Page 73 of Princess Avenged

I nod.

“What the fuck did you do?”

“Killed Timur.”

“Oh, yeah right. Guess she knows now?” He flexes his hands as his broken bones knit back together.

“She’s mostly upset that I kept it from her. And looking back. Fuck.” I look up through the branches above us. “At first it seemed smart not to tell her. But…” I shove my hands into my pockets. “If I’m honest, once I got to know her, my reasons for not telling her changed. It changed from doing what was best for her, to what was best for me.”

“I get that,” Phil says.

A wave of realization drags me down. “I was afraid if I told her, that she’d hate me.” The words come out on a whisper.

“Talk about a major backfire.” Phil chuckles, and the expression on his face fills me with joy. He’s trying to lighten the mood. He’s teasing me. Poking. The real Phil is still there.

I hear sounds in the forest and spin quickly. But it’s just Axe, Ryker and Flame.

“What have you boys been up to?” Ryker asks, a smirk on his face. The pirate’s good looking, I suppose, but also the type you wouldn’t want to cross in an alley. Or on the high seas, from what little I know of his past.

“We’ve been fucking.” Cupping his package, Phil pushes off the rock to stand. “You want a go?”

Ryker laughs, and points toward Phil. “Demon aside, I like this one.”

“You won’t, once you know him better,” Flame says with a wink.

“Well,” Ryker says. “If you gentlemen are done buggering each other, how should we pass the time, while our ladies are off on their quest?”

I shrug. “Got a suggestion?”

“Normally I’d suggest a club,” Ryker says, “but it would take hours of swimming and running to reach even the closest place that could be described as a bar. It’s beyond dull out here.” Ryker shakes his head. “Mind-numbingly dull. And I’m someone who spent my youth trapped on ships.”

“Speak for yourself.” Axe glares at Ryker, and his chest and shoulders expand, reminding me that this vampire could shift into a grizzly bear at any given moment. Or at least I assume it doesn’t require a special phase of the moon or any such nonsense.

“Not all of us find tree hugging exciting, bear-man.” Ryker playfully shoves Axe, who growls again, but it all seems to be in good fun. It would be horrible for Ember, if her three mates don’t get along. Ana is lucky there.

That thought makes my chest squeeze. She is lucky that the four of us knew and liked each other before we met, but her future won’t include me.

“How about games,” Flame says.

“What kind of games do you have in mind, handsome?” Ryker winks at Flame who shoots him the finger.

“Something physical,” Flame answers. “Without Ana here, I need to blow off some steam.”

Flame and I make eye contact. We both watched while Ana and Blade drank from Ember.

Mercifully, they went outside after feeding, going down to the dock to wait for the plane. Since the sun was up, we couldn’t follow, but it was impossible not to hear what went on. The two couples, Ember and Zuben, Ana and Blade, both had sex as they waited. Sex under the sun. Imagine.

I was almost grateful when the plane arrived, so they couldn’t go for round four or five or whatever they were up to at that point. I glance toward Phil, wondering if he heard them from the cave. I hope not.

“We could race around the island,” Flame suggests.

“Running or swimming?” Axe asks.

“Why not both?” Flame’s eyes light up with excitement, reminding me of when he was a little boy. Always up for mischief and adventure.

“Let’s have a tournament,” he says. “A series of events. Swim around the island. Run across it and back.” He counts off on his fingers. “Canoe races. Fastest one up a tree.” He turns toward Axe. “Pretty sure you’ll win that one.”

“Splitting wood,” Axe says.

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