Page 181 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

I was expecting Riordan to be impressed, but he was not even a little surprised by this.

“You knew! Why didn’t you tell me?” I gasped.

“Whenever we practised, it seemed you struggled to tap into my power. But when you treated it as your own, then it came to you naturally. I wanted you to be able to protect yourself and our friends instead of overthinking,” Riordan explained himself.

“Like… when I trapped Balor. He knew it, and that is why I scared him so much,” I realized aloud.

“The way we use magic is different. I will use it as a brute force to alter the laws of this world when I build a home for the Spring Court fey here. But you have spent your life learning spells to achieve your will, and it has taught you a finesse that is more useful for certain types of magic. We have unique strengths,” he pointed out.

“But she couldalsoalter this world the way you do?” Orion verified. “Balor said… she could take your will.”

“I think the only limitations she has now will be the ones she imposes upon herself,” Riordan admitted with a fond smile for me. “As for my will… it is hers.”

Orion was clearly not nearly as comfortable with that as Riordan seemed to be.

“Dowrra can only use their mate’s gifts when they are close to them,” I tried to reassure Orion. “All you would have to do is remove him from my proximity, and my ability to use his power is diminished.”

Maybe other women aspired to have power, but I was rather content in my role. Safety, love, and respect were all I’d ever wanted, and I now had it all with my mate. Perhaps my interests would evolve in the future, since we had established I would not age in the Vale, and Dowrra tended to live as long as their mate did. And I knew that if I ever did decide I wanted a different role, then Riordan would support it wholeheartedly.

But for now, I was just a witch in her late twenties with zero yearning to rule over a kingdom.

“How is it that you were not aware of this heritage?” Orion wanted to know.

“My mother never told me. This means I am a hybrid, which is illegal in my world after… the Iscariot War when hybrids were used to slaughter nonhumans,” I reminded them with a glance at Riordan. “But witch magic has been in decline for centuries, so my coven must have started breeding with Dowrra to increase their power again.”

“So there are probably more hybrids in your coven. More witches that can take on the strengths and talents of powerful mates,” Orion verified, and I winced.

“Yeah, probably…”

You kissed him.

I was exhausted, barely keeping my eyes open while Riordan flew us back to Kórinthos from the meeting with King Balor. But I still shivered at the deep timbre of his voice in my mind. He sounded like he had been fixated on this for some time and had finally relented in asking me.

It was very brief.

He was quiet, but I could feel him sort of hovering at the edges of my memories. Like he wanted to know more, but he also wanted to respect my privacy.

So I intentionally began to remember how Orion had kissed me. How his hand fisted in my hair. How his lips guided mine with such subtle but undeniable command. The way his breath hitched. How he gently used his teeth to draw my lower lip into his mouth to suck on it…

I was sure to focus only on the physical sensations in order to keep Orion’s secrets private. But I could tell that Riordan was far too captivated by the details I was giving him to worry aboutwhat I was keeping back. I could feel how he savoured every memory of the experience with a zeal that rivaled the delight I had felt in the moment.

Dispelling any lingering uncertainties I might still have had about how he felt concerning hisskiá…

You want him too.

I had known it was true for a while now, but we had not yet acknowledged it between us. Although I was not at all prepared for thescopeof Riordan’s admission…

I have for a very long time,he revealed.

“But…?” I blurted out loud, unable to focus enough to project my thoughts to him when his admission took me so completely off guard. “You said you only just started to feel things like sexual desire,” I reminded him.

Yes, but love is not merely sexual,he insisted with a hint of amusement at my outburst.

“But… you never told him?”

No. I was not yet able to give him what he would have wanted from me. Sex is a core part of love for Ktínos,Riordan explained himself.

But now you are ready to give him what he’ll want?

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