Threat
“Catla.”
Mm.
No.
“Cat.”
No way.
“Baby.”
Against my will, I swam out of sleep, opened my eyes, saw ice-blue satin sheets, spiky pearlescent lace, and shifting my eyeballs to the side and up, my betrothed sitting on the side of the bed, looking down at me, and I felt his hand warm on my hip.
“Wha?” I mumbled.
“Your father is here.”
I did a slow blink to chase away sleep, not to mention because I was shocked at this news, then I pushed up to an arm and repeated, fully this time, “What?”
“I’m sorry if you would have made a different decision, but as a male who will be a father, I decided he should know.”
“Know what?”
“Know what?” he parroted.
“Yes. What?”
His brow furrowed. “You do remember your life was threatened last night, don’t you?”
“Yes, but…you told Dad?”
“He and your mom are here.”
“Oh my gods, Tanyn!” I cried, forcing my legs out of the bedclothes he was sitting on, twisting around him and jumping to my feet only to round on him. “Have you lost your mind?”
“No,” he said blandly while standing.
“Dad’s going to lose it.”
“There’s no going to about it. He just shouted at me for fifteen minutes, demanding I inform him what I’m doing about this threat, without giving me an opening to actually tell him.”
I really had to learn to wake up earlier with this male in my life.
Argh!
I stomped across the vast space of the king’s bedroom in Berg Castle (to say this castle and the last were two polar opposites of each other would be an understatement) to the closet where I’d been unpacked by staff last night after I’d been deposited in this room, and after Tanyn left me there to go deal with things.
I found my gray cashmere robe and was shrugging it on when I spied Tanyn leaning in the doorframe.
And I was momentarily stunned out of my morning pique at the sight of how mega he looked wearing jeans—these less worn and faded, but they still fit perfectly—and another sweater—this one less thick and rustic, a lot more stylish, and definitely handsome—leaning against the doorframe.
“I’m glad you overpacked now, but your mom brought more of your clothes,” he remarked.
Hecate, deliver me.
I remembered my morning pique and resumed the fight we’d had last night on the jet, walking off the jet, walking into the castle, being shown to this very room.
“I’m going back to Nocturn.”
His eyes started going red. “The fuck you are.”
I tied the sash on my robe and threw out my arms. “We don’t even know who sent that comm!”
He didn’t come out of his lean, as in, he didn’t get out of the way of the door, he just crossed his arms on his chest before he said, “Allow me to educate you on what’s been happening while you were sleeping.”
I crossed my arms on my chest too and added a hip hitch so he wouldn’t miss my anger and frustration.
“No, we do not know who sent that text,” he stated. “But we do know it came from a comm unit in Nocturn.”
“Nocturn,” I cut in. “Not Abyssinia.”
“Nocturn is where you live, darling,” he drawled.
“So what?”
“Assassins can move between realms, Catla.”
“That wasn’t exactly a threat,” I told him something I’d told him a hundred times on the jet, walking off the jet, on our way to this very room. “It was a warning.”
“The warning of a…fucking…threat,” he fired back.
“I have a detail.”
“And so did Laura, when one of them was shot dead on the pavement while protecting her.”
Since this happened, and it had messed Laura (and Aleksei) all the way up, I clamped my mouth shut.
“My father’s body has already been exhumed and is being autopsied. A crew flew out first thing this morning to get Mom.”
I flinched, because I hated that for him, for Zyra and Mangold. I even hated it for that peaceful spot where she rested.
“Preliminary reports are already in,” he continued. “My father was drugged.”
I gawped. “Are you serious?”
“It wasn’t a lethal amount. It was the poison he ingested that they believe killed him.”
“Oh my gods,” I breathed.
“My mother’s body was covered in five inches of snow by the time Manny found her.
The circling lynx and a piece of her coat that the wind had exposed was how he found her.
In other words, there’d been snow, and there’s always wind, so if there was a struggle, by the time he got to her, any evidence of that was covered by the elements.
And as a matter of law, as a royal, even one deposed, she was autopsied by a doctor who was sent by order from this castle, which was under Arnaud’s command at that time. ”
He’d said it, and he didn’t even know what he’d said.
She’d gone out on foot, without her Palm.
Both she knew not to do when no one was on the island, or perhaps ever.
And one could say, the pens were located at least twice the distance away than that cove, so it was at least a two-hour hike.
“Was there any security there for her? Them? Before you became king?”
He shook his head.
He pushed away from the jamb but didn’t move from it. “You are here until this threat is cleared.”
“But, what about Mira’s plans?”
