Chapter Two
Does That Shadow Have Eyes?
“Two fit easily, but a third’s pushing it.” Duke’s voice carried from the other room.
“He can handle three,” Baden responded. “I betcha he can even take four.”
Confused—but very curious—I set down the spatula from where I’d been at the stove cooking dinner and poked my head around the corner. The two of them stood beside the bar of the main dining area. An area filled with the people closest to me: my men and my knights, who were also my men. Just not the ones I let see me naked.
“Um. What’s going on?”
“Well, if it isn’t our Thorn Prince.” Duke clapped me on the back and tugged me closer to his side. His red hair was pulled back with a leather strap, and he’d removed most of his armor, apart from his leather cuffs and the set of daggers on his belt. He pointed to a long table in the middle of the room where the others gathered around. “Callum and Quincy are havin’ a contest.”
“A contest?”
Baden nodded. “To see who can shove the most muffins into their mouth without swallowing.”
Callum and Quincy stared each other down, their cheeks puffed out like chipmunks with a mouth full of nuts. Both men had brown hair and eyes to match, but they couldn’t have looked more different. Callum was my cinnamon roll, with downturned eyes, long dark lashes, and a baby face, whereas Quincy had a few years on him and was more rugged in appearance, with scruff and a jagged scar cutting across the left side of his face.
Callum grabbed another muffin and, with his eyes still on his opponent, eased it into his mouth.
“I… why are they doing this?” I had brought out the platter for them to snack on while I cooked dinner, knowing they were hungry from a hard day’s training. The muffins were bigger than average too—they were big men with big appetites, after all.
“Why not?” Baden’s baby blues eyes gleamed with amusement. His blond hair was buzzed on the sides and a bit longer on top, reminding me of the high-and-tight style the Marines from my old life had worn. “The captain’s pissed though. Look at him.”
Pissed was putting it mildly. Maddox stood with his arms crossed and glared at the two of them. He was possessive about his muffins.
Briar pushed his glasses farther up his nose. “Join them if you think you can do better.”
“That’s not the point.” Maddox aimed that snarl at Briar. “Besides, I know I can do better.”
“Prove it.”
“I don’t have to prove a thing to you, physician.”
“Oh god, this is amazing.” I fought the giggle trying to work its way free.
I soon lost that battle.
Quincy coughed and dislodged the mushy bits of muffin from his mouth. That caused Callum to start laughing, resulting in another shower of chewed-up muffin all over the table.
“Such a waste,” Maddox said with a huff. “Damned idiots.”
“Sorry, Captain,” Callum and Quincy said in unison, straight-faced but barely keeping composure. Quincy had a fleck of muffin on his lip, and Callum had somehow gotten a few pieces in his hair. Their faces turned pink from holding in their laughs. One look at each other, though, and they became boys again, exploding into a fit of laughter.
Shaking his head, Maddox put his hands on his hips and tossed Briar a disbelieving stare. “Where have I gone wrong with them?”
“Let them have their fun.” Briar moved closer to Maddox. Their arms brushed together before the backs of their fingers did the same. “Lighthearted moments are needed. Now more than ever.”
Now more than ever? What was that supposed to mean? Had something happened they hadn’t told me about?
Maddox hadn’t said a word about the plan regarding the kingdom of Haran. Not even when I batted my eyelashes and baked him all of his favorite goodies.
King Silas—Haran’s monarch—had made a move against Bremloc by trying to abduct Prince Sawyer. Were the knights preparing for battle? Had a small force already been sent to Haran?
If war broke out, Maddox and the other knights I loved would be sent to battle.
The thought took the breath from my lungs.
I didn’t hear Lake approach, but I sensed him. The more our relationship deepened, the more I found myself able to pick up on those subtle changes in the air when he was near. I turned around just as he stepped through the doorway from the kitchen.
He halted in place and perked up. And gods help me, his head cocked with the action, making him look sexy and adorable at the same time. He wore a dark green shirt that fell open in the front, showing his toned chest and the dusting of silver hair on it. “You’re perhaps the only one I can no longer sneak up on.”
