A message from Rake.
Rake who was with the humans and going after Jesse’s brothers.
That made me sit up and take notice.
“What does he say?” But before he could respond, I was out of my chair and striding around the desk to grab the paper and see for myself.
Ghere pulled a piece of paper from one of the deep pockets in his cloak and unfolded it to present to me.
I snatched the paper from him, perhaps a little sharper than necessary, but Ghere only sighed as I leaned over it, frowning.
To my relief, it was covered in
~ JESSE (Earlier in the morning) ~I got a lot closer to Maya’s cave before I lost the verbal link with Cazz this time. He’d already explained that he was able to reach much longer distances than I could with wolves, so I prayed that link between us would keep growing and one day I wouldn’t lose contact with him when I came to Maya. Or maybe even further.That ache that I seemed to carry for him just wouldn’t let up. Even though we’d only just been together, I was hungry for him. Everything in me pushing, driving me to turn around and go back, to ignore the demands and responsibilities and just be skin to skin all day.More than once I stopped walking, began to turn, then mentally slapped myself. It was the bond, that was all!&
~ JESSE ~Her expression got very serious. “I don’t believe so. I believe… I believe he has seen the error in his father’s ways—at least, some of them,” she said, though I didn’t like the way she wasn’t meeting my eyes.“Maya—”“Jesse, this is… you’ve achieved something that none of the females in Cazz’s Royal line have done. You’ve captured your mate’s heart. And gathered his power. This is… stunning.”I was too busy thinking back through all my conversations with Cazz, all those memories he’d shown me, trying desperately to remember if he’d ever actually said he wouldn’t make our kids do the same thing.…Cazz stepped right up, standing over me, staring righ
~ JESSE ~Maya let me go almost an hour later than usual, “to make up for my tardiness.” By the time I literally ran out of her cave, I was aching for Cazz, and also angry, and terrified. It was such a confusing turmoil in my chest and body because the longer I was away from him, the more my flesh ached to have him again—but knowing what I knew now about how an Heir was selected…It made me cold.I couldn’t stop thinking about the grief he’d had in his eyes when he talked about killing his siblings—and also the intensity when he spoke about reaping the benefits of it.I hadn’t understood at the time, I’d been consumed with wanting to help him stop beating himself up, but maybe… maybe the reason he felt bad about it was because even though he hated it, he didn’t w
~ CASIMIR ~The moment I got her in the door of her rooms, she yanked her hand out of my grip and turned on me.“This isn’t negotiable, Cazz!” she hissed.‘In the bond!’ I snapped back. ‘This is not a conversation for anyone else to be a part of—make certain your mind is closed to everyone, Jesse. There are things I need to explain that are not for other ears or minds to hear.’Her lips pursed and she folded her arms, glaring at me, but she did as I asked.
~ JESSE ~I wasn’t sure what was happening to me. Everything Cazz said terrified me. But every thought, every breath that felt frightening, every weight in my gut that felt like it should push me back and away from him, only shoved me closer to him.I needed him, not for gratification, but because it was only in that place, when we were both abandoned, that I felt utterly sure of him. And I needed to feel sure of him.So, when I fell into his chest and kissed him, when he wrapped his arms around me and sighed with relief, something in me remained desperate. Jittery and insecure—like he was pulling away and I had to fight to keep him close.
~ CASIMIR ~I lay back in that chair like I had been shot, with Jesse draped over me, my breath ragged, my skin sweaty, and my mind stunned. Every muscle felt fatigued, every limb heavy. And yet…There had never been a time in my life when a female’s warmth and weight over me hadn’t felt like a danger. I’d always preferred to take them from behind to keep control—and because it put me in position to overwhelm them if it was necessary. Yet, holding Jesse there, being held by her…She was an embrace. A joy. Not a threat.Neither of us spoke for some time, both letting our breathing return. I had a han
~ CASIMIR ~When I reached the chamber I was surprised to find the entire council assembled, but I realized I shouldn’t have been. Ghere would have called them the moment a messenger from Rake was announced, intending to assess the information he brought and see if it required my immediate attention.He had no memory of the fact that I had schemes afoot with Khush, or that Rake knew details the others didn’t.No wonder he was so perturbed that the messenger wanted only to speak with me. He would find it odd for Rake to make that request, so would assume the messenger was being overly fastidious. I needed to be very, very careful how I handled this.“Where is he?” I asked the moment I walked into the chamber, while the others were still
~ CASIMIR ~‘Not, er, righteous?’ I sent carefully. ‘How so?’‘He… he goes to the church and appears just like they do and as I would expect the King’s Cleric to behave—careful with his words, clean, kind, righteous in his manner. Then… then he goes to deal with the humans you sent him to and he is… aggressive. Dark. Cunning. The difference is quite stark and I just… I wasn’t sure that you knew. This hypocrisy… I worried he might be deceiving you.’I had to fight to keep my face expressionless. ‘You’ve seen this with your own eyes?’