Page 11 of Fae Crown

“Including me, there are twenty-two of us.”

“Hmmph,” West said. “I expected more. Rush never seems to be lacking for females throwing themselves at him.”

His eyes as pale as his hair in the bright light streaming in through windows along one of the walls, Rydertsked. “Seriously, bro?”

“What?”

Then West took in the thunderous tilt to my mouth, my brows. By dragonfire, probably every little thing about me screamed that I was seconds from tearing apart every last one of the females.

“Oh, um,” West continued. “Sorry, Elowyn. I just mean?—”

“I know what you mean,” I snapped, before wondering if I should apologize. But soon I had bigger issues. A growl was bubbling inside me, building momentum. I could feel it, and I had to contain it.

Ryder inched closer so that his arm brushed mine. “I bet it’s the”—he glanced around us, at how many of the others were listening raptly despite their attempts to disguise their curiosity with murmured conversations of their own—“you know, the connection between you two.”

The mate bond between Rush and me, that’s what he meant. The mate bond was making me want to rip into every fae so openly challenging me for what already belonged to me.

Ryder gripped my elbow. I tamped down the urge to jerk it free. The growl was moments from slipping out. I pressed my lips together to prevent the baring of teeth that felt … instinctual.

“It might not be easy,” he told me in hushed tones, his light eyes trying to hold mine, but I could only look ahead, at all the pretenders. At the wannabethieves. “But you’re gonna have to keep a tight lid on the … situation.Shemight already know, but you definitely don’t want any of the others to know.”

“Yeah,” West chimed in, just as quiet. “They might not be anywhere near as brutal assheis, but they’ve been learning from her for long enough to have picked up some ugly tricks.”

West flicked his stare to them, then back to me before rubbing a hand over his short hair. “You’re gonna have to watch your back. And I really mean that. You’ll have to stay majorly sharp.”

Ryder added, “Once they admit you into the salon, I doubt West and I will be allowed to accompany you.”

“I don’t need guards,” I snarled, grinding my jaw even as I understood that my reactions weren’t entirely my own. An instinct I had never experienced before held my reins in a tight, unyielding grip, jerking me around.

I felt West and Ryder exchange looks. I wanted to relax, to chill the fuck out … but couldn’t. I just … couldn’t. Not when my bond with Rush was threatened.

How could I relax when all I wanted was to defend, defend,defend?

Ryder cleared his throat, a delicatehm-hmwhen none of the friends Rush considered brothers was ever particularly delicate about anything.

“Let’s be real, El.”

He called me what only Rush ever did, and I grunted.

Ryder and West exchanged yet another loaded look.

Ryder continued: “We could all use guards around here to watch our backs.”

West snorted. “Yeah, but guards who’ll actually lift a blade to defend us. Not just…” He trailed off.

I got the point. How could I not? Guards who simply put on pretenses of protection while secretly doing the queen’s bidding were more dangerous than helpful.

“You get it,” West finally finished after a glance to the ceiling line of the hall, though I was the only one present able to check for the queen’s usual bloody spies. No detached appendages bobbed there. I had no doubt they’d make an appearance soon, however. The queen left nothing to chance in her court.

The doors at the end of the hall, which led into the great salon, swung open, causing Ryder to tighten his hold on my elbow to garner my undivided attention.

Urgently, he whispered, “If you reveal how much the situation with the ‘connection’ is getting to you, everyone trying to beat you will find a way to use itagainst you.” His brows, several shades darker than his hair, furrowed with his intensity. “And I assure you, whatever plan they come up with, you’ll be sure not to like it. Youmustget a grip on yourself.”

“He’s right,” West said, causing Ryder to jerk in surprise at the other man’s emphatic agreement. “You’re being too open, too transparent. They’ll see it and they’ll eat you alive.”

“Not if I eat them alive first,” I growled.

I heard the gruff edge to my voice, registered it.

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