“Lucky me.” I reached for him and was rewarded by his warmth a second later. “I’m glad you came downstairs.”
“I wanted to finish helping you with dinner.” He pushed his face into my hair and hooked an arm around my waist. He’d helped me peel potatoes and chop the vegetables earlier but had dashed upstairs when the knights arrived.
Callum, Quincy, Duke, and Baden all knew about him, but he still kept a slight distance when they visited. Trust was hard for him, especially when it came to humans. Even more so, those humans being knights. His father had been murdered by knights when Lake was a kid, his only crime having been born a demi-wolf. But Lake had begun joining us for meals at least, which was a huge step for him.
The two of us returned to the kitchen.
“Clean this up,” Maddox’s voice boomed from behind us.
More laughter came from Callum and Quincy. Outside of that cottage, Maddox was their commanding officer. Their captain. But right then, rank didn’t matter. We were all friends.
Family.
“This smells delicious,” Lake said after lifting the lid on the massive pot on the stove. “I like the blend of seasoning you used. What did you call the dish… a wild boar roast?”
“Yep. In my old world, we had something called a pot roast. You can use beef or pork, and there’s always vegetables thrown in with it. Celery, carrots, and potatoes.”
Lake’s tail swished back and forth as he stirred the contents and placed the lid back on top. “Do you miss your old world?”
I had told the three of them about Lupin’s magical emporium sending me to Bremloc. Isekai’d, just like the main protagonist from an anime. Hell, I’d even gotten my own harem just like one too. But unlike in those stories, I didn’t fuck with my men’s emotions. There was no fighting or jealousy. We were all equals.
And we were happy.
“Not at all.” I meant the words to my core. “This is my home. I don’t want to be anywhere else.”
“Neither do I,” Lake said softly. “I never thought I’d find someone like you, Evan. Someone to see beyond appearances and see me .”
I remembered the story of the little fox from the children’s book I’d found in his room the first night I’d met him. The little fox had wanted friends, but no one had given him a chance. He’d been lonely, just like the wolf pup who’d grown up reading that story, feeling exactly the same and relating to the fox in a way that made my heart ache.
“I’ll always see you.” I touched his cheek. “Even when you try to hide.”
Affection swarmed in his purple eyes.
“All right,” a deeper voice said from the doorway. “You’ve had him long enough, wolf. It’s my turn.”
A few steps later, Maddox enfolded me in his arms and lifted me from the floor. I giggled as he buried his face in my neck and did a blowing motion that tickled. Very few people got to see this playful side of the brooding captain.
Briar leaned against the doorframe and smiled at us. When I reached out for him, that smile became even more tender, and he closed the distance between us. As his honeysuckle and magnolia scent tickled my nose, a feeling of peace came over me.
Once dinner was ready, we pushed tables together to make one big one and sat. The meal was far from quiet. Lively conversation, loud banter, and laughs filled the room as we ate. I loved it.
“Hudson got the piss knocked out of him.” Baden grabbed another roll of bread from the basket and tore into it, chewing as he spoke. “I nearly laughed my ass off when he fell backward in the dirt and banged himself in the head with the butt of his own sword.”
“He was boasting that he could best me in a match. I challenged his words,” Callum said with a self-satisfied smile. The cinnamon roll of a knight was fairly modest when it came to his skills with a sword. Unless someone got cocky and shit-talked him. Then, he had no trouble putting them in their place. “Now, he’ll think twice before opening that mouth of his.”
“Poor Hudson,” I said.
“He’s a foolish brute,” Duke added.
Hudson and I hadn’t started off on the best of terms. The first day I’d met him, he’d mistaken me for a trespasser and threatened me. And Maddox had almost murdered him for it. Hudson, the poor guy, had tried making up for that mistake in the months since then. He’d even been part of the party that had come to rescue me from the dark wood when Rowan kidnapped me.
Rowan.
The same spark I’d felt with my men prior to realizing they were one of my mates, I had felt with him too. But he couldn’t actually be one of the men destined to fall for me, right?
