I swallow hard as Roarke waves for the women to follow him, moving at a brisk pace along the stream and toward the point where the horses will almost be able to step over it.
“Oh, wow, I love you,” Seth says, pulling himself upright and me away from watching that woman ride off.
Bralls, what did he just say? His words echo through me, making my insides freeze. I love you.
His hand rests on my shoulder as he brushes a fake tear from his eye. Which is about when he notices that I’ve gone all tense. I let out a shaky breath and move to walk away, but it’s too late – I’ve already opened this can of worms.
“What did I say?” he asks, holding an arm out to block my path.
I stop, and he moves in close, crooking a finger under my chin and tilting my head.
“Don’t make this awkward,” I warn him.
“Hasn’t anybody ever told you they love you before?” he asks, a worried crease to his brow.
It’s not a look I like seeing on Seth. My constantly laughing and never serious Seth.
“My mother, thirteen years ago,” I tell him. Not adding that I can’t quite remember the sound of her voice. Or that, until Roarke threw me back into the memory of floating in the well, I couldn’t quite remember her face either.
He leans in, and I try to step back, but he firms his thumb on my chin and locks me in place.
“I love you,” he says, soft and slow, pausing just short of his lips brushing against mine. “I love the way you laugh. I love the twinkle you get when you mess with Pax. I love that you scare Killian, because nothing scares Killian. I love that you keep Roarke guessing, because that guy knows everything. I love the way you twist your shirt in your hand when you’re nervous and you bounce on the balls of your feet when you’re excited. I love the things you say – everything you say. I love you.”
I grip the front of his shirt, though I’m not sure why because clearly he’s not going anywhere right now. Then I twist his shirt in my hand and realize I just graduated from twisting my own shirt to twisting other people’s – because damn, I’m nervous right now.
Not the kind of nervous that comes from having to deal with the angry Brahman bull, or the kind that makes a person’s chest tight and makes it impossible to sleep. No, this is more like a feeling that this moment right here, right now, is perfect and I can’t possibly let one second of it pass me by.
“Thank you,” he says.
“Thank me? What for?” I manage.
“For letting me say that.”
Letting him? I don’t even have a response. Who in their right mind would stop him?
He laughs softly and lets go of my chin.
“Now we both need a distraction.” He turns and moves three whole steps along the stream before declaring, “Here will do. Let’s flip.”
Rynn mutters every step down the stream, through the bloody stream, and across to the cottage. Just general complaints about the stream, the weildron’s nest they were assigned to remove that turned out to be a cluster of seven nests, and the report of her brother’s early release from Tanakan Prison. And that last one is possibly the only reason I let her keep muttering.
Commander Rose and the FaunaSeed – not sure what her name is – dismount in unison and lead their horses through the narrowest portion of the stream. A stream that flows up the gentle hill, which is one of the lowest items on my list. Way down under what ripped Eydis’ chest open? How did those Sabers take such a powerful Master by surprise? What is the small stone Kitten found? How is she accessing our powers? And where in the bloody Aeons is the bloody Spring?
Teegan dismounts, and I try my best to ignore her – her desire washed over me the minute we spotted each other in the forest, and it hasn’t eased off. The sensation is akin to her resting her hand on my knee under the dinner table, sliding it higher, and suggesting all manner of play right under everyone’s noses. It’s taking everything in me not to allow the blood to pump to my crotch. It’s distracting. It’s dangerous. And I didn’t have a lot of energy left to spare in the first place.
My Allure might not be hunting it, or seeking it, but her SeductionSeed is at Elite level, and its power enough to wreak havoc with my world.
Kitten can’t become the target of misplaced power. My Seed might be respecting her mortal soul, but I’m not risking her life by assuming it will stay that way.
“She’s real,” the FaunaSeed is saying.
“I thought she was one of Crown Lithael’s rumors. He likes spreading rumors,” Rose responds. “A power play to make us think Commander Pax has lost his sanity.”
“Is she mortal, though?” Teegan asks.
“I don’t know what one looks like,” Rose says, sniffing the air in Kitten’s direction. “She has no power, I can feel that, but I’d have to touch her to find out if she’s a weak Silvari or a mortal.”
It still takes me a few seconds to realize that they’re actually talking about my Kitten.
I take two sharp steps forward and cut Rose off mid-stride. “Touch her, and you will die,” I growl.
Me – growl. Interesting.
Rose meets my gaze. I have always been able to see why Killian likes her. Curves and confidence are a deadly mix. She lifts one hand, delicately settling her fingers on her chin and over her lips.
“What if you just tell me, then? Who is she, and why is she here?” she asks.
“It’d be best to forget she even exists,” I almost bloody growl again.
She shakes her head, very slowly, very deliberately. Teegan stops to watch, but the other Sabers
