Page 137 of A Trial of the Heart

“It’s the dagger carried by the alpha of the Solace pack,” Minaeve told Seamus. “It seems our champion must cross the sea and return with the blade to complete the third trial.”

“I’ve done my part…” I said slowly. “Now, release my mate,” I commanded in a low, even tone. “We’ll leave immediately to—”

“I think not.” I couldn’t help the twinge of fear curling up my spine at the wicked smile stretching across not only Minaeve’s face but Seamus’s and Anjani’s as well. “Daxton will remain our prisoner.”

“What?” I roared wildly. Rhett quickly disarmed me of the dagger, ensuring I couldn’t follow through with my threat from earlier. I glared at him, shaking with rage at him and for letting my guard down.

“Like hell we’ll let you keep him as your prisoner!” Castor echoed from behind me.

“Who’s to say you won’t retrieve the key with your mate in tow, and then leave us all to die? A life at home on the mainland with your mate at your side seems like a dream come true,” Minaeve taunted. “I wouldn’t put that past you.”

“I would never leave countless people suffering at the expense of my happiness like you do,” I growled.

She didn’t know I had already turned down that offer from inside the labyrinth. That I could never… Daxton could never recklessly abandon the people for our desires. We were not like the self-proclaimed queen.

“Right, because you’reselfless.” Minaeve rolled her eyes as Seamus walked to her side near where Daxton was lying on the ground. He had barely moved, but I saw his chest rising and falling with each labored breath he fought to take.

“I remember,” Minaeve sneered. “You’re the first, the only shifter to volunteer for the trials. Taking the place of your gentle cousin. How noble.” Minaeve mocked as she bent toward Daxton. I stiffened with dread building with the beat of my racing heart.

“Touch him, and I swear I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” Minaeve challenged as she leaned in, taking Daxton’s chin between her fingers and tilting his head toward her. “He ismysubject, and I will take the same offering of submission I have demanded for the past five centuries as I see fit. Someone must keep the prince who was promised in line…” Daxton tried to fight against the hold of the chains and magic even though it was useless. “The retribution I will take from him will be rewarding, as it has always been.”

With that, she feverishly devoured Daxton’s mouth with hers, stealing a kiss while siphoning what remained of his magic.

Rage exploded inside me—pure, maddening, white-hot fury that burned like the sun itself. I reacted purely on instinct, retrieving my dagger from Rhett, who was preoccupied with the scroll, and sprinted toward them. My arm raised to strike, but as I brought my blade down with as much force as I could muster, however, it met the steel of another’s blade.

“Ah-ahh,” Seamus snickered. He moved to push me back. I was too distracted to counter his strike properly. My dagger flew out of my hand as his blade turned to slice the flesh of my arm. Moving quickly and showing his skill as a warrior, which I had gravely underestimated, Seamus maneuvered me toward his chest, his sword at my throat.

“Let’s see if this mate’s claim is true,” he whispered as his palm stroked my brow.

His touch was like a hot iron rod as he dove into my mind, painfully rummaging through my most cherished memories with Daxton. Seeing them all.

He saw the meadow in Solace the first night we met, the letters, the bathhouse, the green sand beach. Our first kiss on theOpal, our night together in Crimson City, the kiss on my wrist at the ball, and our intimate evening before the first trial. He watched our private moments with a feverish passion, seeking out more and more with each agonizing second. Then, he finally found the memory of the hanging valley. The significance of the moondance flowers when I told Daxton I was in love with him, and he confessed knowing the existence of our mate bond.

“There … it is.” Seamus’s voice dropped. He seemed surprised as he slowly pulled away from my mind. “It’strue,” he breathed, looking at his queen, who stood with a heightened glow on her skin from her new swell of magic. “They have a mate bond. It’s not sealed, but it’s there.” Seamus trailed his nose across my neck, inhaling my scent. “She smells of him.” His hold on me did not slacken, but I could have sworn his stare softened. “Release his sight, Anjani.”His cousin looked at him, dumbfounded. “Obey, or you’ll lose your other hand and become entirely worthless to the Inner Kingdom,” he threatened.

With a wave of her functioning arm, Daxton’s eyes changed from white to his gray stare, locked onto me.

“Skylar!” Daxton groaned as he tried to crawl toward me. Even with his magic siphoned, iron scraping his lungs, and bound in chains, he still fought to reach me.

To my surprise, Seamus let me go.

I raced to Daxton and fell to the floor at his side, tears in my eyes as I tried to loosen the chains holding him, cupping his face in my hands as I lowered my brow to his, soaking in his touch.

“One minute,” Seamus told us before stepping back.

“You can’t be—” Anjani began protesting, but Seamus silenced her with a glare as he reached his queen’s side.

“You attacked hismate.” His voice had an eerie calmness that would even cause the serpent king to cower in fear. “Tricked her into almost falling to her death… In my opinion, his mercy was not warranted, cousin. If you had attempted to kill my mate, I would have killed you without a second thought.” He held his arm for Minaeve to take. “I saw everything. Their bond is true but not yet sealed.”

“Because the shifter has not—”

“Precisely,” Seamus finished as Minaeve’s lips thinned and pressed into a hard line. “I know you enjoy your variety in companions, as do I, my queen, but it seems you may need to find a new one for the time being. The bond is not something we dare manipulate once consummated. It’s protected.”

“You’re fortunate you already wear your crown,” Minaeve growled. “What else do you have in mind?”

“You did choose me for my wicked nature.” He snickered, making me want to vomit. “Anjani can have her revenge in other ways. Her creativity will blossom while Daxton is in our keep.”

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