Chapter 22
Huntyr
Kaia is curled on the edge of my bed, licking her paw lazily and ignoring me. She’s been ignoring me for what’s felt like hours.
Which is fine.
I’m preoccupied anyway.
I have been all day.
We didn’t have training today because today has been reserved for something called the Bonding Procession, which requires Derian to spend one-on-one time with each contestant. Apparently, it’s to allow him to better get to know his future bride. Whoever she may be.
So Kaia and I have been sitting in this tiny room all day, waiting for the Fae bastard to decide to sweep me off my feet for a romantic escapade.
I gag at the thought.
Still, the time alone has been helpful. It’s given me plenty of time for scheming.
King Luceron’s impending arrival is a strike of luck. The inclusion of Fae in the Conclave has made my victory less certain, but if I can manage to still win then I’ll have both the Fae King and Prince within reach. What better revenge could there be than wiping out two key members of the monarchy?
“You’re not going to kill the King,” Kaia chastises in my mind, her voice filled with impatience.
I glare at her from where I’m crouched by the dresser, sharpening each blade in the chest of weapons. “Do you doubt my abilities?”
She looks at me, her ears flicking. “I doubt your resolve.”
“You don’t understand.” If she knew how much suffering my kingdom had experienced at the hands of the Fae, if she knew about the nightmares that have haunted me for my entire life, then she would know that absolutely nothing is going to stop me from plunging my blade through the King's heart.
For myself and for every single Mortal who has ever suffered at the hands of a Fae.
“I understand more than you think.” Her voice is exasperated.
My grip on the blade in my hand tightens, irritation curling in my gut at her dismissal.
“This need for vengeance is beneath you. You’ve been distracted all day.”
“I have not been distracted,” I protest. I’ve spent the day exercising, sharpening weapons, and creating plans. Those are all incredibly useful ways to pass the time. “I wisely used my day to devise a rather brilliant plan for once Luceron arrives.”
She raises that feline brow at me. “If you insist.”
“You don’t believe me.”
“You may claim whatever you want, but your mind is no secret to me. You’ve spent far more time today thinking about the king’s brother.”
I’ve grown rather attached to her since the trial, but I don’t think I’ll ever be happy with her constantly listening to my thoughts. “I was thinking about killing his brother.”
A chuckle echoes through my head. “Yes. You thought about killing him. Then, you thought about what he was doing with the other women. Then, you thought about bedding him. Then, you thought about killing him again. Your mind is an endless circle that leaves me dizzy.”
I’m just about to tell her off when a sudden awareness falls over me, a warmth deep in my bones, just before a knock sounds at the door. Kaia doesn’t even bother to get up.
“What if that was an attacker?” I point out as she begins lazily licking her paws.
“Then I would trust that you could use your very plentiful skills to handle them.”
Rolling my eyes, I stand, just as he knocks at the door again. Of course Derian is incapable of showing patience.
“What exactly is the point of this bond?” I ask her.
“I am your companion. I will fight by your side, until one of us leaves this realm, but I am not a common guard dog. I will not take care of problems you can easily manage on your own.”
Fair enough.
I open the door, ready to greet him with an attitude, only to suddenly lose any ability to speak clearly.
Fuck, he looks good.
He’s obviously always been attractive. And I’ll admit, the fighting leathers do add a certain appeal.
But somehow this is even worse. My gaze trails over him, tracking the loose, dark shirt, with the sleeves rolled up over his forearms. He leans against the doorframe with a careless smirk.
His dark eyes are heated, promising all sorts of wicked—
I need to snap myself out of this attraction before it becomes a serious problem. It’s already become too much of a distraction.
“Nice of you to finally show up,” I spit out. “Have a fun day with all your other girlfriends?”
“Good job snapping out of it.” Kaia’s voice rings in my head.
“Shut up,” I hiss back at her.
It’s late. The sun went down hours ago. I was just starting to think I was going to luck out and not have to go through with this ridiculous ceremonial outing.
“No, you weren’t.”
I glare at her over my shoulder. “Would you quit it?”
Derian’s eyes sparkle as his lips quirk up. “Aw, were you missing me?”
