by Ravyn Fyre
He shook his head and snarled out a gruff refusal, crushing me to his chest. The one-word response was a bit alarming. His actions were almost feral and I was concerned he might snap. I smoothed my hands over his chest and acquiesced, leaning into him, letting him feel for himself that I was unharmed. I glanced over my shoulder and was relieved to see the guards give Selene some room to pick herself up off the floor, albeit delicately. At least she was moving.
When she raised her head, and bloodshot eyes stared back at me, I drew in a sharp breath. She looked horrible. I could hardly believe this was the same woman I met yesterday. I opened my mouth to apologize but stopped when she dropped to the floor in a low bow and blurted out an apology that made no sense. “Thank you, my lady, for your compassion and forgiveness. I am thankful I got to meet you finally and even more grateful I got here in time to save you.”
Pushing against Kalen, I hissed at him when he proved immovable. “Let me turn around, you big brute. I just want to face her. I’m not going anywhere.” Squirming in his arms, I managed to turn around. Blowing wisps of hair from my eyes, I studied the frail woman bowing before me with perplexity. Gone was our earlier rapport, nowhere to be found. She was acting as if we had never met.
I could feel her artistic gift at my fingertips, but a tingle of something foreign I couldn’t identify confused me. I waited for her to get up, and when she continued to kneel, it finally dawned on me, she was waiting for one of us to give her permission to stand. Knowing the Strix behind me was incapable of rational thought at the moment, I cringed, feeling uncomfortable in my new role as I told her it was okay to stand. “I thought we’d been through this before, Selene. There is no need for you to bow in my presence. Please get up so we can talk.”
Selene rose slowly with a look of gainsaying. “My lady, the woman you met earlier was not me. When I received the summons to report for duty as your maid, somebody ambushed me on the way. The person you met yesterday was a replica of me. We’ve never had the pleasure of meeting before.”
“Impossible! The only way into this corridor requires fingerprint analysis. Not to mention Rom should have been able to sense your approach and intercept you. Let’s not forget Kiso either. The second his brother felt your presence, he should have locked this place down! I’ll deal with the two of you later!” Kalen roared before turning to face Selene once more. “How did you get in here? My patience is wearing thin. Explain yourself!”
“I never saw who attacked me, but whoever it was, was a woman, and she was working with a doppelganger. I heard her tell the doppelganger as it was copying me to plant the cursed necklace and kill me after. I escaped before It came back. I knew the risk I took sneaking in here, but I headed this way as fast as I could once I was free. I used the secret passages to bypass the guards because I couldn’t risk the delay. Making my way in the dark was a hindrance I didn’t account for, but I was praying I wouldn’t be too late. I had to do everything in my power to stop them from killing you and destroying my good name.”
Kalen’s posture went rigid before he asked Selene in a chilling voice, “Who showed you the passageways? I only decided to add a maid last week.”
Kiso stepped forward and, with a shaky but loud voice, answered, “I showed her, my lord. I thought she should know how to help her charge if we were not around, my liege.”
“No reason to cover for me, Kiso. I can defend myself against this ogre better than you can. Especially when he’s not thinking clearly,” Tanen replied, stepping in front of my guard, patting him on the shoulder as he passed.
“Did you forget your place? I am the king! How could you betray me?”
“Then act like it! I showed her the passage the day you hired her, and I would do it again. The girl needed to be able to save herself and the life of your mate. If you were currently in your right mind, you would realize my supposed betrayal is why you are holding your Jade now. The real issue is the doppelganger. If what Selene says is true, then it could be impersonating anyone at the moment.”
A commotion in my room diverted my attention when General Jaelel flashed past the guards and announced, “There has been another murder, Lord Kalen. Your presence is required at once in the infirmary.”
A snarl had me snapping my head back to the man behind me. I expected to find Kalen on the brink of losing it, like I was, but was happy to see him lucid. So much drama with so little time to process was messing with my mind. His hold on me didn’t ease as he assessed the room methodically, looking at each of his guards before he bellowed out orders, “Jaelel, gather the council members. We must postpone the Trials. Rom and Kiso take Selene to see Praddix. She will determine if she speaks the truth. Tanen, follow me to my office.”
