21. Chapter 21 #3
“Deyric…” Her entire body shook, but Emmaline pushed through.
“When he figured it out—” Her vision swam as she struggled to piece the memories together.
“I hadn’t even realized it yet. I thought I’d…
” Her stomach twisted. “I thought I’d done those things willingly.
” A shudder raked through her. “But he knew.” Her voice dropped to almost nothing. “When he saw me… he just knew.”
“He wanted to kill Cae—” Lara stopped abruptly when she saw Emmaline flinch at the name. Her ears flattened slightly before she corrected herself. “He wanted to kill that heap of excrement.”
“Yeah.” Emmaline rubbed a hand over her face before letting it drop to her lap. “But I couldn’t let him try. The Lord… he’s basically untouchable, a favorite among the nobles. Even if Deyric succeeded, he’d be executed.”
Cassidy’s face paled. “So you broke the bond? A true, Goddess-given mate bond?”
“I didn’t know that’s what I was doing when I did it.
” Her hands twisted in her lap. “He was in a rage, talking about how he should have done it years ago. How his sister had been… taken, like I was.” Her throat felt like it might close.
“I just wanted him to stop,” she whispered. “I wanted to keep him safe.”
Silence stretched between them.
Emmaline’s heart pounded, her skin prickling as she braced herself for something—judgment, disgust, maybe even anger. For what had happened with Caelith. For what she had done to Deyric. But neither Cassidy nor Lara said a word.
Lara simply sat, still as stone, as Cassidy’s fingers worked at her sides, her throat bobbing like she was trying to find the right words, but they never came.
Finally, Cassidy exhaled slowly, then turned on her heel and strode back into the kitchen. Without a word, she grabbed two large mugs from the shelf. This time, no delicate teacups, just solid, practical vessels built for something stronger.
She reached for the cabinet above the sink, pulling out a bottle of Firethorn Reserve—cheap, strong, and exactly the kind of thing Emmaline kept on hand for nights she didn’t want to remember.
A distilled spirit made from fermented thornberries, it had the unfortunate tendency to burn like hell on the way down, but at least it worked.
Cassidy poured the mugs full, glancing up just in time to catch Lara twitching her whiskers, her large, expectant eyes locked onto the bottle. Shrugging, Cassidy grabbed a wide mixing bowl from the shelf, filled it to the brim, and set it on the counter.
Lara gave a pleased huff before leaning in and taking an experimental lap.
“I feel like I’ve missed a lot this week.” Cassidy handed one of the mugs to Emmaline. “When did you meet Deyric? If you don’t mind talking about it.”
Emmaline let out a breath, the knot in her chest loosening just slightly. Finally. Something practical. Something she could answer.
“He’s…” she started, but Lara cut in.
“And what are we going to do about Caelith?” The Corgi licked at her bowl again, then pulled back, baring her teeth in a not-at-all friendly way. “Because he’s obviously not living out the week.”
Emmaline’s jaw fell open.
Cassidy lifted her mug and took a generous sip—only to choke, her shoulders jerking as she squeezed her eyes shut, coughing hard.
“Lyra’s right hook, Emmaline,” she wheezed, smacking her chest as if that might help.
“This is worse than the rotgut we smuggled into Rider School.” She squinted down at the mug, as if personally offended by its contents. “How do you drink this voluntarily?”
Lara gave an exaggerated sniff. “Featherweight,” she murmured between laps from her own bowl. “You always were the first to fold at Rider drinking nights.”
Cassidy shot her a look over the rim of her mug. “That’s a bold accusation coming from someone who outweighs me by two hundred pounds and still got sloshed off half a tankard of moon mead.”
Lara only flicked an ear, entirely unbothered.
“Anyway.” Setting the mug down, Cassidy licked her teeth.
“In an ironic turn of events, if something happened to that rotting waste of space, the mate laws will actually protect you this time.” She gave Emmaline a pointed look before adding, “And if House Greymane tries to retaliate anyway, Lara and I will be there to… dissuade them… violently.”
Emmaline stared at her. That was no small promise. A Rider and her Bonded committing to protect someone meant that every other Bonded pair in the Vale would back them up. The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind that Cassidy would offer such a thing. But they gave it freely.
Lara nodded, her sharp teeth flashing. “I’d still tear him to pieces regardless of the Law.”
Emmaline wanted to tell them to walk away, to let her handle it.
She didn’t want to put them at risk any more than she wanted Deyric to take revenge on her behalf.
But Cassidy and Lara were different, and it would be the same with Margo and Ursula once they found out.
They’d always looked out for each other.
If anyone came for one of them, they’d soon find themselves facing all four very pissed-off Fae women.
This wouldn’t be the first time they’d taken the Law into their own hands.
“So.” Cassidy leaned against the counter. “What’s our first step?”
Emmaline and Lara turned to each other. There was a single beat of silence. Then, at the exact same time—
“Call Ursula.”