me.” Without giving me a chance to ask what he meant by “marked,” he waved me after him, leading me straight to his room in the longhouse, where Sillia and Cano stood guard.
Sillia didn’t meet my eyes, Cano offered me an apologetic smile, but all I could see was Keir’s grin. It flashed on the backs of my lids with every blink.
He knew.
He must’ve tasted it in my blood. Or rather,nottasted it. He knew I was a fraud. He’d probably already told Velka as she’d led him away. They could be seconds from bursting into Rade’s room and telling him the truth. I was no demigod, no magical creature, no one of any importance. I had duped them all.
Rade guided me to sit on his sofa and then settled heavily beside me. His gaze was instantly on my neck. It was barely a scratch and didn’t even warrant a bandage. “Keir’s insolence has grown beyond what I imagined,” he fumed. “I am so sorry, Amunet. I should have seen it.” He reached out and ran his finger under the wound. His voice was a horrified whisper when he said, “He could’ve killed you.”
“But he didn’t,” I replied softly. “He barely hurt me at all.”
But Rade was right, he could have. Keir could’ve taken my head clean off, but he’d only left a graze that would heal in a day or two. I was lucky. For now.
“Rade,” I ventured, “what did you mean when you said my cabin was marked?”
He drew his hand away with a sigh. “The night of the Lunar Feast, Keir was more—out of control than usual. And he claimed your cabin. As a bear.” At my blank stare, he added, “As a bear claims its territory…”
I blinked. “You mean… you mean Keirpeedon my cabin?”
Rade cringed but nodded. “The other Shifters recognize his scent and struggle to go past it. Even Kaldfolk who aren’t Shifters can feel his claim. I can only handle it because my scent was already in your cabin, but even I can’t remain there very long. That’s why he was sent away the morning after. Shifters are not allowed to mark anyone without permission.”
I’d stayed in that cabin, surrounded by Keir’s scent without even knowing it. It was hard to name the emotion that coiled in my gut at that thought.
“When this is over tomorrow,” Rade said, “I…” He swallowed, but his face remained stern. “I will banish Keir to the Shroud.”
