Chapter 23
Amos sat in his council chamber in the palace, drumming his fingers against the long table. His birthday was a week away, and he needed to leave for the border as soon as possible to reach Clover on time.
Rainer, Sariah, Ruth, and Lester talked among themselves about where Paul might be hiding. The snake had disappeared, along with four other highborn targets the day after Amos killed his father.
The only explanation was that Paul had figured out Amos the king was dead. Phillip had been in Amos’ room at Paul’s insistence, and when the king didn’t return the next morning, he must have realized his plan to have Amos killed for treason had failed.
Lester, who was an excellent strategist but preferred to observe rather than talk, finally spoke. “He knew there was evidence in your room to incriminate you in some way. Either he broke into your room and found the letters, took a lucky guess, or someone is feeding him information.”
Amos rubbed his forehead, trying to soothe the building ache. “I had the lock on my bedroom door made myself. The only two people with keys are Alice and me. Even my father had to break the door to get in.”
“Is it possible Alice lost her key or someone took it from her room?” Ruth asked.
Alice never used her key, but he doubted she would leave it somewhere it could be stolen unless someone knew exactly where to look. “I sent her to Dragon Village with Jennifer. I’ll write to her and ask if she still has it.”
The thought of someone going through his things scampered across Amos’ skin like a thousand tiny insects.
“If he did get his information from the letters in my room, then he has limited information. Only a select few were in my desk, and they didn’t speak of anything he’d care about other than Clover being my mate and living in the Human Kingdom. ”
His favorite letters of hers were when she told him about the mundane things that would bore anyone else. Amos craved a glimpse into her day-to-day life that he had never been a part of.
Sariah took a long drink of water, setting the glass down with a sharp thud. “I wrote Clover and told her to be hypervigilant. She’s stronger than Paul and has royal glamour. He’s no threat to her now that he doesn’t have the king’s protection.”
“I asked her to come home,” Amos said, more than a little annoyed he hadn’t heard back. “She might already be in Dragon Village.”
“Clover isn’t coming home yet.” Ruth spoke carefully, like she was handling a wild animal. “She plans to go with Amelia to the Mountain Kingdom so your sister isn’t in a foreign land with strangers. I thought you knew.”
Amos’ mind reeled. She hadn’t planned on coming home to him? He’d thought they’d travel to the Mountain Kingdom together. There had to be a misunderstanding. “She and I are going together.”
Ruth and Sariah exchanged a brief glance and Amos wanted to bang his fists on the table like an angry child.
“When was the last time you heard from her?” Ruth asked.
“Ten days ago.” He looked between the two women. “When did you?”
“You might want to check the post,” Sariah muttered. “We received a letter five days ago, just before we left.”
“If Isabella were in another kingdom, I’d check the post every day,” Rainer cut in, unhelpfully.
Amos grabbed his dagger and flung it at his cousin. “I’ve been a little busy putting out fires.”
Turned out, when you took over as king because you executed the old one, not everyone was happy. The old king was a tyrant, but that didn’t seem to matter. Amos didn’t want to address the kingdom again until he had his mate with him, so everyone would have to wait.
Rainer snagged the dagger out of the air by the hilt. “Then it’s better Clover travels with Rennick and Amelia. You can handle things here with no distractions before leaving.”
Amos ignored his cousin. Like hell was he going any longer than he had to without seeing her.
“Callum said Rennick plans to marry Amelia during his coronation celebration.” Amos picked up an envelope from the middle of the table and pulled out the invitation.
“This has all the information. Rainer, I want you and Isabella here, watching over the kingdom while we’re gone.
” Rainer and Isabella both had royal magic and could protect the kingdom from Paul just as well as Amos and Clover could.
“Ruth and Sariah,” he continued, “I want you to come with me to the Mountain Kingdom for extra protection.”
Lester shifted in his chair to lean forward. He hated traveling to the capital but he was a highly respected highborn. His backing of Amos had done wonders with the other highborns who weren’t terrible enough for the Hydra to kill but weren’t trustworthy enough to be brought into the fold.
“I know you want to see your sister,” the old man started, “but leaving the kingdom right now isn’t smart. As soon as Paul realizes you’re not here, he’ll attack.”
