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“Your mate is safe,” he drawls. “We were merely talking and enjoying some heppaleaf. Poor thing needed it after what you’ve both put her through.”
“You were smoking with her?” I growl. Heppaleaf is a harmless plant, mainly smoked for its relaxing effect. But if he gave her too much and took advantage—
“Calm yourself, Lux,” Nem sighs as he takes Eden’s roll and disposes of it. “She needed it, trust me.”
I’m not sure I can trust that there is ever a good reason for another man to be giving my mate drugs, but she’s here and she’s safe so I don’t bother to argue. “Let’s go home now, Eden. I’ve had enough of this place.”
She stands up hesitantly while Nem makes for the door. But before he leaves, he claps me on the shoulder, whispering, “Your mate is a nice girl. Nice enough that I might have to steal one of the Twelve for myself if there’s any left come the spring. Though that may be unlikely. I hear they’re dropping like flies at the moment.”
My brow scrunches, but he’s gone before I can ask him what he means, and I don’t really care. Eden is my priority. As she steps towards me, I take her hand.
“He didn’t do anything to me,” she says sharply. “We spoke and he just listened. Don’t punish him for that.”
Castor chuckles. “We may have the power to hurt him, but we’d have a faerie army at our front door if we ever tried to ‘punish’ their Lord.”
“Their Lord?” Her eyes widen. “That was the ruler of the faeries?”
“Lord Nemesis. Our cousin.” I nod. “But we call him Nem. We’re good friends.” Not good enough to let him touch Eden, though. Had I discovered them doing anything other than smoking heppaleaf, he’d be a dead man, lord or not.
“But if he rules over all of the faeries, what was he doing here?” she stammers.
“You think so little of my tavern?” Castor teases.
I scoff. “This is not a tavern.”
“My staff serve drinks. There is a bar, tables, chairs.”
“What about the private sex rooms? Do normal taverns have those?”
His gaze glitters. “The fun ones do.”
I roll my eyes.
“Did you two manage to talk?” Eden asks between us. “I’d rather not leave until you can at least be civil around each other.”
“Then you may as well get comfortable,” I sigh. While Eden was gone, Castor tried to speak to me, but I shut him down quickly. I don’t care if we’ve shared women in the past. I never loved those women. Those women were never mated to me!
I can’t stand the way Castor looks at Eden. Even now. Like he owns a part of her. Like he wants so much more from her than just sex. I don’t know if I could ever share that side of her with him.
“Lux,” he tries again. “There are ways we can try to make this work between us.” He glances at Eden, who looks away with heated cheeks. “All three of us.”
I step up to him, as close as I can. “If you touch her again, I will hurt you. She is mine, Castor. Not yours.”
His glare turns vulnerable. “You’d hurt your own brother? After all we’ve been through?”
“I’d kill my own brother,” I snarl. Eden says something, but we both ignore her. My fists are clenched so tight, I’m sure they’re bleeding.
“I will fight back, Lux.” Castor’s tone darkens. “I haven’t these past weeks, but I will. If that’s what you want this to come to.”
I shake my head. “You cannot fight back against me. Your magic is useless against mine.”
“Is it?” he growls, and for some reason my breath catches. “I think you’re forgetting, brother, that water merely makes things wet, but fire burns and it burns fast.” Warning heat licks at my skin, but I don’t flinch.
“Try it.”
Eden pushes us apart before anyone can try anything. “Enough, please! You’re acting like beasts! Can we take this conversation inside at least? I’m freezing.”
Without thinking, I go to remove my cloak for her, but Castor beats me to it, pulling her against his side. I’m seconds from hitting him with a powerful jet of water when Eden takes my hand.
