His stare lingers on my face. His eyes soften, and a small smile spreads over his lips. He enjoys looking at me. He likes my appearance. All my worrying was for nothing.
“The darkest day in the history of the Night Realm,” Astrid replies solemnly. “At least, since the young princes were cursed.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” I comment needlessly. It’s not like I expected a cake walk when we came back, but that’s pretty freaking ominous.
I’m a bit pissed Kirian neglected the kingdom while I was gone, but I can’t be too hard on him about it. If the situation were reversed, I’d have been just as much of a wreck as he was. Probably worse.
Drawn by the light of the fire, Kirian paces away from me to peer at the low flames around the logs. He straightens and his fingers bump over the rough texture of the rock walls. Studying the grooves and divots, he moves over to the kitchen area and pokes a few dishes around.
It’s cute and a little startling. I’m not used to seeing Kirian explore his surroundings with his eyes. As if he can sense me watching, those beautiful irises flit to me.
Despite Astrid’s warning hanging over our heads, he smiles. His gaze goes lower, pausing at my chest before moving down to my lower half. My nipples prick and I swallow hard.
Snapping her fingers between us, Astrid makes a slicing motion through the air. “Hello? Did you hear me? Danger. Death. Destruction.”
“Yeah.” Kirian squares his shoulders as he looks down at the witch who’s almost half his height. “I get it.”
“No, you don’t. Today, you’ll choose between right and wrong. You’ll choose between your people and your family. There will be a fracture in your kingdom, but whether or not you fix it is up to you.” She clicks her tongue as she goes over to her empty bowl. Pouting, she peers inside. “This is one of the rare occasions when I can’t see what’s coming. I don’t like it.”
“Explain further.” Kirian takes on a softer tone than the last time I heard him talking to Astrid, and the familiarity between them is endearing.
“I wish I could, my king.”
“What fracture?” I butt in, because I’m not willing to let her off that easy. “What about his family?”
Her honey-colored eyes dart to me. “If you’d stayed longer, I would’ve told you who your biggest danger is.”
Didn’t we already go over this? Yes, I was hasty and made a mistake. No need to rub it in my face, especially when she seems to think destiny wanted it this way in the first place.
I wait several seconds for her to elaborate. When she doesn’t, I sputter, “Well, who is it? Torius and Kai?”
“That would be preferable. An easy fix. But unfortunately, no.” Dramatic pause. “Princess Gia’s the one who wants you gone.”
Kirian’s body goes rigid as disbelief paints his features. “That can’t be.”
“It is.”
“Are you positive?”
Astrid nods sadly. “Yes.”
As we absorb the news, there’s a heavy silence. I can feel Kirian’s anger building. I remember days ago when I could physically feel his rage. Now that the bond is complete, the sensation is tenfold.
I clutch my burning throat and press a hand to my twisting stomach. I can barely breathe. Wheezing, I struggle to suck in air while Kirian fumes.
“I put her in charge of the kingdom in my absence. I—trusted her.” A string of profanity bursts from him as he grabs the back of his neck with both hands. “Why would she want to hurt Quinn?”
“Can you try to calm down?” I whisper, swaying on my feet as I swallow around the painful lump in my esophagus.
The unpleasant feeling recedes a little when Kirian’s emotions turn to concern.
He rushes over to me. “What’s wrong?”
I open my mouth to respond, but it’s difficult for me to talk.
Luckily, Astrid has an answer as she peers at us through her magnifying glass. “Amazing. Your bond is one of the strongest I’ve ever seen.” Her attention shifts to Kirian. “You need to control your temper. It seems to have a physical manifestation in Quinn.”
“You mean my anger hurts her?” Cupping my face, he gazes down at me with an apology in his eyes. “Will it always be this way?”
“Maybe,” Astrid replies. “Maybe not. She’ll probably get used to it after a while.”
Kirian pets my hair, soothing himself and me at the same time.
“It was a man who pushed me through the portal,” I supply, hoping Gia isn’t to blame. “I’m sure of it.”
“That just means she has accomplices.” Kirian takes a deep breath before asking Astrid, “My men? Gia made them turn from me?”
“Your friends were loyal to you. They still are. Gia set them up so you’d send them away and have less protection.”
Well. That information would’ve been helpful a long time ago. From the tic in Kirian’s jaw, I can tell he’s thinking the same thing and his rage starts to burn hotter again.
I have an idea. Reaching into his pocket, I grasp the marble. I press it to his palm and manipulate it under his thumb in a circular motion, demonstrating how I use it to calm my nerves.
It seems to work because the tightness in my gut unwinds as he rolls it around.
Hanging his head, Kirian admits, “I’ve played right into Gia’s games. At this point, she might’ve gained loyalty among our people. She could be building an army for all I know. Control is what she wanted all along, and I handed it to her on a silver platter.”
He looks at the table, and somehow I know he’s thinking about flipping it over. Probably wouldn’t be the best thing to wreck Astrid’s home after she’s done so much for us.
I take his hands in mine. Gazing up at his face, I place gentle kisses on his knuckles. Pain swims in his eyes as he looks back at me. His tumultuous emotions turn into a deep hurt, crashing into my heart with a different kind of pain.
It
