Page 180 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

“We will protect the Four Courts. Including Autumn. We cannot forget that Rian is a tyrant whose people are also victims of his ambition,” Riordan reminded them.

“And if we cannot? What if our home is lost forever?” Balor demanded. “Can you blame me for hoping to secure some firm connections here?”

“Should that happen, then we would renegotiate, but I am confident it will not come to that,” Riordan insisted.

Balor reconsidered, chewing over the situation with dissatisfaction. Clearly he needed more concrete assurances.

Riordan ventured to offer him some.

“We have been… looking into a way to prevent Rian from using his power against us,” Riordan admitted.

The king’s gaze sharpened. “How?”

“I cannot say until a contract is signed, and you have come here to stay. I cannot risk the information getting back to him,” Riordan explained.

“You have a weapon,” Balor guessed, looking hopeful and relieved when my mate inclined his head.

“Yes,” said Riordan.

“I sensed something upon my arrival. Starlight. It is on you now, or it has been recently enough to leave a trace of its essence upon you,” the king insisted excitedly.

Riordan merely waited, and the king deliberated for a moment longer before he nodded finally.

“Very well, King Riordan. We will come and confine ourselves to the allotment you allow. We will be subject to your wards, and I will not pressure my people to join us. In exchange for this, I will provide you with my counsel and the might of my warriors to help you win this war. And should our world not survive this war, then we will renegotiate our presence in the Vale,” said Balor.

I could tell that Riordan was confident it would not come to that. He would not allow the Spring Court or any other court to be lost. He would use the dagger on Rian before he ever allowed that to happen.

Chapter forty-eight

YOU WANT HIM TOO

Amira

“What is a Dowrra?” Orion asked, barely waiting for the portal to close behind King Balor and Clodagh. He did not seem nearly as suspicious as he had been in the past about me, but he was definitely feeling uneasy.

I focused on dispersing my salt circle as I debated how to answer him. I certainly had not forgotten this shocking revelation from Balor either, but I was not sure I had the energy to examine it yet. Since it meant that my mother may have lied to me about my father after all…

“Amira,” insisted Orion, and I knew he would only get more anxious if I tried to put off the conversation.

“Dowrra Choose a mate like griffins do, but it is more unconscious. Instinctive. The bond they create allows the Dowrra to take on characteristics of her mate,” I began to recite what I knew without looking up at either griffin. “As far as I’ve ever heard, they are female and usually mate with vampires, so they tend to gain immortality and bloodlust. Vampires covet them because they—”

“Go on,” Orion encouraged me when I wavered with a startling realization.

“They… magnify power. In the offspring,” I clarified, finally looking at Riordan who was fully absorbed in me. “Whatever traits of power their mate has, they magnify it in their offspring. Vampires will often fight to acquire a Dowrra mate. That is all I know,” I assured him even as my mind began to race with possibilities.

So then Castor’s concerns about you making my heirs weaker is entirely unfounded,Riordan teased, and I shot him a wide-eyed smirk.

“The king called you an affliction,” Orion reminded, clearly worried that I was withholding information.

“To someone who does not want to be bound to just one mate, yes, I suppose a Dowrra would be an affliction. The bond makes it impossible for either of them to take any other lovers.”

“But you kissed—” Orion bit off his words, but I knew exactly what he had been about to say.

“If Dowrra exhibit traits of their mate, then that is how you were able to create thetaíribond with me. It is why you feel the pull to myskiálike a griffin female would,” Riordan pieced together.

Orion’s eyes widened at our king’s unabashed words, and then he turned away from us both as if to think.

“I also noticed lately that my power seemed… deeper. Stronger. It hasn’t felt as intense as the first time I used your magic to kill those vampires, so I didn’t realize it, but I think I have been using yours all long,” I admitted. “Only now… it feels likemine.”

---