When no other noises flittered in the air, I carefully removed the lord’s hand from my mouth. I whispered, “You better go.”
“Fuck, I smell like you. I need to take a shower.”
I pulled the blanket down from my head and peered into his eyes through the darkness. “I’ll take that as a compliment, my lord. And thank goodness you’re fast.”
His fangs flashed in his grumpiness.
But he was suddenly gone from underneath me.
“Oomph!” I groaned as my body hit the mattress. I shouted from the bed, “Not nice!”
The water started in the shower. “And I told you to stay on the other side of the bed while we slept!”
My lips twitched. I knew he’d mention that.
Thirty seconds later, he ran into the bedroom. Butt naked and dry. How he managed that…no clue. While he rifled through one of his chests of drawers, my eyes caught on an image I hadn’t noticed before.
I blinked. “Nice tattoo.”
It was on his right hip.
The royal seal. Two swords and the crown.
He hopped into a pair of white boxer briefs, tight and snug against that magical cock. Not looking at me, still focused on his choice of clothing, he mumbled, “If you become queen, you’ll have your own too.”
My brows puckered as I snuggled further under his blanket. His bed was better than mine was. It didn’t surprise me. I asked, “Does a druid spell it to stay?”
He nodded once, almost finished dressing. “Yes, we have one we trust.”
“Hmm.” I cleared my throat. “Should I worry about whatever emergency is happening right now?”
Lord Belshazzar glanced left and right, then grabbed his cell phone where he had left it on the couch. He glanced at the screen. He sneered at whatever he read on it, his fangs gleaming in the dark. “No. It’s just Master Niallan’s friends trying to break in. Apparently, he didn’t contact them before he went to bed and no one can enter his room.”
I stared. “No wonder the others want you with them.”
He grunted and placed his phone in the pocket of his dress pants. The vampire adjusted the leather bracelet around his wrist and then peered down at his attire, double-checking his appearance. Extremely vain man. His ice blue eyes peeked up at me through his lashes while he worked on buttoning his jacket. He ordered quietly, “Wait five minutes, then exit my bedroom.”
“Will do.” I yawned so wide my jaw cracked.
“Gwynnore?”
“Yes, Lord Belshazzar?”
His eyes ran over my features. “Just checking.”
I snorted. “I’m not that young.”
“Yes, you are.” He sighed and walked toward the door. He grumbled under his breath, “I didn’t even hear the damn security system go up.”
“Flaws. Know ’em, and then fix ’em.”
“Very true. I did that earlier, in fact.” He paused at the door and flicked a finger at me. “Cover up. They know someone’s in here with me, but they don’t know who. I’d like to keep it that way.”
Rolling my eyes, I pulled the cover over my head. “Me too, my lord.”
I stayed absolutely silent.
And barely even heard him leave.
I was sure he had been just loud enough for me to hear.
CHAPTER TWENTY
~ GWYNNORE ~
I held my smarting hand close to my chest as I left Lord Belshazzar’s room. I really shouldn’t have tried to pry that hidden panel open. My fucking blood was now stained on the wood thanks to the sadistic booby trap he had left for anyone trying to open it. While I had slept for those two hours, the overlord had been busy fixing the panel.
He would know I had tried to open it.
And I didn’t care. He had known I would try to look anyway leaving me alone in there. So, basically, he hadn’t warned me and let me fall into the trap.
No. I was not cleaning up that blood.
I nodded to the guard who had kept everyone out.
The man didn’t even glance at me.
It was obvious where his loyalties lay.
With the ancient lord.
I kept moving, my feet carrying me to my apartments. Even if his bed was better, mine sounded damn fine right now. I yawned and shook out my hand, passing a random vampire.
Or…not so random.
I stopped in my tracks and pivoted.
He had done the same, standing ten feet from me.
I stared, my tone droll. “I would know that ugly mug anywhere.”
The vampire, who actually wasn’t ugly in the least, cracked a smile. “Hello, Gwen.”
“Hi, Joshua,” I muttered, reluctantly tipping my head to the formidable man in greeting. “I see you’re still slinking around the hallways at night.”
His grin widened. “I could say the same for you.”
I grunted, not wanting to agree with him.
Joshua brushed his hair out of his eyes where it had fallen. “You’re still as taciturn as you were when we were kids.”
“Well, when your friend damn near kills you, it tends to leave a sour taste in your mouth.”
He threw his hands into the air, now glowering as if I had lost my mind. “Do you know how long ago that was? Fuck, we hadn’t even reached double digits in years. And you’re still upset about that?”
“You. Almost. Killed. Me.”
“Dammit! My fangs had just come in. I didn’t realize how sharp they were!”
I pointed a finger at him. “You didn’t even go get help. You let me bleed on the damn grass.”
His chest heaved in aggravation. “I was a kid, Gwen. I was freaked out. I didn’t even know my saliva could save the day then.” Joshua crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze running over my rumpled form. “And, besides, help did arrive. You know that. You’re here today because some poor bastard found us.”
More finger waggling. “I’d blacked out by then!”