I opened my mouth to question his motives and shouldn’t have been surprised when he didn’t wait to see if they obeyed his orders before he flashed us away. On touch down, I scrambled out of his arms. I whirled around to give him a piece of my mind but stopped short at the look of fury on his face.
Chapter Eleven
I knew he wasn’t angry at me, but I was thankful when Tanen appeared milliseconds later, demanding action, “I hope you’ve come to your senses, my friend, because now is not the time to start losing your shit. Foul play is at work, and it's time you figure out who is responsible instead of getting your cock wet between the legs of your mate. No offense Jade.”
“None taken,” I answered automatically as I watched my mate approach a tall painting of a large sea creature to the left of his desk. The image was striking and so life-like, with a small lighthouse that seemed to strobe in the distance. I barely pulled my eyes away when Kalen looked over his shoulder with a devilish smile and replied. “I look forward to the day you find your mate and are forced to leave them when duty calls. Now apologize to Jade for your rudeness and help me summon Levi.”
The look of astonishment on Tanen’s face should have been a sign I was in for another surprise, but nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. Shaking his head in denial for a second as he considered his choices, he eventually dropped his head in respect before he replied with sincerity, “Sorry, Jade. I meant no disrespect. Please forgive me.”
“Apology accepted.”
Tanen nodded his head with acknowledgment before he turned to Kalen with a look of astonishment on his face, “Are you out of your mind? We barely escaped with our lives the last time you struck a deal with him. Not to mention, it took us forever to pay him off. Do you want to involve him? What are you going to promise him this time? Your firstborn?”
Kalen spun around and growled, “You go too far. I will stop at nothing to protect the woman in front of you, and if he can find the doppelganger before they have a chance to carry out their assassination, I will take that chance. No cost is too much in my eyes.”
Tanen shook his head with disappointment but sauntered forward anyway. “I hope we don’t regret this decision.”
“Hold up! This doesn’t sound good! Who the hell is Levi?” I asked, taking a step in their direction.
“An old-time acquaintance that has the power of true sight,” Kalen answered hesitantly before turning back towards the painting, signaling the end of the conversation.
“And that means what to me?” I asked in confusion, tapping my foot impatiently.
When he remained silent, I marched forward, tapped him on the shoulder, and waited for him to look at me before reiterating my question. “I know you have a lot going on AND probably aren’t used to explaining yourself to anyone, seeing as you are the king and all, but I asked you a question that I think deserves an answer.”
Kalen looked up at the ceiling like he was searching for the right answer before he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, deflating slightly in the process. Lowering his eyes, he caught my gaze before he answered, “True sight is a rare gift that detects magic of all types. The innate ability of a doppelganger tends to be hard to identify by even the best sorcerer. Levi will take the guesswork out of the e
quation and let us stop this coup d’état before it starts.”
“Sounds easy enough, but in my experience, nothing easy comes free of trouble. What aren’t you telling me?” My simple question had him cringing, which caused my woman's intuition alarm to fire on all cylinders. Cocking my head to the side, I furrowed my brow and tried a different approach. Shrugging my shoulders, I acted nonchalant when I said, “Guess it doesn’t matter. Summon Levi, and I’ll just ask him myself.”
The statement had a profound impact. Kalen grasped both of my arms, catching me off guard when he looked down into my eyes and pleaded, “I’ll explain everything to you tonight. Just please don’t initiate a conversation with him. He has a way of talking in riddles, and sometimes you find yourself caught in the middle, promising things you had no idea you promised.”
I studied his face for any signs that he was just telling me what I wanted to hear. When it appeared he was genuine, I nodded my acceptance and said, “I won’t start a conversation, but I expect a full explanation of what you are getting us into, or you’ll find yourself in the doghouse.”
Kalen’s anxiety melted with my agreement, and without missing a beat, he replied with a sly grin, “On the assumption, I would not like the doghouse, I agree to your terms.” Without waiting for an affirmation, he kissed my forehead and released my arms before resuming his position alongside Tanen in front of the oceanesque picture.
