Adelaide is kissing Lyros. I hate the way my heart hurts at the sight of it but it does. They are at the window to Rafie’s study and they kiss for half the kingdom to see. Safira stops near me and her eyes track the direction of mine. When her gaze lands on them, she sighs and I hate the fact that she does. “I was wondering who he was kissing.” A chuckle escapes my lips and I look away, my eyes now decidedly staying on my sword as thoughts run through my head.“Am I a fool Safira?” If she hears me she doesn’t reply at all, just keeps her eyes glued to the window and the two people in it. For some time I let myself believe that this will all come to an end soon. We will find the chalice, we will couple the Lycan’s flame together, and then we will get out of here. Adelaide will make her choice, and I will make mine. This current US sucks. “You know Lyros is just playing you guys against each other right?”Safira hacks away at some dirt on a stone and keeps her eyes away from me
Cain just entered the library. I want the earth to open up and swallow me right now. I watch as he walks in. Safira is hot on his heels and they are silent, silent enough that I know something is up but I have my problems to worry about, and as much as I want to go to Cain, as much as I want to run my hands down his skin and tell him I’m fucking sorry for being a slut and kissing Lyros, I stay where I am. I have enough problems of my own. I chuckle at the thought of that and hope for something sudden to happen. Maybe an arrow lodges into my chest suddenly or a lightning bolt strikes me, suddenly. The book on werewolves is in my hands and I look at the huge tome. The leatherbound item is on the table and one of King Rafie’s guards is waiting outside for me. I can’t take the tome to my room, or rather our room. Lyros and I are sharing a room. Isn’t that fucking great?“Adelaide?” Kill me. “Adelaide, are you in here?” My blood boils as Rhys’s recklessly loud voice booms in th
Safira stares at me and blinks twice, confusion is evident on her face but she finally shakes her head in the negative.“I don’t think so. Not as far as I can recall at least.”I want to turn to Cain and ask the same question just for added emphasis when I remember where I am with him right now. I decide it’s best I keep my questions to myself but that only makes my anger simmer even more.I look at Rhys and he still has the guts to look annoyed, enraged even.“Did you just insult me, Adelaide?”I chuckle and relax in my seat.“Not yet, but I'll get there. You said you’ve been worried sick about me?”He doesn’t nod but I don't need him to.“What were you up to while I was being punched into the ground by Raymel?”“I was trying to come out of the effects of the drowsiness I was still under. My limbs felt like sticks at that time!”“And afterward? What were you doing when I was on the grass, writhing in pain and barely able to breathe?”My emotions are roiling so violently that it must
“You said you were abducted on your way here?”I nod and sip my third cup of tea slowly, ignoring the amused look Safira is giving me.“We were on a horse and we passed through a small town, but on our way into the forest we met three men.”“Three men Adelaide killed by promising to let them fuck her.”My wrist aches so badly with the need to flick this tea into Rhys’s face but my body is too calm for that. I ignore him and continue.“They had crescent moon eyes…. Like yours.” Cain averts his eyes immediately and it frustrates me.How do I tell him his eyes look beautiful? They’re crescent moon eyes and they do look eerie, but at the same time, they feel like they could have only ever looked good on him.Sure it looked sexy on Atreau, the one with the green crescent eyes, but on Cain… it looks like someone hung the moon up on the darkest night. A crescent moon against a canvas of black. It’s breathtaking.“How did you kill them?”I take another sip of my tea and sink as far as I can i
“Are you going to ask Rhys what all that was about?”Safira is walking with a spring in her step by my side and her sprightly attitude has me frowning. To begin with, I can't imagine what has her feeling so excited.“Cain, it’s rude to ignore people y’know.”She places one of her legs in my path and I stop before turning to look at her. I frown.Safira is pretty, and she’s aware of it. Her smile is bright and she radiates that feminine presence.“Do you enjoy annoying me, Safira?”“It’s the only way I’ve managed to get close to you so far Cain, so I reason that if I annoy you enough, you’ll actually miss my presence when we’re back home.”I roll my eyes at that and step over the leg she’s put out.I don’t consider that place home but it is the only home I have known.Leah is there, as well as Raina and the warriors, my books and the forest are there, and speaking of forests…“Do you think you can help me figure out which village Rhys and Adelaide passed through on their way here? Ade
Safira rolls her eyes and pins me with a stare. “You look like a princess Adelaide.”“Exactly! This” I gesture to the dress on my body violently “Is too distracting. I am the one who’s wearing it and I can't even keep my eyes off it. Where did you get something like this?” “I stole it.” My fascinated thoughts come to a halt all at once and I turn to look at her. “You did what?” “Oh relax Adelaide. You don’t think Lyros didn’t have a wardrobe planned for this trip do you?” I consider the possibility and almost rule it out. He couldn’t possibly have thought of something like clothes for us to wear, but at the same time.., my mind takes me back to the moments at the Lycan house in the human realm. He did have that bag, and that dress for me to wear. I frown and stare at my reflection in the mirror once more. “I’ll admit he might have a sense of fashion, but I'm so lost Safira. No one told me anything about a ball. What should I do? What should I say? Shit, what do I do?” The last
The ball is well underway before Adelaide and Safira arrive.The music skids to a halt and conversation ends completely. The ballroom is silent at their arrival, and as they step into the glow of the enchanted flames that illuminate everything in this large room, I roll my eyes.“Well, don’t they look pretty.”Rhys is a sour voice behind me. I ignore him and keep my focus on the two people who have just been used to make a statement by Lyros. The ladies of Rafie’s court will stage an uprising after this, and I have to admit, those dresses look pretty.I look away and fight to breathe properly.Adelaide looks like a soft rose in the firelight.The pink fabric looks good on her. The dress is nothing scandalous. I think I've seen it somewhere.“Rhys?”My answer is a grunt and I turn to see him with a glass of wine to his mouth. His eyebrows are cocked up in question and half the ladies of the ball are openly ogling him.I would have been surprised if they didn’t, but what’s surprising i
“Isn’t this a pleasant surprise?”I’m staring daggers at the Queen of a kingdom I am currently in. I could be killed for that, maimed, and made to suffer greatly, at least I suppose so, but that isn’t the main crux of my problem.My problem is Queen Eretria, and the fact that she’s as beautiful as a dark night.Her hair is darker than Safira’s, if that’s possible, and it is because I'm looking at it. Her eyes, are startling. They aren’t wholly black, but the darkness in them is appealing. It doesn’t help that she has the attitude of a generous, humorous, very likable person, and the only person she’s chosen to lavish her charms on, is Cain.“Your dress looks spectacular Adelaide. Your husband spared no expense.”Cain chokes and The Queen looks away. If King Rafie sees that his wife just passed a message to Cain when they passed the next platter of delicacies over, he doesn’t say anything, he smiles. His smile is a knowing one so he knows, but Cain’s voice at the back of my mind tell