Chapter 26 Rae
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
RAE
It’s sometime later when a knock comes on the door and Arkin pokes his head inside. “Is it safe to enter?”
I startle. “Safe? We’re not doing anything—”
“Ow, my eyes. Put a shirt on, will you, Jai? I have no need to see your muscles first thing in the morning.”
“What’s wrong with my muscles?” Jai grumbles.
“They’re bigger than mine. They offend my male ego.”
“I’ll show you something bigger,” Jai grumbles some more, and I can’t help but snort, still draped over his chest, his arms around me.
“Humans.” Arkin shakes his head with a sigh. “They have no manners and no shame.”
“Where is Tru?” Jai makes no move to get up or let go of me.
“No idea. Come on, put some clothes on.”
Reluctantly, I uncurl from Jai’s arms and sit on the side of the bed, Jai’s jacket wrapped tightly around me.
I see Arkin taking that in, the cogs turning in his head. “So I did intrude,” he mutters, grinning. “Jai, you horny dog.”
“Shut up,” Jai grunts, sitting up beside me.
“So it’s not what it looks like?” Arkin’s gaze returns to me.
“Stop talking,” Jai growls, pushing hair out of his eyes. “Don’t be a bastard.”
“Really?” Arkin grins wider. “Rae—”
“You don’t get to chat with me or tease me,” I say coolly. “I don’t know if we’re friends, Arkin. Remember when you stopped me from leaving the garden, you and Tru?”
He blinks. “I beg your pardon?”
“When the king wanted to talk to me before the second trial?” I get up from the bed. “You and Tru stood guard at the enclosed garden and didn’t let me leave.”
“You are mistaken,” Arkin says, his grin fading. “That wasn’t us.”
“Yes, it was. I know your voices.”
“Ark?” Jai is frowning. “What is she talking about? Is it true?”
“You believe her over us?” When Jai doesn’t reply, Arkin’s shoulders slump. “You take her word over ours? You’ve known us since forever.”
“Not forever,” Jai says quietly. “Now talk.”
Arkin gives him a flat look. “Are you accusing me of something, Jai?”
“I don’t know. Are you guilty of something?” Jai stands, his considerable height and powerful presence sucking the air out of my room. “Tell me the truth.”
Arkin gives him a long look. “Fine, she is right, it was us that night. We are royal guards. If we were on duty, guarding the king, what’s it to you? What does the little human lady want from us?”
“The little human lady,” Jai growls, “would like to know on whose side you really are, as would I.”
Arkin steps forward, snarling in Jai’s face. Eddies of dust swirl around him. His hands clench into heavy fists. “If you don’t know who your allies are, then you’ve already lost.”
“I thought you were my allies.”
“Are you asking me again?”
“You have to admit, your behavior could be described as erratic,” Jai says.
“And yours as that of a moonstruck fool, but who cares, right?”
“Careful, Ark.”
“Or what? You’ll strangle me with your shadows? Call a drak down to bite my head off? Use your fists, perhaps? Do you want a brawl?”
“No, brother. I don’t want any of that.” Jai’s voice is deadly quiet. “I want to know why you prevented her from leaving the king’s presence, as she says. That’s all.”
“Because the king told her to stay put.”
“And what were the odds that you and Tru were standing guard right there, right then?”
“The odds are a matter of the Gods, brother. I have no power over them.”
“Ark…”
“By Zuma’s balls, careful what you’re doing, Jai. Infatuation is one thing. Accusing your best friends of treason quite another. You’ve lost your head. Remember who has always had your back when you needed it. Don’t break that trust.”
“This isn’t an infatuation. And I could tell you the same thing.” Jai is looking right into Arkin’s eyes.
And it’s Arkin who breaks the eye contact first, for what that’s worth.
Something is off here. Both seem to be telling the truth, but unlike with magic, lies are harder to detect.
I can’t tell, though the coincidence, as Jai said, is strange. He’s the one who knows these two men, has known them for a long time, and I thought he trusted them. Arkin’s hurt looks genuine.
Like Phaethon’s?
I shush the inner voice and wrap my arms around myself more securely.
“Just so you know, I was guarding the door while you two slept,” Arkin grinds out. “Had your back yet again. And I called for breakfast for you.”
He waves at someone, and a manservant with a covered tray enters my room. He deposits the tray on one of the low tables and uncovers it. Delicious aromas float over to me.
My stomach growls as the manservant bows and leaves the room.
Embarrassing.
Honestly, when was the last time I ate?
“See?” Arkin glares. “I’m looking out for you. Your lady would have perished of hunger, had I not taken measures.”
“Yeah, because calling for breakfast is more important than having my back when the king corners me,” I mutter.
Arkin takes two steps toward me. “I didn’t notice you being too discomfited that night in the king’s presence,” he snarls. “You let him touch your face, take your hand and put his mark on you willingly.”
