Page 111 of Veil of Night & Flames

I almost laugh, because crying isn’t an option.

Instead, I just shake my head. “I don’t know. But he’s the oldest, scariest, most powerful thing in five realms, and he says he loves me, and the Real is my home. He damn well better help us.”

“And if he won’t budge?”

There it is. The question under the whole thing.

I shrug. “Then he doesn’t get me.”

I hug myself. “I love him, Tia. I really do. But he fights for my world, or I walk. Because if he won’t do that…well, then he’s the enemy.”

I draw in a breath as Tia studies me, her expression a mix of pain and pride.

“Good,” she finally says. “Now go tell the bastard.”

“Hello? Were you listening? I’ve told him.”

“Well, tell him again. He’s obviously got a thick skull. Pound it into him. Hell, get him naked and withhold sex until he really listens to you.”

“I’m not sure it’ll do any good.”

“Well, I’m sure it won’t if you don’t try.”

And since I can’t argue with that, take a look around to make sure no one’s looking. And then, while my fury is still hot, I take a single step away from Tia, and into Adric’s realm.

Chapter

Thirty-Three

He’s alone in the throne room when I arrive.

No guards, no courtiers. Just Adric, standing in the middle of the room with his chin lifted as he looks up at the stained-glass image of a stunning black dragon. The realm’s five moons arc across the glass, and light streams through them, sending long bars of burnt-orange light down across the polished flagstone—reminiscent of the shadows thrown by prison bars.

I stay perfectly still, not wanting to disturb the moment. But my wanting doesn’t matter, because of course, he knows I’m there.

“You came back,” he whispers. He turns to me, and the first thing I notice is the exhaustion that seems to have seeped into every pore. “I thought I’d lost you forever,” he whispers. “Tell me that’s not true.”

I want to run into his arms and tell him that of course, it’s not, that of course, I’m still his, just as much as I’m Chase’s. But what I say is, “I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

He flinches as if I’d slapped him.

“Beloved—”

I hold up a hand and shake my head. “Hang on a sec, okay? “I need to say something before I lose my nerve.”

He goes still, but inclines his head, and I take that as my cue.

“Finn watched you in here once,” I tell him. “I’ve never had the chance to really see you do the court thing, but he thought it was fascinating.”

I almost laugh at the confusion I see on his face—clearly this isn’t the conversation he was expecting—but to his credit, he says only, “I am glad he found the event engaging.”

“He did. He said a man had come to you about his fields. In the east, I think, but it doesn’t matter. The point is that a blight was destroying his crop, and with winter coming, he had nothing to feed his workhorses—much less his family—and he couldn’t buy the foodstuffs because of his debts.”

He shakes his head. “I’m sorry. I do not recall that particular petitioner.”

“Well, even so, you treated him right. The crown paid his debts, and the stores provided enough grain and meat to feed his animals and his family.” I pause. “Finn said you fixed it just like that, and the thing he noticed was how happy you looked in doing it.”

“He and his family were mine to care for.”