37. Rae
RAE
I woke splayed out like a starfish, face down. Maybe because I’d been absolutely exhausted from all yesterday had entailed, and maybe because the bed was so dang comfortable. Either way, I was sure I looked ridiculous.
As I rolled to my back, I felt the pillow peel from my face in a way that said I hadn’t moved during the night. I blinked as my gaze settled on a form curled on a very uncomfortable-looking sofa, like something out of the Victorian era.
It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the low light. The fact that there were no overt cues as to whether it was day or night was something I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to. But slowly, I was able to make out more about the sleeping form.
The position he was in made him look almost boyish, curled into himself to fit his big body on that ridiculous couch, his hands beneath his chin.
An image flashed in my mind: a young Kian snoozing in the afternoon sun by a creek after a swim, droplets of water clinging to his dark strands.
Then the image was gone, replaced by the reality of the man in front of me.
One who’d stayed all night on a very uncomfortable surface so I would feel safe.
Something shifted in my chest. It wasn’t a pleasant sensation.
It was more like some creature had invaded the area and was making itself at home.
“I can feel you staring,” Kian muttered without opening his eyes.
I started to deny it and then thought, Why bother? Instead, I kept staring. I traced the shaved side of Kian’s head with my gaze, taking in the designs there and the way the long strands on top cascaded down in disarray. “Maybe I like looking at you.”
The least I could do was give him the bold truth after all he’d given me last night.
And before. I’d expected to feel shame this morning.
To be embarrassed that I’d let him make me come apart.
And that it had all happened with the barest touch.
But I wasn’t. Instead, I felt emboldened.
Free. Even with everything that had happened.
Kian’s eyes fluttered open, those long, sooty lashes only accentuating the gut punch that looking into his violet eyes was. “You can stare at me anytime, Butterfly.”
I couldn’t have turned away then, even if I’d wanted to. Looking at Kian was like gazing at an impressionist painting of one of my favorite places. It wasn’t an exact replica, but something about it felt like home.
Some part of me recognized him. I might only have snatches of memory, but he still felt like a fundamental part of me. And more than that, he made me feel safe.
I pushed up in bed. To what? To go to him? Throw myself at him? Beg him for his hands and mouth, and not some damn washcloth and magic fingers?
I’d never know because the door swung open.
Torches lit around the space the moment Rhys entered the room. I fought the urge to jerk at the eruption of flames.
“Don’t freak her out,” Kian clipped as he pushed to sitting.
Rhys scowled. “She’s going to have to get used to it. Magic is everywhere.”
“It’s fine,” I said before the two of them could dissolve into an argument, or worse, a brawl. Now that I knew Rhys could behead people with the snap of his fingers, that was more of a concern than lighting candles. A shiver raced through me at the memory.
Rhys didn’t miss it, and his scowl deepened. “Are you…okay?”
I fought the urge to laugh. I knew it would come out as one of those hysterical ones. “On a scale of one to ten, how painful was it for you to ask that?”
Pax didn’t hold back his chuckle as he moved into the room. “Good question.”
Rhys slowly turned to him, a look of pure menace on his face. Pax only grinned at his… What were they to each other? Friends? Boss and employee? King and subject? There was so much I still needed to figure out.
“It might do you well to remember who holds your life in their hands,” Rhys snarled.
Pax merely shrugged. “No one else will put up with your surly ass. I think I’m safe.”
Rhys let out a huff. “I’m going to let Ayden kick your ass the next time he wants to.”
“He can try,” Pax muttered.
Rhys’s gaze slid back to me and then moved over my body. It wasn’t sexual in any way; it was assessing, as if he were checking for injuries or evidence of something. “You slept?”
I lifted a hand to my cheek, feeling the lines from the pillow. “A little too well, I think.”
“You’re welcome,” Kian said with a wink.
Rhys stilled, his body going rigid. Then, his nostrils flared as a muscle in his cheek began to flutter.
He couldn’t smell what had happened between Kian and me, could he? My cheeks flamed as I ducked my head. Kian only chuckled.
Without thinking, I pulled a pillow from the bed and hurled it at the cocky vampire. He only laughed harder as he caught it. “I’ll have a pillow fight with you any day, Butterfly.”
“You might regret that offer. I apparently zapped that dude last night with my blood, buddy.”
Everyone in the room froze, the only sounds the crackling of the lit torches.
“You. What?” Rhys demanded.
My gaze ping-ponged between the three of them. “Is that not normal witchy behavior?”
Pax cleared his throat. “No. No, it’s not.”
Kian crossed to the bed and lowered himself to the mattress, patting my leg through the blankets. “Tell us what happened.”
I worried the inside of my cheek as I looked between him and Rhys, trying to read beneath their expressions. They both wore masks, I realized. Rhys’s was one of annoyed anger; Kian’s, one of kind understanding. But they were both hiding things.
My fingers fisted in the blanket. “When he attacked me, at first, I was scared. Frozen. But then I was thinking about everything that had happened lately, and I got…angry. I felt it. It was like the anger was hot somehow. And then the man…he jerked backward. Said I zapped him.”
Kian and Rhys shared a look.
“What?” I demanded. “Tell me.”
Kian shook his head. “Luminaries have defensive magic for sure, but I’ve never heard of it being in their blood.”
“Of course I’m not even a normal witch,” I mumbled.
“I think we should move from my kingdom,” Rhys said, glancing at Pax with a meaningful look. “I’ve issued a warning, but they need time to come to terms with their future Queen.”
Pax sighed. “By a warning, he means he threw the dead body in the middle of the dance floor.”
I gaped at Rhys and then just shook my head. “Of course you did.”
“What?” Rhys asked as if he were completely innocent. “A message needed to be sent. Clearly. I can’t have my fated killed in my own damn castle.”
“I’m so sorry that my near murder was such a hit to your ego and status. I’ll try to do better next time,” I snapped.
Rhys glared at me. “You could learn how to protect yourself.” He turned to Pax. “I thought you said she was taking self-defense classes.”
Pax winced. “That was sort of an unmitigated disaster.”
Memories of my sprained ankle, black eye, and nearly broken arm flashed in my mind. “Guess I’m not meant for the world of vampires and witches. Better send me home.”
Rhys bared his teeth at me. It wasn’t as if his fangs were showing, but it still had me shoving back against the pillows.
“Trust me,” he growled. “If I could send you to another realm, I would. But it would end in your death and then mine. So I guess I’m stuck keeping you alive, sweetheart.”
My heart hammered against my ribs as blood roared in my ears. “Wait…our lives are linked?”
When Pax’s gaze dropped to his feet, I had my answer.
“I’m sorry.” I pressed my fingers to my temples, where a headache was gathering. “My life is tied to the biggest asshole vampire in existence? Everyone probably wants you dead.”
Perfect. Just perfect.