Tobias
We reached our rooms hand in hand. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt this whole, this…hopeful. Tomorrow we would have a cure. Tomorrow, we could save Eva, and everyone else who was fighting to survive in the hospital wing.
Quinn was optimistic that once the magic blocking effects of the virus were negated, any damage it caused would be treatable. Her hope was that once that fog was eradicated, those infected would simply remember once their brains had a chance to heal.
Yael smirked as we entered the outdoor dining area.
The nightly wards I set around my room should have blocked the noise we made last night, but she wasn’t stupid.
Especially not when she had no doubt noticed Quinn’s empty bed this morning.
Rivan and Pari, however, barely reacted—apparently too busy having a staring contest from opposite sides of the balcony.
Pari leaned back against the opposite pillar from Rivan, one foot casually propped up against it.
The muscles in Rivan’s arms flexed, his jaw tightening.
Pari’s mouth stretched in a languid, catlike smile.
Quinn bounced on the balls of her feet. “Tomorrow we should have a cure.”
The effect of her words was instantaneous. All three rushed over to us, Yael lifting Quinn off her feet in her excitement, and I felt a faint tinge of jealousy I hadn’t been the one to spin her around instead.
“Assuming there are no unforeseen effects, we should be able to give it to Eva and the rest of the souls being treated in the Enclave tomorrow,” Quinn added.
“Then Marin should be able to wake both Bash and Eva from their coma.” She grinned at Yael.
“I already messaged her the good news. I’ll administer Eva’s myself while Dolion takes care of the others. ”
For once, I was looking forward to returning to Morehaven. After Eva was safe, maybe this would be my chance to try again and be the king that Soleara deserved, with Quinn at my side.
A crease formed between Rivan’s brows as he looked between us. “And you’re sure no one else knows about this?”
He was right to be worried, but I nodded. “Dolion only told Queen Sariyah the news, so it should stay contained—and no one has access to his lab except the four of us.”
“He said she’ll join us tomorrow to help with the Enclave’s infected,” Quinn said happily, though I heard the slight note of apprehension.
“Once Silvius learns of this, he’ll retaliate,” Pari said pointedly as she glared at Rivan. “Which means we need to get ahead of him for once.”
Rivan crossed his arms. “Your lead is, at best, a distraction…and at worst, a trap.”
“Did you have a better idea?” Pari scowled at him. “If you still want to waste time by starting in the buildings nearest to the tunnels we’ve already checked for clues, we can. In the meantime, I’ll find what we need to finish this once and for all.”
“We can’t just target some of the most prominent names in this city without—”
“—that’s exactly why I said I’ll—”
Quinn stepped between them. “What exactly is the issue?”
She turned her stare to Yael who raised her hands in a plaintive ‘leave me out of it’.
“While Yael and I have been slogging through the underground tunnels, searching for any sign of Silvius, Pari has been visiting the town gossip,” Rivan grumbled.
Pari rolled her eyes. “My contact has been compiling a list of everyone who bent the knee to Aviel, and therefore everyone who might be helping Silvius. If I can get proof of who’s still loyal to him, and determine who’s feeding him information, then we can cut him off at the knees.”
I had known Pari long enough to know exactly how clever she was. If Rivan couldn’t recognize that, it was his loss.
Giving him a slow once-over to make my allegiance clear, I turned back to her. “And this lead?”
“Someone interested in switching sides,” Pari said shortly.
“She was led astray by someone she trusted and now she’s scared for her children.
Once word spread throughout Mayim about the virus and the innocent lives it claimed, she finally understood the threat Silvius posed.
I think I can convince her to help us if we promise to keep her children safe from harm. ”
“Then do it,” I said over Rivan’s protest. “I trust your instincts. Our top priority is capturing Silvius before he retaliates and hurts anyone else. There’s no telling what he’ll do once the cure ruins his plans for revenge.”
I barely heard Rivan’s rebuttal as Quinn smiled at me, murmuring under her breath, “That may be the first time I’ve ever had to urge to say, ‘yes, Your Majesty’.”
She snorted at the look on my face.
“Don’t you dare,” I muttered, careful to keep my voice low as I leaned in, whispering against her ear, “But if you have an urge to get on your knees for me later, I won’t complain.”
Quinn’s blush was so enticing I had to stop myself from leaning in to taste it.
“It’s not your intuition I’m concerned about,” Rivan said loudly, he and Pari now nose to nose.
“Oh really?” She crossed her arms, glaring up at him. “You’re the one who keeps getting in my way during fights like I’m completely unable to fend for myself.”
“It—that’s not why—” Rivan spluttered.
Pari’s eyes flickered with frustration and more than a hint of hurt. “And now you don’t even trust my instincts about a solid lead.”
“It’s not about trust,” Rivan said, raising a hand like he was about to reach for her before he thought better of it. “It’s about you getting hurt. If this is a trap—”
“Then I’ll take care of myself,” Pari said coldly. “I’ve managed this far without you.”