Rowan was dangerous. Unpredictable. The kind of guy who’d screw over anyone for a dime.
“Are you all right, love?”
I looked at Briar. “Hmm?”
Worry sparked behind his glasses. “You were staring off for quite a while, and you’ve barely touched your dinner.”
“I’m okay.” I tried extra hard for a smile, which normally came so easily for me. “Just have a lot on my mind, I guess. And I’m tired. The café was super busy again today.”
“Finish your dinner, and then I’ll run you a hot bath. It’ll help you unwind before bed.”
“I like baths,” I said. “Especially when you’re in the tub with me.”
The slight tension around Briar’s eyes smoothed. “If I’m in the tub with you, no rest will be had.”
Heat swarmed my veins. “I fail to see the problem.”
He chuckled and nodded to my bowl. “You need to eat.”
The words came out gently as opposed to demanding. Unlike Maddox, who often bossed me around like a total hard-ass. A hard-ass I loved though.
One who currently chewed his food with a smug gleam in his eyes as the knights discussed how tough he’d been on them during training lately.
After dinner, Briar and Lake gathered everyone’s plates and took them to the sink to wash. When I tried to help them clean up, I was scolded and told to go sit down. So there I was, sitting down like a good boy. Trying not to jump right back up and help anyway. I hated doing nothing while others were working.
Quincy challenged Baden to a game of cards. Apparently, losing the muffin-eating contest had urged him to try to win something that evening. And it was common knowledge that Baden sucked at poker. The guy couldn’t bluff to save his life.
“Deal me in.” Maddox pulled out a chair and joined them.
Quincy’s confidence crumbled away. “Y-yes, sir.”
Maddox smirked. Looked like Quincy would be going home that night with no wins.
I watched the first game before getting up at the start of the second. Maddox glanced up from his hand of cards, his brow arched.
“Just gonna get some fresh air,” I said before kissing him on the forehead. Even with him sitting and me standing, I didn’t have to bend down much to do it. Cursed small genes. However, being small and cute had its advantages. One of them being how it allowed Maddox to throw me over his shoulder and toss me around like a rag doll—both in and out of bed.
“Wait.” Maddox stood and retrieved the cloak he’d draped over the barstool earlier when coming home. He secured it around my shoulders. “Wear this. It’s chilly tonight.”
I rose up on my tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. “How chivalrous of you, my dear knight.”
He did that thing , then, where he stared at me in silence and brushed the backs of his knuckles along my jaw. Maddox was a man of few words, but he always spoke the loudest when saying nothing at all. The action said he adored me. And fuck, I adored him too.
The cloak was kind of heavy, but I welcomed the weight of it as I headed toward the back of the cottage. It was like a weighted blanket that helped people with anxiety. As I passed the kitchen, voices snagged my attention, and I paused in the hall.
“Evan isn’t taking care of himself,” Briar said. “It worries me.”
I crept closer and peeked around the archway to see him and Lake at the sink. Lake washed the dishes, and Briar dried and put them away.
“I’ll make sure he rests more tomorrow,” Lake said. Suds covered his forearms as he scrubbed a bowl.
“I feel the only way you’ll manage that is by strapping him down.” Briar sighed and accepted a bowl from Lake. He dried it off and added it to the stack of others. “I know I’m not one to talk, seeing how I do the same, but he’s working too hard without giving his body time to rest. He’s lost weight too.”
I have? I glanced down at my belly and patted it once.
“Something’s weighing on his mind.” Lake’s voice had quieted. “I feel it.”
“Perhaps it’s the kidnapping?” Briar handed Lake a rag to dry his hands. “Evan says he’s fine, but I don’t think he truly dealt with it. He did what he does best and put on a smile so we wouldn’t worry about him. He could be throwing himself even more into his work as a distraction.”
Was I doing that?
A lot had been on my mind. Rowan. Worrying about Prince Sawyer. War with Haran.
Yeah, I needed some fresh air.
