CHAPTER 27
THE A’KORI PALACE
Present Day
“Kiss me goodbye, mi’ajna.” He drops his lips to my temple as his fingers gently sweep along the length of my jaw.
I sit up straight, the covers falling from my chest, taking the thin strap off my shoulder when they do. He’s in a full set of leathers, two long, black-bladed swords strapped to his back and a thick cloak draped over his shoulders. My brow pinches in confusion and I ask, “Where are you going?”
“We received good intelligence this morning on where the rest of the La’tari crew might be hiding,” he explains.
I throw the covers off my legs and brush past him into the washroom as I say, “I’m coming with you.”
The male is going to get himself killed taking on two warships of Drakai. I don’t let myself think too much about who might be on those ships and the La’tari lives I’m likely to end before this is over.
“No. You are not,” he says, following after me.
I spit the last of the mint paste into the sink and rush for the closet to dress in my leathers.
“Shivaria, please. You have to stay here.”
My pants are tied and I’m securing my cuirass over a dark dress when he makes it into the room behind me. I reach for my boots, glaring at the male when he snatches them from my hand, throwing them on the floor behind him.
He cups my face, his breath hot on my cheek when he says, “Please, stay here.” My stomach twists at the plea in his voice. “For me, stay. I don’t want you anywhere near them.”
I am them.
I want to yell it. To make him understand just how horribly he has already underestimated the Drakai. There is every chance the information he received was leaked intentionally and he will be walking into a well-orchestrated trap.
But I can’t tell him. Not without admitting who I am. What I am.
What am I doing? Ladies don’t fight in wars. They don’t murder would-be assassins who enter their chambers in the night. They certainly don’t go running off after their generals to protect them.
I smooth the lines of my face and nod. “Of course. I’ll stay.”
“Don’t do that,” he says with a heavy sigh and shake of his head.
“What? You asked me to stay, and I’m saying I will.” I fail to keep the heat of my temper from my voice.
“And I’m glad, because you’ll be safer here. But don’t pretend to be something you’re not just to appease me. Stars help me, I love your fire. I love that you’d rather be by my side than wait idly by. But if you came, you’d only distract me from what I need to do.”
I know what he is trying to say, but it doesn’t make it any easier. So, I send him with a simple request. “Just be careful. Please.”
He drops a kiss on my temple when he says, “I have something for you.”
There’s a sparkle in his eyes when he slips two black daggers out from the sleeves of his leathers. I’ve never seen their likeness.
The blades are slimmer than the ones I had before. And while the obsidian I’d become accustomed to was a flawless black, easy to conceal in the dark, these are something else altogether.
I pluck them out of his palms, slowly rotating them in front of my face as I examine them.
The stone blades pull at the light in the room like they will draw the very flame inside and snuff us into darkness.
Curious, I glance at the dark blades strapped to his back and find that they share the strange quality.
“They are carved from feynstone,” he says.
“I thought feynstone was a myth?” The shock is clear in my voice.
“Rare, but not a myth.”
He takes the daggers from my hands, sliding them into the discrete sheaths sewn into the leather at my outer thighs. They practically disappear from sight, so clever is the crafting, and my face stretches in a wildly amused smile.
“You seem to know your way around a blade,” he says, “And I need you to be able to protect yourself. Even if I hope you’ll never have to do it again.”
I lift myself onto my toes and kiss the male, gripping his leathers and pulling his chest against mine.
His hand cups the base of my neck and his thumb strokes my jaw tenderly.
But it’s his smile that catches my breath when I draw back.
I’ve never seen the male smile like this before, and it pitches my stomach sideways, sending my heart into an offbeat rhythm.
My lips curve up in answer when I ask, “Why are you smiling like that?”
“It’s the first time you’ve kissed me,” he says.
I’m about to argue that I’ve kissed him many times when his meaning dawns on me. He’s kissed me before, and I’ve returned the affection. Never have I gone to him with my lips in offering, in wanting and desire.
I crane my neck and look up at him and say with a grin, “Then come back to me quickly, so I can do it again.”
He wraps my legs around his waist, pinning my back to the wall before I can take another breath. His mouth is on my neck, his hips rocking his length against my core. I don’t think when my hand rushes between us and I unlace his pants.