I braced myself for the bizarre, but nothing I imagined happened as Kalen stepped forward and knocked three times on the picture frame. His hand hovered above the sand in front of the creature like he was waiting for a signal. I barely contained a gasp when the sounds of the ocean filtered through the room. The moment I heard a lighthouse horn, like in the picture, I barely caught myself from falling by grabbing onto a chair next to me.
I wanted to pretend that I was dreaming, but the rational side of me tended to be visual, and the old saying of seeing was believing was hard to overcome. As Kalen reached his hands into the painting, I let go of societal norms of what was real or fake and chose to accept what I saw as plausible. Tanen’s sudden move to grab the back of Kalen’s fatigues brought me back to the moment as I watched half of Kalen’s body disappear into the scenic view.
As the smells of the ocean wafted past me, I grew nervous and braced myself to meet Levi. If I believed the painting was real, then the only thing missing would be the massive sea creature present in the center. I looked about the room nervously and had a hard time imagining how it would fit in here by itself, let alone with the addition of the three of us.
Stumbling back a few steps, I opened my mouth to express my concern and promptly closed it shut with a snap when Kalen backed out of the frame a second later, followed closely by a ten-foot-tall very naked man. His height ensured his penis was at eye level, and as it appeared to stare me down, I tried to look everywhere but at him. Averting my eyes to Kalen, I cleared my throat and said with annoyance, “What is it with this place and their lack of clothes! Umm . . . Could we get him something to wear?”
“It appears your female is unable to contain her lust in my presence. Are you positive she is your mate?” Levi purred in a gravelly voice.
My eyes snapped toward the giant at his comment, and with a snarl, I pinned him with a glare and said, “Never doubt my loyalty. It is my number one attribute. I simply would rather not converse with someone whose penis looks like a shriveling spiny sea cucumber. I’m rather fond of eating and would prefer not to lose my appetite before breakfast.”
I steeled myself for some type of punishment from my outburst, but I wasn’t about to back down from the smug giant. Much to my surprise, Levi doubled over on himself in laughter. I let my guard down slightly and looked to Kalen and Tanen for direction. Their baffled expression was no help as we turned our eyes to the elephant in the room and waited for him to stop. He was fully dressed when he finally came up for air. Wearing a long flowing robe, he had tears streaming from his eyes before he wiped them away and said between chuckles, “Thank you, dear one, it has been centuries since I laughed like that. I almost lost control of my form, and that hasn’t happened since I was a wee little one.”
My mouth might have dropped open from his comment if I hadn’t been paying attention to my mate’s emotion through our bond. It went from amused to angered and then back to amused again in the blink of an eye. Not wanting to ruin the modicum of peace my outcry brought about, I curtsied and said, “You’re welcome. Glad I could help.” With a wink to an open-mouthed Kalen, I waited for him to bring us all up to speed.
Tanen elbowed him in the side when he continued to look between Levi and me like a fish out of water. The jostle was enough to break the trance Kalen seemed to be in before he blinked, shook his head, and got down to business. “Levi, do I need to be concerned that you might lose control of your appearance?”
“I am in full control. You have my word.”
Kalen quickly nodded his approval before he cleared his throat and continued, “As I mentioned on your home planet, we need your service. An assassination attempt was made against Jade tonight with the help of a doppelganger. I require your true sight in tracking the culprit down and the person who hired it. Nothing is off the table. Name your price.”
Bracing myself for a steep offer, I expected Levi to ponder the question with calculated interest in his eyes. Instead, he surprised me again when he snarled in response and answered without delay, “I’ll do it! Show me the accused!”
“I expected as much when you followed me here. I have no time for games. What payment will you require for this service?” Kalen demanded with annoyance.
“I’ve been paid. Show me the accused!” Levi roared as the air around him seemed to shimmer.
