Chapter 26
Sage
I swallowed back a gasp and fought to hide the trembling need now thrumming through me, my hands clenched at my sides.
“I thought Lord Rider was supposed to be my companion tonight,” I forced out through gritted teeth.
“Rider had business he needed to take care of, so we switched nights.” Talon’s smile deepened and he leaned forward in exaggerated interest, a move he’d done many times before that made my stomach twist in disgust.
And while my insides churned and my skin crawled, his allure burned hotter.
Why did it have to be him? Why couldn’t it have been Rider or Quill or even— I didn’t know. Anyone else. Someone whose magic didn’t make my body betray me, someone who clearly didn’t have some kind of agenda.
I tore my gaze away from him and hurried into my bedroom to change into the red dress that hid all of my sleeping mating marks.
I didn’t want to potentially color-match with someone, especially not Talon and especially not in the High Priestess’s throne room, so I continued to keep my choice of color to the same one I manifested in even though Lord Quill had provided me with a rainbow of choices.
Father! Talon was right there. In the sitting room. And the allure was already making it hard to breathe normally again. How was I supposed to get through an entire evening without giving myself away? Without doing something embarrassing or—
Stop. Just stop.
“Her Brilliance’s servants arrived a while ago,” Talon called from the sitting room. “I recommend being quick.”
My stomach twisted tighter. I didn’t want to think about how the High Priestess might be waiting on me and how angry that would make her. I had no way of knowing she wanted to see me until I manifested.
Except I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking as I dressed, or the shiver of trepidation and need that race down my spine as I stepped back into the sitting room determined not to look at Talon.
Don’t look at him.
Do. Not.
Except I couldn’t help it.
My gaze jerked to the couch. Talon sat there, that wickedly flirtatious smile already on his face, and his allure hit hard and hot and heavy. Heat flushed through me and sank low in my belly, throbbing and achy and I fought to breathe.
The afternoon had been bad enough with trying to spar while desire pulsed through me. Now I had to sit through a summons to the High Priestess with this burning under my skin, getting worse the longer I was near him.
Did he even know he was affecting me?
I tore my gaze away and focused on Sir West’s back as he moved toward the door.
Don’t look at Talon. Don’t think about him. Just follow West and get through this.
But the ache grew hotter, and I clenched my hands at my sides to stop them from shaking. I had to hide this, had to get through the evening without my body giving me away.
And I sure as hell couldn’t keep the High Priestess waiting any longer.
West turned and strode from the suite without a word. I forced myself to follow, my legs unsteady, my pulse racing as a new horrible thought hit me.
I hadn’t heard anything about the investigation into the attack, nothing from whoever was supposed to be investigating it or Rider, Talon, Quill, or West. I wasn’t sure if Her Brilliance would bother to inform me that the remaining men who’d escaped had been apprehended or not, but I had to assume no news meant they were still out there.
Which meant being in my suite was the safest place for me. Sure, I could assume that Crane and the other men couldn’t enter the Divine Residence, or that they’d given up in their quest to force mating bonds on me, but I had no guarantee of that.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Talon rise from the couch and march toward me, catching up just as I stepped into the hall.
“This way, my lady,” he said, offering me his arm in a courtly gesture.
A burning shiver raced down my spine. I stared at his forearm, the sculpted muscles hidden behind soft fabric, and at his calloused hand. My own hand wouldn’t move. If I touched him, the yearning would get worse, much worse than if I didn’t touch him.
Talon frowned.
Heat crept up my neck. Crap. I’d stared at his arm too long and now looked ridiculous, frozen in place like I’d never been offered a gentleman’s escort before.
Fighting the urge to steel my nerves with a sharp breath, I rested my hand on his arm. His warmth blazed through the fabric of his shirt straight into my palm. The heat spread up my arm and pooled low in my belly.
His thumb brushed across my knuckles, a deliberate, teasing stroke, before he led me down the hall with West’s heavy footsteps following behind us.
As we walked, I became aware of Talon’s attention. Not just his arm beneath my hand or the warmth radiating from his body, but his gaze, as if he couldn’t stop looking at me. It was like a physical presence, blazing across my cheek, making my pulse pick up.
The ache between my thighs throbbed hotter with every step. Each brush of my legs together sent another wave of need rippling through me, and I had to fight to keep my breathing steady. If Talon noticed, if he said something, I didn’t know what I’d do.
The hall opened into a wider corridor, although not nearly as wide as the main hall leading to the throne room.
Polished wood gleamed under crystal chandeliers, and fae stones embedded in the fixtures cast steady light across walls where stone blended seamlessly with living wood.
Intricate patterns swirled through the walls, and flowering vines curled along the edges of arched doorways, their white and pink blooms glowing with a soft light.