He shrugged a shoulder. “You’re here, you’re fine.”
I let my eyes flash once in warning and shooed in his direction with both of my hands—even the one that was quickly healing. I grumbled, “Just go.”
Joshua pulled his phone out of his back pocket and checked the time on it. “You’re right. I better since this conversation isn’t going anywhere. Your father will be in the office shortly.”
“Huh?” I stared.
“Your father.” He put his phone away. “I’m his personal assistant. I have been ever since he was king.”
My mouth bobbed in shock.
The vampire’s position in life had risen.
His smirk hadn’t changed since we were small. “Surprise!”
I turned on my heel and marched away. “Goodbye, Joshua.”
He laughed quietly as I retreated from him. “Don’t forget the Day of the Dead is tonight. You look like shit so might want to get some sleep before the party this evening.”
“Fuck off, Joshua!”
More snickering. “It’s good to see you too, Gwen.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
~ KIMBER ~
“You’re sure you’re fine?” Danai asked, flipping my hand over again.
“How many damn times are you going to ask her, Danai?” Dorian’s voice barked from the corner. “Of course, the girl is fine. I mean, look at that boy with her!”
Tymon crossed his legs and smirked. “What about the boy, Dorian? He glows? From a good, healthy sexual encounter.” Lifting his hand, Tymon studied it a moment. “Huh. Looks like I’m glowing a bit too.”
Danai leveled an angry look at him. “She can still be not all right and have had magnificent sex, Dorian. Stop whining or go get laid.”
I could hear his growl of disgust as he turned away.
Tymon was glowing, though, and I glanced over to Elex. He was also glowing.
Elex smirked at me. “It’s a side effect for the men when they are with their true or soul mate. Never seen it?”
I shook my head and said, “No.”
He grabbed my hand. “Druid males glow for about twelve hours. Not much.” He flashed his other hand, teasing the air with his glow. “But enough. It’s an ego boost for us.”
“You hardly need an ego boost, Elex.” I tried to admonish him, but it didn’t work because I was delighted he was glowing because of me.
“So, we’re all safe and unharmed?” Lunella asked.
Every one assented, and she sat at the table with us and the vast spread for breakfast.
“Is anyone going to explain what happened last night?” I asked, looking around the room. “We all split and went different ways after, but that was more for self-preservation than anything else. I still want to know what happened.”
“You were kidnapped, you daft—”
“Dorian!” Lunella snapped at him across the room. “She knows she was kidnapped. But with the way you act toward her, she’s clearly confused as to why you would risk your ass to save her out of a moving carriage since you’re always treating her like shit.”
“I do not.”
Tymon raised an eyebrow. “Yes, actually, you do, Dorian. You’re mostly an asshole to her. To a lot of people. So why would you risk your life to save someone you don’t like?”
“No one deserves to be taken against their will.”
“Yes,” Lunella agreed, “but Elex was already on his way. He was capable.”
Dorian huffed. “Sending a child after a child.”
“You see? You’re always being an asshole,” Tymon said.
He launched out of the chair and came at Elex and me. “Because those people are dangerous! They are deluded. They think—” His words cut off, and he snarled at me.
“I was swung off the dance floor and pulled out the door and stuffed into a carriage to be carted off into the night. I didn’t know what was going on. I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get back to the temple.”
I stood to face him. Dorian was taller than I was, by a lot, and his skin was a pale cream that reflected the morning light streaming through the windows. His hair was a white-blond halo above him. He tried to be intimidating, but he wasn’t. And I knew this after he rescued me.
“I don’t understand why you came after me. Of course, they’re dangerous. And they’re deluded. But Elex would have gotten me back.”
Realizing he couldn’t get far with his intimidation techniques, Dorian stepped back. His lip curled, and I watched him as he snatched a strip of bacon off the plate on the table. “Well, I guess, since you’ve all decided this needs to happen, I need to explain this.”
Glancing at Tymon, Dorian walked away, munching on his stolen strip of breakfast meat. His chewing was thoughtful, and it was clearly a stalling tactic, but he then continued. “The people who kidnapped you last night were a faction of dissenters. They don’t agree with the temple and how we do things here. We have protected the gate for years. We have held the mountain. We’ve nurtured and cared for the people of S’Kir.
“But there is a part of our population who do not believe that the temple is the best group of people for this job. They don’t trust us. The Lost God left us in charge, and they don’t believe we should have been entrusted.
“They, like you, are infants and don’t understand how old these plans are. How much time and planning went into setting up our society, to preserving peace and protecting the magic that flows through everything.
“To them, this is nearly a game. It doesn’t fit in the narrow world they know here. They grew here, within the protective plans of our world, and now they think they know better than me.”
I wrinkled my brow. “Than…you?”
Dorian waved me off. “Us. The temple.” He snatched another piece of bacon. “We have always kept them quiet and placated.”
“Last night was unprecedented,” Lunella continued. “We have never had these usurpers be quite so bold. We never dreamed they would try to kidnap you.”
“And they can’t have you.” Dorian’s voice was possessive and angry.