I jerk back. “I was discomfited. I was trying to get out of there. And what was that I heard, Tru saying that Jai needs to be handled?”
His lips peel back. “You shut your mouth, or—”
Jai grabs him, hauls him away. “Don’t you fucking threaten her. Ever!”
“Fuck off, Jai. Take your fucking hands off me.” He shoves at Jai. “I ask you again: how are you placing a girl you barely know over us?”
“She’s not just a girl.”
Arkin gives a mirthless laugh. “Fine. I see where this is going. If you ever need me again, Jai, you can shove it up your ass. I was trying to keep her out of our plans, plans we made together, plans to change the world, plans that may be considered high treason, and you go and fuck the king’s new fiancée.
I won’t ask if you’re insane, but I will ask one last time: are you choosing her over us? ”
Oh, holy wights. This isn’t good.
“Jai,” I say, “wait…”
“I won’t choose,” Jai says. “I’ll never choose anyone over her.”
Right, I think and then his words sink in. What did he just say?
My mouth opens. Flaps a few times. I have no words.
Arkin doesn’t seem to have any, either. With one last dark look at Jai, he marches out of the room, leaving the door wide open.
“Jai,” I whisper, staring at the open door, my arms wrapped around me over my borrowed jacket. “He’s right. You can’t place me over your friends. You barely know me—”
“I know you better than the palm of my hand,” he says softly. “Better than I know my own heart. Better than I know myself.”
I turn around to face him. I watch his shadowed eyes.
“That night…” He grimaces. “You left to answer the king’s summons and I spent the evening fighting Phaethon for control over my body. I cut myself, drained blood. The king was supposed to bite me but he was with you. He was with you and I had no strength.”
“That’s why Phaethon was so strong during the trial,” I whisper, understanding dawning.
“What did the king tell you? How did he convince you to wear his mark?”
“He told me that he’s the boy I once knew. The Jackal.”
His mouth twists. “He’s a thief.”
“But he has the memories,” I whisper, still resisting. “He told me things only he could have known, but…” I press a hand against the pain in my chest. “If he—”
“Makhair. Listen. You have to come clean, tell me the truth. You told me you love the king, but… you care for me, don’t you?”
“Jai…”
“You saved my life in the arena yesterday.”
I shiver, remembering those tentacles dragging him down. “I did.”
“I felt you. The first time I saw you on that barge, I felt it. Did you feel me, too?”
I swallow hard. “How do you mean?”
He turns his gaze away. Frowns. “If you don’t feel it, then it doesn’t fucking matter.”
“Jai, I… I don’t love him. That was a mistake.” It’s hard to speak the words but it’s the truth. “If he’s the boy I once loved, then… one can fall out of love, it seems.”
His brows arch and color touches his cheeks. “Rae…”
“But you don’t believe that, do you? You said one can only ever love once.”
A smile breaks over his face, and I want to slap it away when he says, “I stand by that. It’s my only truth.”
“Then why are you doing this? Pushing your friends away over me? Asking me if I care for you?” Tell me, tell me… “Why, if you don’t care?”
He reaches for me, his smile widening. “Makhair, you know me, don’t you? That isn’t—”
“Lady Rae,” a male voice says, a familiar voice. The page boy blinks at me, then as if catching himself, he gives a deep bow. “The king requests your presence.”
“Godsdammit!” Jai’s shadows explode, rushing over the floor and walls. His eyes blaze with dark fire. “Can’t we have a moment’s peace to talk?”
“Jai!” His shadows curl around the page boy, but dissipate when I catch his hand. “You’re scaring him.”
“Rae, listen to me.” He grabs my face. “Look at me. Don’t you know me? My mate. I tried to keep away from you, tried to keep this to myself, but I fucking can’t. Even if my shadows hurt you. Even if my touch destroys.”
“Your shadows don’t hurt me,” I say.
He makes a wounded sound. “Rae…”
I’m staring at him, the whispers of suspicions in my mind rising in volume. He’s watching me with those deep, dark eyes and the colors are all wrong, but… but he looks like…
“My lady.” The page boy bows. “We really should get going.”
“Can’t you just go away?” Jai snarls.
The boy bows again, unperturbed. “I’m afraid not.”
“You know what? Fuck it. I’m coming with you,” Jai says.
The page boy frowns. “The king has requested that I take her alone—”
“Fuck that.” Jai grabs my shoulders. “Makhair, he will try to separate us, to convince you to love him. Beware.”
“Jai—”
“Take this.” He slips a hilt into my hand, handle-first. “It’s a dagger. Pass it through your belt. Use it to defend yourself if needed, if I’m not there.”
How can you not love a man who gives you daggers? I ask you. However… “I’m not going to kill the king, Jai,” I whisper. “Not until I’m sure what is going on. Talk to me.”