As quietly as I could, I continued down the hall. Once outside, I took a deep breath and slowly released it, willing my lungs to work. The questions and worries were eating me alive. The railing beneath my hands helped ground me. Another inhale. Exhale.
The cold night was a prelude to winter, crisp and frigid but still with lingering notes of autumn. I focused on those notes. The smell of damp leaves and earth. Woodsmoke from the various lit hearths. Another scent mingled in the air.
Something… strangely familiar. Sweet with a trace of pepper and smokiness. Like black cardamom.
The back of my neck prickled as I swept a gaze along the dark trees behind the cottage. On impulse, I lifted a hand to my necklace: the protection stone my men had made for me. Briar had infused the white gem with protective magic to ward off attacks. Lake had carved the wood that encased the stone, and it hung on a leather strap that had been taken from a piece of Maddox’s armor. The necklace symbolized their love. A love that protected me wherever I went.
One moment passed, then another.
Just as I was about to write the whole thing off as me being paranoid, movement stirred from my peripherals, and the scent of peppery sweetness intensified. I snapped my head in that direction. The shadows seemed darker than normal. Denser. Then, within those shadows, a shine of gold. Two orbs of dark topaz reflected in the thick cloak of darkness.
Eyes.
A tiny yelp sprang from my lips as I shuffled back.
“Hello again, little treasure.”
That voice. The nickname.
“R-Rowan?”
“The one and only.” He stepped from the shadows. Dark auburn hair fell past his neck and had been pulled to one side, held in place by a golden cuff. He stood only an inch or so taller than me but carried himself with the confidence of a man twice his size. A long dagger was sheathed at his hip, but I knew he kept more concealed in his boots and another strapped to his thigh.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. Well, squeaked. It happened when I was nervous. One of my endearing qualities.
“Do I need a reason to come and see you?” Rowan stopped at the foot of the porch and rested his arm on the railing.
“Considering you kidnapped me once, yes.”
“Oh, how you wound me.”
“Yeah, that smirk says you’re awfully beat up about it.” I calculated the distance between us, not liking my chances of escape. The porch was only two steps high, so he could definitely reach me before my clumsy feet made it to the back door.
“Stop trying to plan your escape,” Rowan casually said. He moved to the first step, sliding his hand along the rail with his slow approach. “Though, it’d be entertaining to watch you trip over yourself in your haste.”
“You said something similar after you kidnapped me.”
Rowan gave a dismissive flick of his hand. “That was a misunderstanding. I thought you were a prince. And did you just stomp your foot?” The corner of his mouth hitched up higher. “I’d ask you to do it again, but I’m not sure my heart could survive it.”
“I can stomp my foot on your face. Will that work?”
“So feisty,” he said with a tsk. He reached the top step and stood level with me. “I gotta say… I’m kind of into it.”
His close proximity stirred something in my chest. Something that had lain dormant in the almost two months we’d been apart. Fluttery and hot.
“I distinctly remember you saying you don’t like sweets,” I said, inwardly cursing the silly butterflies that should not be fluttering for this walking red flag. “So, you wouldn’t be into me. I’m sugary sweetness that’ll give you a cavity.”
“I’d have to taste you to be sure.” A slow smile formed on his mouth. “Because to me, little treasure, you seem like you’d be a mug of spiced rum.”
“Um. Spiced rum? I’m not much of a drinker. I take like three sips of wine and feel a buzz.”
“Well, I happen to enjoy drinking, and spiced rum is my favorite.” The humor in his expression was reflected in his slightly raspy tone. Humor and… something else.
“Are you comparing me to rum because too much of me and I’ll give you a headache and make you throw up?”
“No. I think you’d burn me. But I’d welcome that burn as I drank you in, indulging in your every drop of fire.” Rowan stopped in front of me. “You’d fill my veins and consume me, and gods, you’d make my head spin. You already do.”
I stayed rooted in place, confused by my own thoughts. A part of me wanted him to be closer. Wanted to feel his mouth on my skin again. “Why are you here, Rowan?”
