Page 69 of Crowned By the Fae King

Vad halted us in the spectator area of the training grounds. Cass and Dani were sitting cross-legged on blankets on the sands of the arena, hands on their thighs and eyes closed in meditation. There were dozens of plates laid out in concentric rings around them, some of them shattered and others whole.

"Did he tell you that Danica's a breaker?" Vad asked, tilting one ear down towards me.

While I watched, Cass murmured something. A moment later, a plate ten feet away from Dani cracked in half, split cleanly. I leaned on the railing, fascinated. "He mentioned something like that."

I decided not to mention that it had been in conjunction with him offering to have Danica break our soulmate bond. That ship had sailed, and I thought it would reflect badly on him.

"Cass is her teacher," he said. He sounded proud—and very in love. "She's quite powerful, and her control is excellent for someone who's been training for less than a year. If you come visit us at the Veiled Castle soon, you'll still be able to see the damage she did when she conquered it."

"Conquered," I said, looking up at him in startlement.

He grinned, showing off his snakelike canines. "It's a long story. Suffice it to say that the former duchess thought she could keep me as her pet prince. Danica objected." Vad licked his lips. "Strenuously."

I breathed a laugh and returned my attention to the duo on the sands. Cass had given me permission to listen, so I let my focus fall on him. My whole body relaxed into that sense, settling into the same slow cadence of breathing he set for himself and for Dani. Shoulders loose, spine straight, senses centered on the power in his veins…

Cass moved his finger, just barely, and traced H-I on his thigh.

H-I, I wrote back on my palm. I bit my lip, then traced a heart, a tingling glow following my fingertip.

His dark lashes parted. Cass sighed out his breath, looked up at me—and smiled.

My breath stopped. Oh, fuck, he was so gorgeous. That smile was like sunlight—like the California sun breaking through the clouds on a winter's day, kissing my skin with warmth. I could be convinced to do anything for the sake of making him smile.

Cass turned back to Dani and started talking to her, the cadence of his voice familiar but the words too quiet to make out. Freed from the snare of his happiness, I took a breath, than another.

You've only known him for six days, I scolded myself. Get a handle on yourself.

I shook my head, a tiny motion, and caught sight of Vad watching me with a half-smile. "What?" I asked. "Do I have a weird cowlick in my hair, or something?"

The corner of his mouth tipped up a bit higher. "Not at all. I'm remembering."

"Oh?" I said, lifting a brow.

"I used to look at Danica like that when I thought she couldn't see me," he admitted. His tail flirted through the air. "With longing."

My cheeks warmed. "I'm not longing," I said, embarrassed at being caught out. "It's just… he's just so earnest. It's like he really means it when he smiles. I'm not used to that."

Vad chuckled and flicked me with his wing. "You like it, though, don't you? He seems to always wear down us prickly sorts. Too loyal for his own good."

I made a face at him. "You don't know me."

He grinned, his bicolored eyes sparkling with good humor. "I know him."

I harrumphed, which only got a bright laugh.

Dani and Cass joined us up in the stands after a few minutes, abandoning the plates. I supposed picking up broken crockery wasn't something duchesses and Kings did. Someone else could deal with that.

She smooched Vad and tucked herself up under his wing. "Come to sweep me off?" she asked, sounding pleased.

He nuzzled her, his whole body going soft. "If Cass can be convinced, I thought it might be nice to fly down to the Dove's Roost and have dinner together." Vad looked over at Cass with a hopeful smile that reminded me of a cat when his owner cracked open a can of tuna.

Cass looked over at me, his nervousness a buzz under my skin.

"If you want to swap me and Dani, I don't mind," I offered, though I loved the idea of flying with him.

"I might flirt with her, though," Vad purred, his expression going wicked. "She's a lovely woman, and it's so intimate in the sky—"

Dani smacked him in the chest as Cass' spine went stiff with outrage and all the rest of the pottery on the sand broke into smithereens. "Ass," she said, laughing. "Be nice. You know exactly what he's dealing with."

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