“He won’t know we’re gone,” Amos replied and pointed at Rainer. “He has the good fortune of getting to glamour himself to look like me.”
Rainer flipped him off.
TWENTY-FIFTH BIRTHDAY
Something warm and hard held Clover tightly, and the world rocked gently beneath her. Cool morning air brushed against her cheek—the cool morning air?
Clover forced her eyes open to find herself on a horse with a solid presence pressed against her back.
The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in her room at the boarding house. How the hell did she end up passed out on a horse with a stranger?
“I can feel your panic, little viper,” Amos’ smooth voice rumbled. Pieces slotted into place. Clover’s mind snapped to attention, and she tried to twist out of his hold. “Stop moving,” he chided. “You’ll make us both fall.”
She tilted her head back to glower at him. “Did you kidnap me?”
His handsome smile held no apology. “I did.”
“Amos,” she shrieked with outrage. “You can’t kidnap me because you feel like it.”
“It seems I can.” He kissed the top of her head like they were on a fun little adventure.
Fucking men. Clover surveyed herself. He’d put her in one of her wool dresses with a coat, but the skirt was torn in several places. “What did you do to my skirt?”
“I made it easier to put you in the saddle.”
She counted to ten to keep from screaming. “You ruined one of my favorite dresses to make it easier to kidnap me? Am I understanding that correctly?”
“It sounds bad when you say it like that,” Amos said, not sounding the least bit remorseful. “You won’t be needing that dress anymore anyway. I’ve already had your clothes from Vetta moved into our home.” Our home. Her heart flipped traitorously.
“Just because I’m moving home doesn’t mean I won’t need cold-weather clothing.
You can’t go around destroying people’s clothing.
I need dresses for the Mountain Kingdom.
” The Mountain Kingdom. She cursed. Rennick would come for Amelia soon.
“We have to go back to Friya,” Clover insisted, kicking herself for momentarily forgetting about her friend.
“Rennick is coming for your sister, and I need to be there.”
“Stop wiggling,” Amos grunted, pulling their horse to a stop.
“Let me down,” she ordered. “I don’t want her going alone.”
“She won’t be alone. She’ll be with her mate, as will you,” he replied, squeezing his arm tighter around her middle.
Clover tried to pinch his leg. “I swear to the gods, if you don’t take me back, I’ll make you regret it.”
Amos sighed heavily, as if she were the problem. He reached into his pocket for something. “See you in a bit, Viper Queen.” A cloth covered her mouth, and everything went black.
Amos sat against the headboard of his bed in the Dragon Village estate, waiting for his wife to wake.
Clover would be mad, but he refused to go any longer without her.
He knew from Callum that Rennick had been crowned at midnight last night so that he could leave as soon as possible to retrieve Amelia.
The new Mountain King wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
Amos wanted time alone with his mate before they traveled to the Mountain Kingdom to meet Amelia and Rennick. It had been too long since he’d had more than a couple of stolen nights with her. Once they returned, they’d be bogged down with responsibilities.
Clover made an incoherent noise and moved against him. He smiled to himself, hoping he’d have a fight on his hands when she woke up.
She tried to roll away, but he held her close until her eyes fluttered open.
“Happy Birthday, wife,” he purred.
The air stilled as her brain caught up, then she bolted upright and turned on him. His eyes dropped to her bare breasts, the sheet pooled at her waist. Following his eyes, she squawked with outrage and yanked the sheet to her chest.
“Where the fuck are my clothes, Amos?” She took in her surroundings. “And where are we?”
“We’re at our estate in Dragon Village, and I didn’t think you’d want to sleep in a dirty dress.”
He tried to kiss her, but she palmed his face. “You drugged me.”
“It’s a sleeping tonic,” he corrected her. “It’s not like I hit you over the head. I just helped you rest.”
Before she could reply, the door connecting his and Jennifer’s bedrooms opened. Clover went unnaturally still when she spotted the redhead entering his room without a care in the world.
He should have warned Clover Jennifer’s room connected to theirs, especially since he’d forgotten to lock the door. He also should have told Jennifer that his mate was, in fact, alive and here.
Jennifer took in the scene and narrowed her eyes at him. “You promised not to bring your whores into our house.”
Shit. He hadn’t told Jennifer their lie was done, either, and she was playing the part of scorned mate a little too well.