“Why?” Rowan stood so close I felt his breath on my lips. “Because I couldn’t stay away any longer. I tried. Gods, how I tried. I left Bremloc and traveled to other cities. But just when I thought I got you out of my head, something would remind me of you and bring you right back.”
“Something reminded you of me?” I whispered, chest tight. “Like what?”
“This shade of green.” He ghosted his fingers beneath my left eye, still not touching me. “Apples.”
“Apples?”
Rowan’s smirk returned. “Like the demonic apple you ate in the dark wood. The one I had to hear you whine about for hours.”
“Hey, it wasn’t for hours. It was like five minutes. And it was justified whining. You can’t blame me for freaking out. I’m still afraid I’ll grow horns or something from eating it.”
He released a raspy chuckle and dropped his head to my shoulder. The physical contact created electric pulses in my bloodstream. “I missed you.”
Fuck. Those three words swept through me like a strong summer wind. Warm but intense. “I still have your dagger. It’s on my nightstand.”
We had been attacked by a horde of demons while in the dark wood, and he’d lent it to me. He’d said it was special to him and that he’d come to retrieve it someday. However, on the balcony at the autumn ball, he’d told me to keep it. Because he wanted me to have something to remember him by.
“Your nightstand?” He lifted his head and tossed me a crooked grin. “You should carry it with you. That’s the purpose of a dagger.”
My cheeks heated. “I’m, uh, not really good with pointy objects.”
“Thank the gods I returned this to you, then.” Rowan touched the stone around my neck. I half expected it to repel him, but it didn’t. Proof that he had no intentions of hurting me. “You’re like a defenseless baby rabbit.”
“It saved my life, you know. A Fenrir attacked me in the dark wood not long after you left. Before its teeth made contact, the thing went flying.”
“I know,” he said. “I saw you jump in front of that knight, risking your life to save his. Foolish.”
“I’d do it again too.” I touched my necklace. “Even without this.” Maddox. Briar. Lake. I’d sacrifice anything, including myself, to keep them safe.
Rowan scoffed. “This cloak…” He smoothed his hand over the clasp that held it in place. “Does it belong to him? The knight?”
“His name’s Maddox.”
“It’s too big for you.” He leaned in and brought his mouth close to my ear, his breath whispering over my skin as he exhaled. “Mine is a better fit. Remember that for when winter comes.”
The heat in my cheeks radiated down and flooded my veins. Any response I might’ve had died in my throat. My brain wouldn’t work.
“I should leave before your men come looking for you.” Rowan stared at my lips. “The wolf will catch my scent soon.”
My men.
After having been through this three times already, I was ninety-nine percent sure Rowan was one of them too. We were drawn together. Connected.
“So that’s it? You’re just going to pop in to say hi and then leave again?”
“You sound disappointed.” His cockiness returned, adding a spark of mischief back to his topaz eyes. “Have you fallen in love with me, little treasure?”
“No.” I sneered. “You’re an Evan-napping, dagger-wielding bandit with questionable motives and a bad-boy attitude. You’re basically a walking red flag. An army of red flags.”
The more I rambled, the more his smirk blossomed into an amused smile. “We’ve been over this before. I’m not a bandit. I’m simply a man who does what he has to in order to get by. And you forgot to mention my magic in that little description of my unfavorable attributes.”
“Because it’s not unfavorable.” I shifted my weight between my feet, finding the porch floor suddenly interesting. Anything to keep from meeting his eyes. “I actually like that about you.”
“You like my magic?”
I nodded.
“But it’s dark magic,” he said in a disbelieving tone. “You’ve seen me use it. You’ve seen how horrible it can be. Like when I used it on the crow demons in the dark wood.”
“The Shadow Crusher,” I said, recalling the name I’d given to the power. We had been surrounded by scary-as-hell demons, moments from probably dying, and he’d summoned shadows from the ground that had engulfed the crows and compressed them, leaving nothing behind but a few feathers and bone fragments. “It was amazing.”
“Anyone who’s ever learned about my magic has feared me because of it.” Rowan’s voice shook. “Yet, you call it amazing.”
“Because it is.”
