Page 19 of Fae Crown

The growl vibrated my chest and throat. My skin. Feminine gasps punctuated the seconds as my threat drew out, and went on and on. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to stop. Not until her head replaced one of the dragons’ atop the pillars that surrounded Embermere, and its colors had faded with the passing of time.

“Sit. Down,” Ivar gritted through clenched teeth. “Or I shall make you.”

No doubt he’d try.

Glaring openly at the queen, I didn’t budge.

She stared right back at me. Her blue eyes were alight with … by frigid sunshine, was that …amusement?

The mate bond that was still so new to me tensed, as if it understood a truth I hadn’t yet grasped.

In a tone that was unnerving for its calm, the queen said, “I suggest you listen to Ivar, Elowyn. If you mean to object to Rush’s involvement in my soirées, I assureyou, there’s no need. He’s a most willing participant. Isn’t that right, Rush?”

I swiveled to face him.

His smile was immediate as he dipped his head. “Of course it is, Your Majesty. I’m eager to please.”

I gaped at him. “But … Rush. You … can’t.”

His gaze was slow to travel to mine. When it did, I saw none of the recognition I expected. The usual familiarity between us, the affection … the love … gone.

His eyes, currently flat and gray, suggested we were … strangers.

Whatever might have remained of my growl—of my bite—curled up into a ball, possibly to die.

“I ‘can’t?’” he asked me. “Of course I can. Who do you think you are to interfere with my agency?”

Even his voice was different.Wrong. Haughty, perhaps, when I’d never once before detected that kind of sense of superiority from him. Not even when we were enemies.

When he’d openly admitted to being the queen’s agent.

“See, Elowyn,” the queen said. “Rush iseager to please.”

“That’s right, Your Majesty. And I have no doubt that I will.”

What is this fuckery?

I searched his face for evidence that he was putting on a show to somehow save us. That none of what he said was real. That he felt the bond between us as strongly as I did, and that all he was doing was a muchbetter job than I at concealing its effects from the last person in the world I should reveal them to.

But beyond the flatness of his eyes, usually so lively, I found none of the signs I was looking for.

Suddenly unsure, the mate bond muted. The wolf tucked its tail between its legs and hunched into itself.

“Rush?” I whispered.

Those eyes of his I so loved were disturbingly dull. “The Viscountess Elowyn Ashira, is it? From Forzantos?”

I felt my lips part but no sound slipped from between them.

“Well, is it or not?”

Still, all I could do was stare.

“Don’t mind her, Rush,” the queen interjected. “She’s only here as a favor to my husband. You know how I like to spoil him. There’s no chance she’ll actually win the trials. You don’t need to waste your time with her.”

Rush studied me for several beats.

It’s me! We’re in love. You must recognize me.

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