Page 54 of The Shadowbound King

Palming his cheek, I turned his gaze back to me. “Not if we use Mirella. I just spent the past four days walking up and down the Covenant outside Purecliff. Walto sent search parties. He wants her back. And when he discovers that the mess he created won’t stop at the boundary, he’ll return the Kree.”

Andrin pulled my hand from his face. Curling his fingers around mine, he lowered his voice. “The more time I spend around Mirella, the harder it is for me to believe she’s like her father. What if she’s as innocent as she claims?”

Ah. At last, we came to it. Autumn was a kingdom of beasts, and Andrin was the biggest beast of all. I’d captured a pretty bird for him. And like most beasts, he couldn’t leave his prey alone. No, he wanted to play with it.

I sat up. “She’s her father’s daughter. Have you forgotten Walto’s skill with deception? Or have you been swayed by a pair of nice tits and big golden eyes?”

His nostrils flared as he copied my position, infuriatingly tempting with candlelight playing over his damp chest andglistening dick. “I’m not blind to her charms. Neither are you, or were just admiring the way she poured wine when you couldn’t take your eyes off her the other night?”

“She also poured it into my lap.”

“Because you taunted her.”

“And you haven’t?”

He leaned toward me, his voice dipping into a growl. “I’m doing what you told me to do, remember? Following a plan you forced on both of us after I told you to leave Walto and the Covenant alone.”

My temper spiked. “I was right, and you know it. You just don’t like being wrong.”

He scoffed. “More like you derive endless pleasure from being told you were right.” Challenge flashed in his eyes. “You wanted Mirella. Well, now you have her. If Walto doesn’t seek her, you said we should use her to seek him. If she’s at odds with her father, and I believe that might be the case, how do you propose we win her to our cause? Through cruelty or kindness?”

“Let me guess, you’ll win her over with your dick.” I moved to leave the bench.

Andrin caught my arm, a hard glint in his eyes. “If I thought it would work? Yes. I’d do anything to make sure Finian gets a chance to grow up. We’re running out of time for that to happen.”

I froze, my anger leaving me in a rush. Because Andrin had already done everything. He’d given everything. And each day, he inched closer to paying the price.

“I know,” I whispered, stroking his hair. It wasn’t enough, so I climbed into his lap and kissed him, apologizing with my lips and tongue.

He sighed into my mouth, and he delved his fingers into my crease and stroked lazy circles around the place where his come still seeped from me.

“I’m not going to fuck her,” he said in a low voice against my lips. “And I’m not asking you to, either. I’m simply asking you to at leasttryto be a little kinder. What’s the harm in seeing how it goes? She’s a tool. Like any tool, she can be honed to fit a specific purpose.”

I stayed in his arms a moment longer, his questing fingers sending sparks shooting over my skin. Then I left the bench. Andrin’s curiosity followed me as I crossed to his clothes. I kept my back to him as I retrieved the item I was after.

Spinning, I rushed to the bench and thrust his dagger into the cushion between his legs.

“Fuck!” he exclaimed, shuffling back. He stared at the quivering hilt before lifting blazing eyes to mine. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Just reminding you.” Bending, I wrenched the blade from the cushion and the wood underneath it. Then I flipped it and extended it to Andrin hilt-first. “This dagger is a tool. Like any other, its danger depends on who wields it. Mirella is no different. You trusted Walto. You can’t afford to make the same mistake.”

Andrin snatched the blade with a scowl. “You’ve made your point. I’d love it if you refrained from making future points an inch from my dick.”

“Of course, my king,” I said, my tone light as I bowed and then went to the bath. But as I sank into the water, any levity I felt fled, replaced with the crushing weight of knowing Andrin was wrong. We weren’t running out of time. We were out of it.

And if we didn’t find the Kree, I’d lose him forever.

Chapter

Twelve

ANDRIN

Istood at the top of the Embervale’s tallest tower, my gaze on the dark wall of the Edelfen. Light from the rising sun climbed the tower and spread over the meadow below. The shadows were closer than they’d been just a few days ago.

I knew because I marked the boundary. At night, when Rane slept and the feast in the Great Hall finally wound down, I ventured to where the shadows met the edge of the last, solitary island of Autumn. In past years, it took months for the shadows to crawl past the rocks I used as markers. The rock I’d placed the night Rane flew from the King’s Grove was already lost to the darkness.

Last evening, I’d told Rane we were running out of time. Undoubtedly, he’d tasted the lie on my tongue. Who better than a Shadow Eater to know the reality of the Edelfen? Its darkness had lingered in his eyes even as we took our pleasure.

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