The man was infuriating. Andright.
Shewasrunning. Shewasa coward.
Anna didn’t care. Her back was already at the door, her hand finding the handle. He smiled in challenge, daring her to stay.
She left—and ran straight into his mother.
“Ah,” Elenya said, steadying Anna by the shoulders.
She bowed her head, tapping her temple. “Lady Elenya. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s no matter.” A gentle smile softened her face. “You are just who I was coming to see.” Her gaze moved to David still standing in the doorway.
The teasing light disappeared from David’s eyes, and his entire demeanor iced over. He was frozen, unblinking at his mother.
“Oh?” Anna asked, trying her best not to wince at the hostility brewing between them.
Elenya’s minty green eyes, the same shade as her son’s, flitted back and forth between Anna and David. “Might you come with me? We’ve matters that need discussing.”
“No,” David said, voice sharper than Anna had ever heard it.
Elenya’s shoulders drooped. “Please, David. I was hoping you would bring her to me?—”
Oh.
This was about her.
Elenyaknew.
“Why the hell would I do that?” David asked.
She sighed. “This girl here… She’ll need our support.”
Anna would have panicked if she wasn’t so distracted by David. Something fractured inside his emotions, but it was far too complicated for Anna to interpret under these circumstances.
On impulse, she brushed a thumb over his hand. “Don’t be a coward,” she whispered. “Come with me. You said she could help.”
His gaze moved to hers, and he chuffed in disbelief.
“Please?”
He blinked, and behind the ice, she sensed a small shift. With a sigh, David dipped his chin in a stiff nod. He followed his mother, and Anna trailed along, nerves brewing.
Elenya took them to the Sunshine Room, warm with afternoon light, balcony doors held open to allow in a cool breeze. Several people sat about the room, chatting, but Elenya brought them past all that, into the hallway few dared breach.
Galadaine’s private study.
She unlocked the door to a small, well-used sanctum that reminded Anna quite candidly of David. She could picture him there at the desk, book in hand. It even smelled a bit like him—books and spice and a hint of mint.
The next room, the one in which Elenya invited them to sit, boasted stained-glass windows that threw rainbow panels across the furniture and floor.
After the three of them settled into chairs, Elenya looked at Anna. “Autumn tells me you’ve been blessed with Morgan’s magic.”
Blessedwas not the term Anna would have used, but words utterly failed her, so she nodded. As a reigning Sovereign, this woman was even more intimidating than her son. She had an air of authority that glimmered in the Luster entwining about her skin. Anna’s stomach coiled tight.
Don’t throw up!
“Were your parents also blessed?” Elenya asked.