He sucks in a breath when my hand slides down his shaft. He sighs at the contact and his mouth travels up my throat, along my jaw, and onto my lips. I wrap a hand around his thickness, unable to close it fully as I stroke in a long, slow sweep, exploring the shape and length of his flesh.
Riesh bellows from the main room and Xeyvian’s body stills against me. We linger on the precipice of … something. Each unwilling to let this moment pass.
“I want you,” I whisper.
A fist pounds on the washroom door and a muscle ticks in the general’s jaw.
“When I return, mi’ajna. I will give you everything.”
I reluctantly loose my hand from him and he sets me on my feet.
There is a moment he hesitates, a moment he looks like he might tell his friend to go to haliel before taking me against the wall of the closet.
Maybe I wish he would. The moment passes too quickly when he vanishes out of the room, his dark cloak trailing behind him.
“The foc happened to you two?” Riah barks from the ring.
We make a pitiful pair today, Awri and I. She looks so tired, always tired, and today she’s worried as well.
“I heard the general left you in charge of babysitting,” I quip, leaping into the ring.
She snorts a laugh. “If that’s the case, then I think I envy the male his task.”
Awri balks at the female. “You’d rather be raiding an inn full of Drakai than spending the day with us?” she says, throwing a hand against her heart dramatically.
“Yes,” the lieutenant and I say in unison, and I can’t help but crack a grin.
“No offense,” I add when Awri glares at me.
Riah starts her warm-ups with Awri while I watch from the top rail of the fence.
“Did Riesh tell you how long they will be gone?” I ask.
“At least two days,” Awri says, heaving a deep breath around her words.
Two days locked up in the palace will feel like an eternity.
It’s also far too long to be alone with my thoughts, considering the way I’d left things with the general.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. The things Riah explained to me are frightening enough.
He promised me everything, and I hardly understand what that means.
No amount of sparring takes me from my thoughts today. Judging by the expression on my friend’s face she’s suffering a similar fate.
“Are you worried about Kishek?” I ask when we break for lunch.
“No. I mean, yes. But I’m also worried about Xey,” Awri admits.
I suppress a shiver, goosebumps springing up along my arms when I ask, “Why would you be worried about him?”
Despite all my trepidation this morning, there is no question that the general of A’kori should be able to handle himself. Or at least be smart enough to know when to walk away.
She chews on her bottom lip and shakes her head, then bites into her sandwich. Chews. Swallows. Bites again.
“Awri, tell me,” I demand.
“He’s strong,” she says, “and I know he’ll be fine. I just don’t like the idea of him going in there when his gift…”
I think I’m going to be sick, and I set down the cured meat I’d been eagerly indulging in when I ask pointedly, “What about his gift?”
I’ve never pressed any of them about their gifts, though, naturally, I’ve become more and more curious as to what exactly the general is capable of.
It only makes sense that a male leading an army will have an incredibly powerful offensive gift.
It is what I told myself upon his departure, to soothe the worry still lingering deep in my belly.
“You remember Niya?” she asks.
I only nod. I’m not sure how the female thinks there is any chance in haliel I could forget about the naiad who almost drowned me.
“She asked for a small part of his power in exchange for your life.” She gnaws her lower lip when she says it and I wonder if the general would approve of her sharing the knowledge.
My jaw goes slack as her words set in, and I suppress every concern attempting to infiltrate my mind. I’m not sure if I’m more worried or annoyed at the male for being so rash in making the deal with the fea.
“How small?” I ask.
“Does it matter?” she says.
“No,” I admit. “Will she return it?”
“Of course not.” She looks confused that I’ve even asked.
“There must be a way to get it back,” I insist, wondering if it would be wrong to suggest killing the naiad. Probably.
“Niya won’t give up that kind of power, and it was a fair bargain so there really isn’t anything that can be done,” Awri says.
“But she could choose to give it up?” I press.
“She could, but I can’t imagine what would tempt her. Naiads are protectors,” she says and I huff a disbelieving laugh. Awri continues, “She has no value for gold, no need for food, or alliances.”
“Can’t the king make her give it back?” I ask. “If he allows the fea to live in the forest you’d think he would have some power over them.”
It’s Riah’s turn to laugh. “No one has power over the fea.”
“It’s true,” Awri agrees, “And even if he did, the king would never force any fea to give up what they’d fairly obtained in a bargain.”