“Hardly.”
He tilts his head, the small motion pulling him closer towards me. His leather scent falls over me in an intoxicating rush that leaves my head dizzy.
And my lower stomach clenching in anticipation.
When did my body become so traitorous?
This is simply an artifact of general longing. It’s just been too long since I last laid with a man. Derian is reasonably attractive and close enough that he’s the target of pent up energy. It has nothing to do with him.
“Really? You sound like you were waiting around all day thinking about me.”
“You sound like a Fae bastard who can’t get over this obsession you have with yourself.”
He laughs, the sound surprisingly genuine, and damn if I don’t kind of like the sound of it. Before I know it, his hand snakes out and grabs mine, pulling me forward. “Come on, I have something special planned for you.”
“What does that mean?” I stumble over the threshold, hating the tingle of energy that surges through my palm.
“You don’t strike me as a ‘flowers and picnics’ kind of girl.”
Well that’s… perceptive. I suppose.
I glance back at Kaia, who still lays lazily on the bed, her head resting on her front paws and her eyes growing heavy.
“You’re not coming?”
She glances between Derian and I. “I have no need to spend my evening watching you two salivate over each other.”
I tense. I had assumed Kaia would come. If she doesn’t, I’m going to be left alone with the Fae prince and this incredibly inconvenient desire for him.
“And what if there’s danger?” I practically whine.
“We just went over this.”
Still, I stare at her with wide eyes.
With a heavy sigh, she rises from the bed and prowls forward, tail flicking as she positions herself between us. She bares her teeth, releasing a low, warning snarl as she levels her eyes at him.
Derian holds up a hand in mock surrender. “Bring her home safely. Got it.”
She doesn’t move.
Doesn’t even blink.
“Can you talk to him the way you talk to me?” I wonder.
She turns back to the bed, tail flicking from side to side as she does. “No. But sometimes words are not necessary to send a message. The prince is aware I will feast on his entrails if harm comes to you. Now go so I can finally sleep without your girlish thoughts keeping me up.”
I frown at her.
“Unless there’s another reason you long for my presence?”
I fight the urge to throw something at her, even as I hear her laughter echoing in my mind.
Feeling utterly defeated, I turn back to Derian, only to find him staring at me with an expression that looks like it borders the line between confusion and awe.
“Lead the way,” I tell him, beckoning us forward.
We ride out of the fortress into a small nearby town.
When we finally arrive, he throws himself off his horse, grabs my waist, and helps pull me from mine, a gesture that is neither needed nor wanted.
When I make that point very clear, though, he simply ignores me and takes my hand in his.
He leads me through the winding streets until we’re stepping into a tavern that’s nearly filled to the brim with people.
Not people.
Fae.
My hand twitches to the blade strapped to my hip, and I rest it atop the hilt as I scan the room quickly, clocking the Fae that have weapons strapped to them, assessing the nearest exits and calculating the overall number of people in the small room.
“Relax,” Derian whispers in my ear, putting a hand on the small of my back and guiding me towards a booth in the far corner of the room. “You’re perfectly safe with me.”
I don’t bother hiding when I roll my eyes. “You’re a Fae.”
I wouldn’t trust him if we were the last two souls alive.
“I knew you were starting to like me,” he teases, reaching up to squeeze my shoulders playfully as I begin walking through the room. The touch sends small shivers down my spine. “You just called me a Fae and not a Fae bastard.”
“It’s not too late to correct that.” But it most definitely is.
We sit on opposite ends of the booth, and even though he promised we were safe, I watch as he, too, assesses the room with the same careful precision as I did.
The tavern is rowdy, filled with sounds of laughter, clinking glasses, and fiddle music. The smell of ale and sweat lingers in the air, the temperature warm from too many bodies pressed together. It’s not entirely unlike some of the taverns I frequented back in Velia.
Those establishments were typically hubs for criminal activity.
They were places where brothels and gambling dens thrived, which meant they were invaluable resources for assassins.
Those were the places where I would be sent to trail a target.
And when the job was done, those were the places where Flannigan and I would go after particularly brutal assignments to drink away the memories.