My gaze slid over it all without really seeing any of it. The beauty didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except the building fever inside me.
Two fae women in flowing silk and lace gowns passed us. Their gazes landed on Talon first — of course they did — then slid to me. One woman’s eyes narrowed, her expression cooling as she took in my hand on his arm, while the other woman’s attention jumped up to West behind me.
I ducked my head, acutely aware of how I must look — flushed and clinging to Talon’s arm like I couldn’t stand on my own. Which, at the moment, I wasn’t entirely sure I could.
My breathing turned shallow, my chest tight with the effort of holding myself together.
We passed two knights in gleaming armor. They nodded at West, and I barely noticed.
A tremor ran through me, and I tightened my grip on Talon’s arm to steady myself.
“Sage?” Talon murmured, his tone soft and filled with concern.
Words stuck in my throat. Everything in me was focused on not doing something stupid—not pressing closer to him, not making a sound that would give away exactly how much his touch affected me. The desire burned through every nerve, making my skin too tight, too hot.
What was wrong with me? The ache had been manageable in the suite… more or less. Annoying, but manageable. Now it consumed everything and I was just walking beside him. Was it his allure? Was it raging out of control?
Talon abruptly stopped and I stumbled to a halt beside him, my legs weak.
His frown deepened, then his pale eyes widened with realization. “Shit.”
He grabbed my arm and yanked me sideways into an alcove, pressing my back against the cool stone and pinning me with his hard body.
The hunger that had been building exploded, overwhelming me with lust, and I gasped, the sound too loud and too desperate in the small space.
No. This couldn’t be happening. Not here. I could hold myself together if he’d just give me space.
My hands came up between us, pressing flat against his chest. I should push him away. I knew I should. But my fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt instead, and I gazed into the mesmerizing swirl of his eyes.
They were clear and perfect and beautiful. There wasn’t a hint of darkness billowing in them or around him, not a whisper of smoky tendrils reaching for me.
It was just me and Talon, squeezed into the alcove, and the teasing, flirtatious man from moments ago had vanished.
In his place was someone sharp and serious, his gaze searching my face filled with a concern that I wanted — desperately wanted — to believe was true.
“Something’s wrong,” he stated as if he didn’t know his magic was driving me crazy.
Except was it?
I didn’t know if I’d be able to see his shadow like I did the last time if it was only giving off its allure and not… what? Actively seeking me out? But surely Talon would know his magic was turning me on. He wouldn’t need to say something was wrong.
I opened my mouth, but I still couldn’t force the words out. I couldn’t accuse him of using his allure on me because I wasn’t supposed to know about it.
But something was clearly happening and I could tell from the set of his jaw and the hard look in his eyes that he wasn’t going to let it go. I had to say something.
And the only something I could logically talk about were my desire spikes.
Hell, for all I knew his allure had set one off this afternoon, and I was now finally facing the consequences of it.
Surely Lord Quill had told him what had happened in the bedroom, how I’d jumped him overwhelmed with lust, and he’d understand.
“I ah— it’s a desire spike.” Father, this was embarrassing.
His frown deepened. “A desire spike?”
“Magister Zinnia warned me this might happen when she put my marks to sleep. She said I might experience… surges. You know, like what I experience the other night with Quill.”
Talon’s eyes went wide, his surprise written in every sculpted slope stating clearly that Quill hadn’t said anything.
Embarrassment burned across my cheeks and down my neck.
“You and—?” Talon asked.
Sir West grunted a confirmation, drawing my attention, and I realized he stood at the entrance to the alcove, his broad back mostly blocking us from view of anything walking past. Except he couldn’t completely cover everything and anyone really looking would see everything…
and my body desperately wanted everything from Talon at the moment.
Father, please kill me now.
“I need… relief.” The heat in my face burned hotter, almost as hot as the hunger blazing in my core, leaving only a small, desperate voice screaming in my head that I didn’t have time for this. The High Priestess was waiting for me, and I couldn’t afford to pay the price of upsetting her.
“All right,” Talon murmured as he pressed closer.
His hand trailed up my arm, fingers light but deliberate.
Even that simple touch made my core burn, my body begging for more.
Nothing about this felt like the flirtatious gestures in my suite.
The teasing smile had vanished. His jaw was tight, movements precise, like someone performing a task they’d done a hundred times before not because they wanted to, but because they had to.
Because his shadow needed to.
West shifted his weight, the soft scrape of his boots and clink of his armor reminding me that he was right there. He’d hear everything. Every gasp. Every moan. Every desperate sound I couldn’t hold back. Every shameful proof of how much I needed this.
My stomach twisted, and I wanted to shrink into the stone, disappear entirely, but there was nowhere to go and my body didn’t care about shame, only relief.