Some people possessed no natural magic of their own and learned the craft through years of hard work and research. But others, like Rowan, had been born with the ability. Their magic, light or dark, was stronger because of it.
“You truly are a treasure unlike any other.” His lips brushed the base of my throat. “I envy the men who call you theirs.”
Before I could form a response, he leapt off the porch and stepped into the shadows. He turned to look back at me just as he faded from sight.
The door opened, and I whirled around to see Briar.
“Everything all right out here, love?”
“Y-Yeah.” I stepped into his arms, my emotions jumbled and confusing. “I just wanted some fresh air.”
He kissed the top of my hair. “Come on. Let’s get you inside where it’s warm.”
“Okay.”
Briar led me back into the cottage and upstairs to the bathroom. He ran hot water in the large claw-foot tub and added lavender-scented salt crystals. It was supposed to help me relax. And it did… for the most part. My sore muscles felt better, at least. My mind, however, was wired. Restless.
I couldn’t get Rowan’s expression out of my head. How sad he’d looked before leaving. The spot on my neck tingled where he’d kissed me.
Once freshly washed and tucked into bed, I focused on Maddox’s big body to my right and Briar’s to my left. Lake rested his head on my lap—his favorite place to sleep. His wolf ears twitched as the logs popped in the fireplace.
To make a relationship like ours work, no secrets could exist between us. Secrets created tension and doubt. Distrust.
“So, um. Rowan visited me tonight.”
“What?” Maddox growled. “When?”
“After dinner, when I went outside.”
A low growl came from Lake.
“Did he hurt you at all?” Briar asked, cupping my cheek. He’d taken off his glasses for bed but could see well enough without them. Everything was only a tad bit blurry for him.
“No. He just… wanted to see me.”
Briar looked at Maddox over my shoulder. They had a way of communicating without needing to say a single word.
Maddox skimmed his fingers along my jaw. “I don’t trust him.”
“Neither do I,” Briar added.
Lake glanced toward the window and growled low again, which I interpreted as him agreeing with them.
“Rowan touched me, and the necklace didn’t repel him,” I said. “That must mean something, right? It should at least tell you he doesn’t want to hurt me.”
“That only means he had no intentions of harming you in that moment,” Maddox responded. “Intentions can change. Men like Rowan would turn on anyone for the right price.”
“I have to agree with the captain.” Briar turned my face back to his. “If you recall, I can sense a person’s aura. It’s how I knew you were no threat the first day we met. Yet, Rowan is different. I sense darkness in him, Evan.”
“He can’t help it,” I said weakly. “He was born that way. But his actions have proven that he—”
“That he has no qualms about abducting someone if he has the chance to gain something from it,” Briar interjected. “You may not be a prince, but I’m sure there are still those who’d love to have you for their own and would be willing to pay a nice hunk of coin to do so.”
“They’d regret that once I started talking. They’d then pay Rowan to bring me right back home.”
I didn’t like them worrying about me. They didn’t know Rowan like I did. Not that I really knew him, but still.
After kidnapping me, he’d had moments of kindness, albeit brief. Moments where he’d protected me—and picked on me a lot too. After learning he’d captured the wrong person? He had tried doing the right thing and getting me the hell out of there before we became demon food.
He was misunderstood. Like one of those villains I used to swoon over in romance novels.
Lake kept his gaze on the window. His ears were angled straight back, a sign of his irritable state. “If he returns, I’ll rip out his throat.”
“I’ll help.” Maddox held me closer.
“As a physician, I took a vow not to harm anyone.” Briar weaved our fingers together. “However, love makes monsters of us all, I suppose, for I’d do nothing to stop either of you from tearing that thief apart.”
The three of them held a grudge against Rowan and wouldn’t be forgiving him anytime soon, if ever. Perhaps I was too forgiving. It was confusing. Logic pulled me in one direction, but that strange flutter in my belly when Rowan was near pulled me in the other.
We settled back down for bed, but my heart ached too much to sleep. As the wind picked up outside, sweeping through the trees and wailing low, I hoped Rowan had somewhere safe and warm to sleep for the night.