“Fuck Mira’s plans.”
“You can’t hide me in this castle, Tanyn. Beings will find out I’m here.”
“Fuck the beings too,” he bit. “You’re to be my wife. I’d prefer you live to attend our wedding, not to mention all that’s to come over the years after it.”
I wasn’t sure about the wife thing, but I definitely wanted to keep breathing.
Since I knew I’d get nowhere with this discussion, I moved on.
“I’m going to get lost in this farging ice mausoleum, so will you take me to my parents?” I requested.
As answer, he stepped out of the doorway.
He strolled, but his legs were so long, his stroll was fast, and I had to rush to keep up with him.
I did this partially to see my parents and set their minds at ease, partially because I had no choice because he had a punishing grip on my hand.
Hence me needing to say, “I’m all right, honey.”
His head jerked so he could look down at me, the lightning crashing in his gaze.
Well, there you go.
One could say he liked the endearment.
“See?” I asked.
He aimed his attention to where we were going, but his grip on my hand lessened.
We descended some stairs (made of ice, but they were warm under my bare feet—strange, but cool). And then we went down a hall (the floors there also made of ice, and all the walls were made of packed snow).
And finally, we entered a room where my father was pacing and my mother was sitting on a winter-white velvet couch with silver gilding at the edges. She was fretting.
Dad whirled and Mom popped up when I arrived.
“Catty!” Mom cried.
But Dad was staring at Tanyn and my linked hands.
Tanyn let me go, so when Mom pulled me into her arms, I wasn’t attached to him.
I held her to me and whispered, “I’m all right.”
“What more have you learned?” Dad barked at Tanyn.
Mom and I didn’t quite let go, we just moved so we were standing side by side with our arms around each other.
“Daddy, chill,” I said gently. “He’s been with me. He can’t have learned anything new.”
It was like I didn’t speak.
Because Dad threatened Tanyn with, “You are aware that if this threat is not neutralized, promptly, I’m reneging on the marriage contract.”
I stiffened.
Mom stiffened beside me.
And we did because the heat that started pouring off Tanyn was immense.
I was about to let her go to try to soothe him, but he spoke before I could even begin to do that.
“The compatibility trial was successful, so you have no standing to break the contract,” Tanyn growled.
And oh yes.
His eyes were burning red and locked on my dad.
“I’ll find standing,” Dad retorted (mm-hmm, he had red eyes too).
“And I’ll drag you so deeply through the magisterial system of Sky’s Edge, you’ll use every last Truelock mark to fight that battle, and you’ll still lose,” Tanyn shot back.
“The contract was signed in Night’s Fall.”
“A realm that does not support marriage contracts, which is why there’s a clause that states any arbitration or litigation will happen in Sky’s Edge,” Tanyn returned.
Oh boy.
Stymied, Dad seethed silently.
“Now,” Tanyn began a lot more calmly, “would you like to spend time with your daughter? Or would you like to go with me to find out if there’s anything new to learn?”
Dad glanced at me then grunted, “You,” to Tanyn.
“Let’s go,” Tanyn said, but came to me, caught my jaw in both hands, tipped my head back and dipped his to brush his lips against mine (I really shouldn’t have opened the door to touch, because even in the current situation, that felt too good).
When he was done doing that, he said, “I’ll send Jorda to you. Anything you need, she’ll see to it.”
Considering all that was going on, I decided not to argue or, say, share what I needed was to get dressed and go to work…in Night’s Fall.
I just took his hands on my jaw with me as I nodded.
He let me go and strode out.
After stopping briefly to plant a kiss on my cheek, Dad followed him.
I turned and looked at Mom.
She forced a bright expression on her face and asked with fake excitement, “So, how did the trial go? Tell me all about it!”
For a second, I just stared at her beloved face.
Then I burst out laughing.
This wasn’t amused laughter.
Oh no.
I was laughing hysterically.
I would learn that the hits were just going to keep coming.
My day went like this:
After I quit laughing, I dragged Mom up to Tanyn’s bedchamber so I could get ready for the day.
And once we got there, Mom looked around and exclaimed, “Oh, Catty! This space is so you!”
And the crap of that was, she was correct.
I didn’t confirm that.
I told her how the weekend went.
I was relatively forthcoming (the part I left out was how Tanyn was getting to me—oh, and that it was getting to the point I was desperate to have sex with the male).
Mom’s reactions veered wildly as I shared, and as they would do.
I saw tears in her eyes (whenever I talked about Darynda, her loss, or Riland’s cruelty).
I saw humor in her face (the story of me climbing the lynx pen fence).