“Well, no.” A wave of confusion washed over me. “Of course, they can’t. I am an acolyte here, and Elex is part of the Education Guilds. We belong here.”
“They want you despite your alliances,” Tymon said. “It doesn’t matter. They are convinced that controlling you will control the Breaking.”
“I don’t control the Breaking.” I tossed a look between the masters in the room. “I can control a class of students, and that’s about it.”
Danai forked a few pancakes on to her plate. “No one here is sure what the Breaking will bring. We have only prepared as much as we can. We don’t know what will come. None of us. But we are ancient, and we are far more acquainted with the people and our island.”
“What we aren’t sure of,” Dorian said, “is who these people are. They have managed to stay in the underground, away from our prying eyes. So, in addition to saving your ass last night, I was hoping we would find out more.”
Most of my life, I had joked about how safe S’Kir was and how anything going even slightly off-kilter was utter dissension toward the plan.
I never thought some people spent their lives going against the will of the temple and its masters. It never made any sense. S’Kir was as close to a utopia as we could get, with happiness and health, long life and lifelong learning and friends.
Only accidents marred us. I knew those well.
I pushed some of the breakfast around on my plate while considering what he’d said. Dorian made excellent points. They were the oldest and the closest to the Lost God.
Why would anyone ever go against such a clear-cut plan designed to preserve things as they were? Our society was fun, free, intelligent, and loving. That was the way the Lost God wanted it and how the masters had set it up.
Had the masters known the Lost God?
I pushed the thought away. I still had questions about last night. “So you weren’t helping Elex?”
Dorian eye’s narrowed as he trained them on me. “Everything I do has more than just you or Elex at the heart of it. My reason for saving you, for helping your male, was many-fold. Your life was one. My information was another.”
I hated this man. He couldn’t seem to just have an honest, singular motive. “Did my imperiled life help you gain your information?”
Elex rested his hand on my arm, trying to calm me.
I was not in a mood to be calm—or calmed.
“It did, yes. Thank you.”
Danai’s head whipped up and around to find Dorian’s eyes. “Wow, Dorian. That was perhaps the most dickish thing you have ever said. To anyone.”
A casual flip of his hand dismissed her. “She asked.”
“I asked to prove you are on your own mission and not actually acting nobly to help my male rescue my kidnapped person.” It had been a very long time since I harbored this much anger toward anyone. “And you have clearly provided the evidence.”
“Do you want me to lie?” His anger came close to matching my own.
“I want you to very carefully examine your duplicity in every damn thing you do!”
“Kimber, please.” Elex’s voice was laced with worry.
“I am angry, Elex. He didn’t want to help us—he was once again helping himself. The self-serving Master of the Temple.”
“You’ve known me as nothing more than a distant master for under two months, you insolent child. You have no idea what I am or what I can do. You have no idea what my motives are or why I chose to help your male rescue you.”
“You’re right. I don’t. And I don’t ever want to.”
With an angry move, I shoved the chair back and out from under me. It flipped over, crashing onto the wooden floor, but I didn’t care.
Snapping around, I marched out of the room, through the rotunda, and out the door of the temple.
I had so much anger that I could scarcely believe it. I had to walk almost violently through the massive gardens around the temple.
Where was this coming from?
I taught children, I didn’t have a mean bone in my body—at all. I didn’t want to be angry. It took too much energy to be angry.
Dorian had been noble in helping Elex save me from the carriage. What purpose did it serve to diminish that with his own agenda? I was honestly grateful for his efforts until he turned it into a ‘Dorian Festival.’
The man had a past, he had an agenda, but to dismiss my thanks as he would dismiss a servant really chapped my ass. To turn my danger into his gain?
“Kimber, wait.”
Danai was trying to catch up to me on the path. I realized how fast I had been walking and brought my pace down from ‘very pissed off’ to ‘I simply need fresh air.’
She was able to catch up in a moment. “My dear girl, you are just showing me that I need to get back into my fitness routines.” She panted for a moment, and my tension was broken with that comment.
“I am sorry, Danai. He just makes me so angry. He’s unfair and mean, and then does something noble, and squashes it in the next moment.”
Matching pace with me, she sighed heavily. “But, Kimber, that’s him. That’s who he is. He’s a brilliant man, a powerful magic master, and a complete asshole to everyone around him. You’re not an exception to his rule.”
“Why, though?”
“Because he’s thousands of years old, my dear. Thousands. He has machinations that have machinations that have plots with plans peppered with more machinations. He sees…well… We see patterns in everything. I am not young, and I see the wheels and cogs of patterns in our society. I am not yet cynical about it.
“Be warned, my dear. Many of us do have secret agendas we do not share with one another. We have lived and served under the same roof for more than a thousand years and some of us much longer. Our lives would be boring without our own agendas. If we did not keep secrets, we would be horrible people. Horrible. Worse than anything Dorian has shown you.”
I listened to the gravel crunching under our feet as we kept pace with each other. “I don’t wish to be a pawn in these games.”
Danai nodded. “I understand that. It’s noble.”
“I won’t be.”
Her hand landed on my arm. “But, my dear, you already are.”
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