Hiding a frown, I padded over to the side table and poured us water from a jug that kept drinks cool and fresh.
When I carried our glasses over and knelt on the bed to pass his, he tugged on the hem of the shirt. “I missed this.”
I made a sound of query as I took a long draught of water.
“I didn’t like the reason you were in my suite or how you felt while you were there, but I liked it when you wore my shirts.” He gave a crooked smile, then raised his cup as if to hide it. “You always left your scent on them… and on my pillow.”
I might’ve melted into my drink. Certainly, my heart overflowed.
Before I could say anything more, there was a knock at the door. The guards hadn’t bothered to knock any other time they’d entered our room—maybe they’d heard enough last night to make them wary.
“Enter,” Bastian called, and his wicked smirk should’ve warned me. But fae reactions were quicker than human ones, and the next thing I knew, he’d kicked off the blankets, revealing his very naked body, and snaked his arm around my waist. Somehow I was straddling him, and only the gods knew how I kept my drink from spilling.
The silver-haired guard entered. She didn’t blush, but her gaze trailed over my bare thigh, and she cleared her throat before telling us the princess had requested my company for breakfast.
Bastian grumbled and tugged me against him. “I was planning to have you for breakfast.”
I lit up at that promise, but reluctantly made myself presentable while the guard hovered in the doorway. Bastian didn’t make the slightest bit of effort to cover himself up, and remained sprawled in the bed watching me.
When I ducked to give him a kiss, he grabbed my arm and murmured in my ear, “Be safe, Kat.”
“That’s grown increasingly hard since meeting you, but I’ll try.” I flashed him a grin more cocky than I felt and pressed a kiss to his lips before leaving with my escort and manacles.
Last night, I’d let everything free, and now the iron made it as if there was nothing. No magic tingling on my skin. Nothing to pull close and tight. No risk of killing anyone or making them suffer that awful pain. Just a sickly feeling in my stomach.
I arrived at the private dining room, finding the princess and the man with celestial tattoos already seated. Unease tickling my spine, I joined them at a setting that included a pair of gloves.
“Let’s make a deal.” She smiled, but it was as stiff as her back.
“I’m your prisoner.” As the guard removed my manacles, I narrowed my eyes. “I’m sure I don’t have anything you want.”
“You have Bastian.”
The tickle became a flood of goosebumps. I wanted to get up and walk out. I wanted to go home—to our rooms in the palace, I realised with a jolt. But these were impossible things right now. There was no escape, only a careful treading through this situation—whatever it was exactly. “You’re the one who has him locked up. You don’t need any bargain.”
“He’s pledged his magic to you,” the tattooed man spoke up, voice hard and rough like granite, as though it hadn’t been used in a long while.
“How did you…？” I huffed, embers lighting in my gut. “That heaviness in the air. You’ve been reading my thoughts.”
Get out. I blasted those embers at him, making them flare
His flinching was my reward.
Good. I hoped it hurt. Dipping into my private thoughts—how dare he? They were mine. I had been used as a pawn in men’s games. My body had been touched and pulled around without my permission. My words had been moulded to serve and please others.
But my mind was my own.
Kaliban had touched it, but only when I’d been thinking so loudly it projected out or when I’d given him permission to remove troubling memories. I’d learned to keep my thoughts much quieter—this fae had gone digging to find them.
“That was a violation.” My leather gloves creaked as I fisted my hands tighter and tighter. Now I knew, I pulled tight and made my thoughts spiky—a thorny plant impossible to swallow.
And stay out.
Wincing, he rubbed his forehead and shared a glance with Sura.
She leant forward, interlacing her fingers. “I needed to know if you were open to the truth about my mother or as closed as the Serpent.”
“You could’ve asked,” I gritted out.
“And you’d have told me, would you?” She laughed.
Never reveal your heart.
“Probably not. Why?”
“There is something he needs to know. Something he’s not ready to hear, but he will be one day—he has to be. I need to plant that information close for when he’s ready.”
“You want to… tell me something so I can tell him?” It couldn’t be that simple.
“It’s vital this doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. I need to tell you but then lock the memory.” She exchanged a look with the tattooed man. “You won’t have access to it until certain conditions are met.”
I laughed. “You want me to let him poke around in my mind again?” This wasn’t the same as Kaliban taking memories I didn’t want. I’d helped him when he was at his most vulnerable. He’d worked with my memories to my benefit, only asking for errands in return. Over the past months, I’d grown to know him and even like him, despite his gruffness. He had never delved where he wasn’t welcome.
Jaw tightening, I stood. “I want breakfast back in my room. We’re done here.”
She let me reach the door, no doubt feeling safe thanks to our bargain.
“It will save his life.”
I stopped, about to turn the handle. “What do you mean?”
“You must know I can’t tell you the specifics. But this knowledge… when he has it, it will save his life. And if the wrong people find out, it will end it. That’s why I can’t risk you revealing it to anyone until the right time… but I also can’t risk him never finding out.”
I tried to swallow down the thick feeling in my throat like someone’s hand was around it. I turned and eyed her a long while. “You’re saying he’ll die if I don’t accept?”
She spread her hands. “I can’t know for sure, but it’s highly likely.”
Shit. She had to know I couldn’t risk that.
“And I get to name my terms for this bargain?”
“Within reason.”
Right now, there were three things I needed that she could help with. I raised one finger. “You let us go today, unharmed with all our belongings. Two, you give me some charm or object that contains iron.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “To block your… interesting power?” She nodded at my gloved hands. When I clenched my jaw and didn’t reply, she rolled her eyes. “I need to know, because if that’s your purpose, it needs to fit close to the skin, even if the iron doesn’t touch you directly, or else it won’t work.”
I couldn’t always keep my cards close to my chest. I nodded.
“I can get something made, but it won’t be ready until tomorrow.”
“Fine. We leave then. And”—I raised a third finger—“you give me the guard’s insignia patch when she comes back in.” I shot the tattooed man a glare. Stay out. Stay out. Stay out.