“He came here to save you. He looked like he cared.”
I shrug, glancing down. “I’m a weapon he doesn’t want to lose.”
“I think there’s more.”
My eyes snap back up. “Don’t infer something that isn’t there. We’re both monsters.”
Her dark-blue gaze flicks over me, unnerving. “Monsters still mate.”
I choke on my own spit and then cough.
A faint smile curves her lips. “Why didn’t you just escape?”
“The rope.” That stupid, infuriating enchanted rope that led me to make a binding vow to stay with Beta Sinta until his—or my, if it comes first—dying day.
She looks incredulous. “You couldn’t find a way out?”
“It was a bloody good rope!”
Sighing, she drops the subject and reaches for my hand. “Of all the monsters chasing you, Cat, you could have been caught by worse.”
I look away from her. Colorful fabrics hang from the domed ceiling of Selena’s tent. I stare at them, thinking she’s right. I don’t usually like to be touched, but I leave my hand where it is. No one has held my hand in years. Except Beta Sinta. But that was different; he was dragging me around.
“Is that your pearl of wisdom for the day?” I ask.
“No, this is. Listen to your heart. You think it’s black. I don’t know everything you’ve been through, but I know enough to understand that your past filled you with hostility and hate. But you still laugh. You still love, and you protect the people you care about. You’re not who you think you are. You’re better, and you’re more.” Her powerful, fathomless gaze holds mine, and a prickly feeling crawls up my nose toward my eyes. “No matter what you think, your heart is still red and beating.” She squeezes my fingers. “Listen to it.”
I nod, resisting the urge to sniff.
As soon as Selena leaves, Desma and Aetos burst into the tent.
“Cat! You’re awake!” Desma falls on top of me, hugging me, the cot—everything. It would hurt if she didn’t weigh less than I do.
Aetos looms over us, huge and blue.
“Don’t you try that,” I warn.
He grins, and I reach up, drawing him down for a quick hug. Happiness bubbles inside me at seeing these two again.
“How are you?” I ask, smiling.
He pats my hand. “Better, now that you’re back.”
My smile falls, landing somewhere near my toes. “I can’t stay.”
“You have to!” Color erupts from Desma. Without thinking, I gather the magic she released. I let part of it go, and it shimmers around the tent, turning the warm air the color of jewels in the sun.
“You’re not leaving with him,” Aetos growls.
I think we all know who him is. “I have to. I gave my binding word.”
“That son of a Cyclops!” Aetos pounds his massive fist down on Selena’s vacated chair. It shatters like a toy made of twigs. “He made you promise before he brought you to Selena.”
I shake my head. “I promised before I got hurt.”
His mouth snaps shut. I’ve left Aetos speechless. Definitely a first.
“Why?” Desma asks.
“There was about to be a battle. I was magically tied up. Actually, I was tied to him. Neither of us could fight like that.”
“So if he untied you, you promised to stay with him?”
I nod, and Desma looks appalled by my stupidity. “You traded one shackle for another, much stronger one.”
“I know,” I say, disgusted. “I had a better chance of escaping the enchanted rope than my own binding word. But we’re alive, right?”
“We?” Desma asks pointedly.
My face heats. “They’re not that bad. And they might be better for the realm.” Unless having a Hoi Polloi Alpha makes Tarva and Fisa rain years of fire and monsters down on us.
“What do they have to do with Sinta?” Aetos asks.
As I explain who the Sintans are, my two best friends turn an interesting shade of yellow. Aetos looks a bit green, actually, given his blue tattoos.
“So, a strapping warlord, who is actually Beta Sinta, takes one look at you and decides he has to have you?” Desma asks.
“Strapping?” Aetos grumbles.
“Not as strapping as you, darling.” Desma smiles sweetly, and Aetos looks mollified, lowering his head to kiss her soundly on the lips.
My jaw goes slack. I’ve been waiting years for this. I go away for a month, and it happens without me? Life is not fair!