I glanced at Quinn, unsure if we should leave and let them argue privately.
Pari angrily started loading her plate, stabbing a knife into a boiled potato so hard it split in two.
Yael had already started eating, obviously used to their bickering.
Quinn looked between Rivan and Quinn with something calculating in her expression.
“Please,” Rivan said softly. “This isn’t a judgement against you—”
“You judged me and my people during our ride to Adronix, and you’re judging me now,” Pari hissed. “Or did you think I forgot your insinuation that us Solearans could’ve stopped Aviel sooner had we not hidden up north?”
Rivan blanched, going completely still. “I’m not sure what you overheard, but if that’s why you have a grudge against me—”
“A grudge implies I care about you at all,” Pari seethed, squeezing a fresh roll so hard she flattened it.
“If you’re referencing the conversation that I think you are from the ride to Adronix, you should know that what I said was rooted in a moment of frustration,” Rivan pleaded, his voice desperate. “I’m sorry—”
“Do you think any of us were happy about biding our time in our mountain as Aviel hunted down anyone who tried to speak against him?” My stomach dropped at the raw emotion in Pari’s voice.
“Do you think we weren’t doing all we could while the rest of the realm went about their lives thinking everything was fine?
That I wasn’t risking my life every single day as we tried to find a way to defeat Aviel without breaking apart the magic keeping our entire kingdom and our current High Queen safe from him? ”
Rivan looked stricken. “Pari, is that why you never showed up that night? Before the final battle, when I asked you to…” He trailed off, looking around as if he had just remembered he had an audience.
Quinn’s mouth dropped wide open. Pari merely shrugged before finishing off her wine.
“I’m going to go get ready, and then I’m chasing down this lead whether you decide to join or not,” Pari said dismissively. She glanced at Yael, who got to her feet even as she shoved one last bite of food into her mouth.
Rivan stepped in front of Pari as she started toward her room. “Of course, I’m going with you.”
Pari didn’t even look at him as she sidestepped him, walked to her room, and slammed the door behind her.
?
Rivan didn’t say another word, only stared at Pari’s closed door before disappearing into his own.
Quinn leaned forward, whispering to Yael, “Did you know?”
Yael shook her head. “Only that something was off, considering neither tends to act like this. I’ve known Rivan since we were children, and I’ve only met a handful of people that have been able to get under his skin like her.
” She glanced over at the closed doors. “They seemed to get along well enough during the ride to Adronix…but I should’ve realized there was something unfinished between them. ”
Quinn nodded even as a yawn overtook her. “If you need help tonight…”
Yael thankfully shook her head before I could object. “You need to rest and recuperate for tomorrow. We’ve got this.”
“Time for bed,” I agreed, clearing Quinn’s plate along with mine. “They’ll do their jobs and we’ll do ours. And that includes you sleeping enough for the magic you used today to fully regenerate.”
Quinn nodded drowsily, her lack of retort telling me exactly how exhausted she really was.
I followed her into her room, not caring what Yael thought.
We were both too tired to do more than hold each other, anyway, though I nearly forgot that when she slipped into a black lace nightgown that might as well have been a shirt.
She crawled onto the bed, revealing the curve of her ass as I hungrily followed her progress.
I wanted to bend her over like she had been earlier and show her exactly how much I needed her.
But she needed sleep, especially after last night. In a battle between what I wanted and what she needed, the war had already been won—I chose her, every time.
Quinn extended her hand to me as she burrowed beneath the covers, the casualness of the gesture winding me.
I obeyed the silent summons, drawn like a sailor to a siren’s call as I joined her in bed.
My mind whirred as she nonchalantly tucked herself into my side, then closed her eyes with a deep sigh.
I needed to tell her exactly what she was to me—and what we were to each other.
There was no way she didn’t already suspect with how brilliant she was.
The way we responded to each other wasn’t natural, and the way I needed her?
That desire was so all-encompassing that it was all I could do not to act on it again.
It was more than lust, more than trust and friendship.
My world revolved around her. It always had.
Whether I deserved her love or not, I owed her my honesty.
Especially now that I had finally given in to what felt inevitable.
We owed it to each other to talk about if this was something she truly wanted—not when it couldn’t be undone.
But already, her breathing had slowed into the heavy cadence of sleep.
I held her closer. She was warmth and life and everything that made it worth living. Even in that dungeon, when I had tucked her away like a secret, she had given me the will to live. Then she had breathed life back into me every time I tried to return to the mental cells of my own making.
And it struck me how rarely I had needed to return to that prison of late, the one where I locked away my fears. Not with Quinn reminding me I could face them.
Careful not to wake her, I reached over to turn off the light. She stirred, then settled the moment I returned to her side.
I would tell her tomorrow, once she finally had a chance to breathe.
But I couldn’t resist the urge to brush my lips against her brow. She snuggled closer in her sleep, her curls tickling my chin as I whispered, “I love you.”