Page 133 of The Cursed Kingdom

Lill leans in. It’s a slight motion, one I’m sure Mason notices.

She wants him to make the first move, to be the one to kiss her, and my jaw drops when, instead, he grabs her wrist and pulls her hand out of his hair. Then he removes her other hand from his cheek and steps back, putting distance between them.

“We need to discuss this,” he says. “Privately.”

Does that mean without me? I sure hope not.

Lill offers him a soft smile. “Please.”

She’s not usually this timid, and it’s a good act. Kie and Mason seem none the wiser that Lill is putting on a facade, which is what this has to be. She’s trying to seduce them so we can break free.

Mason steps aside, and Lill turns to me. She objectively looks horrible, malnourished and dirty, but I don’t care. I missed her so fucking much, and I can’t stop myself as I rush forward and pull her into my arms.

I half expect Mason to get protective of Lill and rip me away, but he lets it happen. I’m no threat to her, and he knows that. If anything,he’sa threat to her.

I wrap my arms around Lill, careful not to touch her injured back, and bury my face in her collarbone. She makes an odd noise in the back of her throat, like a cry and a cough mixed into one, before returning my hug.

“You made me so scared,” she says into my hair. Her voice is shaking. “If you ever do something so stupid again, I’ll kill you.”

I pull away and beam up at her. “I’ll be stupid for you every day of the week, baby girl.”

Lill makes another crying cough sound. I love it.

I never thought I’d get to see her again. I was convinced I’d be given to Zaha and that Lill would die all alone in our apartment. It’s a horrifying thought, but I don’t have to worry about it now. Kie and Mason won’t hurt Lill, and I doubt they’lllet anybody else do it, either. Mates are too important to the faeries. And the shifters.

Mason grunts. “That’s enough, Abby. Release her.”

I ignore him, something I’m proud to say I’m very good at doing, and Mason glares at me as he begins sliding his gloves back up his hands.

I don’t understand why he bothers. The whole point of the gloves was so he wouldn’t find his mate, but he already knows it’s Lill.

He probably doesn’t want anybody else to know. I doubt the faeries will be happy to learn that Kie’s agreed to give his title to Mason, and they’ll be furious to discover Kie and Mason have found their mate.

What did Lill and Callie do to make them so upset in the first place? I can’t imagine anything that deserves the hostility they’ve shown her.

Mason grabs my shoulder and physically pulls me away from Lill. I hiss, stumbling away. Asshole.

“We need to get you out of the cells,” Kie says. “We have two spare bedrooms we can accommodate you in, at least until we find a better solution.”

Lill glances at my shoulder. Mason’s still holding it, and he releases me the moment Lill looks.

“We still don’t have answers,” Mason points out. He shifts his attention to Lill. “Explain.”

“Answers for what?” I ask.

Kie blinks. “You truly don’t know?”

“Obviously not!” I look between him and Lill, waiting forsomebodyto answer me. I’m tired of the secrets. “What the fuck is going on? How do you three know one another?”

A long beat of silence stretches, then, “Lilly murdered Kie’s father, with the help of her mother.”

What? There’s no fucking way.

I turn toward Lill, but she refuses to meet my gaze. Are they being serious? No.

“We can discuss this later,” Kie says, urging us along. “We need to get Lillian out of the cells.”

He turns and walks out of the room, and I mindlessly follow. Lill killed his father? There’s just no way. She was only seven when she came to the human realm, and she was so sweet.

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