They might have respected my words and presence out of obligation to Ryker, but they didn’t trust them.
Not yet, at least.
“I was worried about her, too,” Dax said, but there was a cold edge to his words that made me turn. “After she was whisked away in a coffin.”
“Saved from Sanctua Sirena when her family was nowhere to be seen,” Ryker said with just as much bite.
“After the wedding was crashed byyourClan.”
“And your sacred, so-called impenetrable island was attacked by an unseen force.”
“Mrs. Thornbrew, you said something about dinner?” I interjected loudly.
“Yes,” she said, gaze jumping between Ryker and Dax. “Empty stomachs can make people cranky.”
I closed my eyes and sighed. With these two glowering at each other, this was going to be a long visit.
Chapter 7
Allie
“Awounded troll?” Ryker’s husky voice shook the heavy stillness in the formal dining room. “With a gash on its leg?”
“A dangerous one,” Dax said. He sat right at the middle of the massive table, swirling the dark liquid in his glass lazily, narrowed gaze fixed on him.
“Clean slice, obviously made by a blade. Intentional. Not to kill, but to maim. Trolls don’t have weapons like that, do they?” I asked, struggling not to fidget in my seat.
Right now, two forces were tearing me in different directions.
My past and my present were fighting each other with pointed looks and barbed hums over plates of deer stew, roasted pheasant, and winter berry pie.
Neither Dax nor Ryker had launched a full-on attack, but from the brisk, brutal way they each cut their meat and chewed, it was only a matter of time before old slights would be flung at each other–and I was caught right in the middle.
My presence was probably the only reason they weren’t ripping into each other–yet–but that did little to loosen the tightness in my chest.
The memories embedded in this room also didn’t help.
The last–and only–time I’d ever been in this room was when Ryker and I had negotiated the marriage contract–which had ended with him devouring my lips and weaving his hands through my hair, pulling with enough force at the strands to drive me wild.
Now we were seated at opposite ends of the table, too many candle holders standing between us, their flames dancing in tune with the heat radiating from the fireplace, and we had company.
Not enough, in my opinion.
Nadya had wanted to join us, but Geryll had felt the friction bubbling between Dax and Ryker and had persuaded her not to.
Sitting here as a wary cushion between these two glowering wonders, I sort of wished I’d gone with them.
Even through the flames, the sight of Ryker reclining in his chair, freshly bathed and delectable, did nothing to steady me.
My mind betrayed me with thoughts I should not be imagining while in the same room as my cousin.
Treacherous glimpses of me crawling on top of the table toward Ryker.
Closing the blazing distance.
Him letting me.
Watching.
