“And?”
Max shrugs. “Why? The Noire Rose is used in many dark spells. Why would she have need of it, if not for that?”
Mal’s sun-kissed face turns ashen with dread. I feel it in my gut.
I want to defend the woman—tell Max I know Aoife. I know the kindness that exists in her heart, her love of poetry and herbs. How under her, I learned so much of my magic and heritage.
But my mate rarely sees the bad in people. In fact, it’s the most infuriating part of her. She chooses to see the good. If she is having doubts about Aoife, I need to listen.
Exhaling, I nod. “We’ll keep an eye on that. Aoife is known for her uses of magic and potions.”
“It’s not just that.” Max grabs my hand, pulling me further from the group. I try to ignore how her touch makes me want to sway toward her. There’s a part—a rather large one—that wants to ignore everything, steal her away and make love to her until the Gods call us home.
“Tell me,” I ask softly, pulling her close. “Whatever your fears, we can face them.”
“I’ve done enough of that,” she mutters. “Aoife might have craftedthe potion, but I can’t help but think there was another reason for it. Perhaps not to save you, but for something else.”
“Then why else help?”
Max rubs her forehead. “I don’t know. I can’t figure it out. Something is telling me to be careful.” She touches her stomach. “If not for Baris and Fee feeling the same, I’d think I was jealous of her. How she knows you, how she seems to understand you in ways I don’t?—”
Gripping her throat, I pull her close, kissing her soft lips like they’ll save me from the wrath ofBelhimself. She is divinity, wrapped in the cloak of mortality, and I would fall to my knees daily if she allowed it.
As harshly I steal her mouth, I release her. Her words, her fears, are taken away with my tongue, swallowed to the blackest pits of my soul where they belong. They don’t belong with her.
“There is no one who knows me the way you do,” I reassure her. My words have bite and I wrap my arm around her waist. “Aoife is a family friend, who has seen me saddened with loss. Only you have seen me at my weakest, most vulnerable. You gave me blood in the forest when you barely knew me—you trusted me with your life. You’ve seen parts of my soul no one knows, and have never run from it. How can anyone compare to you?”
She bites her bottom lip and I have the insane urge to rip it away with my teeth.
“Do you truly mean that?”
“Kitten, for better or for worse, the Gods have tied me to you. They have blessed me with a bond so strong, a mate so impressive, that I can only stare in shock at my luck. There is no one else I’d rather at my side, in my heart or who to share my secrets with. You are all I’ve ever wanted in life.”
She reaches up, pressing a chaste kiss to my lips. I want to take her again, sink inside her so deeply, it’ll take lifetimes to be free of me. But now is not the time. Unfortunately.
“Do you trust me?”
“Completely,” I respond immediately. She smiles brightly.
“Then trust what I say. We cannot trust Aoife. She is planning something and we must be wary.”
Resting my forehead against hers, I sigh. Aoife is the most cunning of women I’ve had the pleasure of knowing—she probably is planning something.
Max chose to save me when all was lost. I can trust her in this.
“When we head back to the palace, we will be united,” I promise. “You will not have to worry about where I stand with you, kitten. You are half of my soul, I go where you go.”
“Where one goes,” she says, smirking.
“The other follows.”
Aoife walks around,inspecting me in the center of the golden throne. I’ve always hated this place. It’s too bright—too much. The wealth would better serve her people.
When I mentioned this as a young Fae, she claimed it was tradition and I dropped it. I think it was Aoife, enjoying the lavish lifestyle, using her kingdom’s need for familiarity as an excuse to keep the wealth.
As much as I am indebted to her, Aoife has always been a sharp woman. She favors Fenrir, though disregards Mal—of her two children, her youngest is more fit to rule than her oldest. She rarely leaves her kingdom and when she does, it is usually on the eve of something terrible.
And I can’t forget how she attacked my mate when they came to her for aid. The beast was on the outskirts, stalking a rabbit when I witnessed it. He attacked when he smelled Max’s blood, thinking he could finally have it.