Tanen stepped in front of his king and waved his hands in the air as he took control of the escalating scene, “I’ll flash you there myself, but who paid you? Forgive us for looking for a deeper meaning behind your words. Our dealings with you in the past have made us wary. What will you be requesting of us for this boon?”
“Jade paid me with a soul healing laugh, but if you insist on delaying any further, I will change my fee to something far more costly materialistically speaking,” Levi replied as he popped his neck in waiting.
Kalen looked skeptical but shoved Tanen to the side as he addressed Levi with gratitude, “Forgive our hesitancy, but I hope you understand where we are coming from after our last encounter.” Without waiting for a response, he turned towards Tanen and spoke with authority, “Take Levi to Praddix. They should be in her quarters. When you finish, report to the council room immediately.”
Tanen gave a quick bow to his liege before he approached Levi with an outstretched hand and said, “Shall we find ourselves a doppelganger?”
“We? There will be no “we” in this equation. You are merely my transportation assistant.” Levi replied as he reached forward to grab Tanen’s hand and winked at Jade before he added, “There’s no use denying how awesome I am.” As they flashed from the room, Jade could hear Tanen warn Levi he was playing with fire when it came to flirting with the king’s mate.
“Less than a day ago, that would have been true, but seeing as we need his help, I’m glad it’s one less thing I have to worry about,” Kalen countered with noticeable relief. He took a moment to assess me like he was double-checking my mental stability was still intact.
I crossed the space between us and grabbed his hand to assuage him as well as me that we were still very much alive and present, ready to face whatever life threw at us next. Leaning forward, I pressed my lips to his and whispered, “What do you say we see what the council has to say before you make any more decisions for the day?”
“I think that’s the second rational thing you’ve said today,” Kalen responded by nibbling at the corner of my mouth.
Dizzy from his ministration, I barely registered his remark. As my mind circled back to reality when he pulled away, I asked, “What was the first rational thing I sa
id today?”
“When you admitted you’re addicted to me,” Kalen replied with a smirk before he folded me in his arms and flashed us away.
Chapter Twelve
Even though it took less than a second to flash to the council room, I had a hard time stepping away from the comfort Kalen’s arms provided. With my face buried in the crook of his neck, it was easy to forget the chaos going on around us. However, it didn’t take long for the whispers behind us to remind me we weren’t alone.
Through the bond, I could sense Kalen’s need for my support. With a strength I wasn’t aware I possessed, I pushed back so I could look him in the eye when I addressed him. “What do you say we go solve this mystery so we can pick up where we left off.” Dropping my voice to a whisper, I added, “Blood of you, blood of me. Forever mine, forever yours. For all eternity. Did I say it right?”
The flash of lust that swept through our bond as I repeated the words he used during our mating ritual was potent. Delicious flutters of need settled between my legs, making me blush as I tried my best not to announce to the room how turned on I was by the Strix in front of me. The growl was the affirmation I said it right, but it didn’t help my horniness when my nipples hardened in response. He looked at them with longing before he leaned forward and whispered in my ear, “Yes, you said it right.” Taking in a deep breath, he nuzzled my neck before he finished. “Fuck, I love the way your arousal smells. This will be the quickest council meeting in history.”
Grabbing my hand, he pulled us to the front of the room. Practically running to keep pace with his long strides, I barely had time to take in the place as I followed behind him in a sex-induced trance. It took my brain a couple of milliseconds to process his statement, and by the time we reached our seats, I was bright red and mortified; No one should know the state of my underwear!
Leaning over to voice my discomfort, he silenced me with a finger to my mouth as a shimmering bubble surrounded us like a security blanket. In an instant, I knew it was his way of ensuring only he would be able to enjoy my potent desire for him. His gentlemanly act was like an aphrodisiac and had me squirming in my seat to bring my swollen clit some relief. In a last-ditch effort, I turned my attention to the occupants of the room. I needed to quench my growing craving for the Strix sitting next to me. It didn’t take long for the contempt of some of the attendees to make that happen. Three council members of the ten, to be exact, were all shooting daggers at us with their eyes. I made a mental note to question Kalen about their attitudes when we were alone.