Page 197 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

“You could think of it like shields have grown wild in your mind. You need only tame them.”

Summer nodded distractedly, her mind preoccupied, but although I couldfeelthe hum of her thoughts, it was muffled like we were under water.

“You have a letter to write. I will go get us some food while you do that, and then perhaps we really should take this opportunity to train. Both physically and mentally.”

I had been mildly horrified by the pile of crumpled paper behind Summer when I returned to the tent with our food. I peered over her shoulder to see what was causing her to all but yank on her ears, forgetting I could not read the human language she and Rian agreed she should use.

English was a dialect my cousin had learned in order to read the human documents that came from Uile Breithà, so he would be able to understand these scribbles. But it was unlikely that Riordan or Amira would assume that about him. Rian was sure that if my mate was to use a written fey language or even one of the Celtic human ones descended from ours, then the griffins might just assume the letter was written under duress. This way, they should be less likely to question whether Summer had written it with genuine sentiment.

She took her food to my desk, leaving me to eat alone at the cold hearth while she finished the letter. When she was finally happy with it, Summer came to sink onto my lap with her legs wrapped around me while she fanned the page to help the ink dry faster. She looked strangely coy.

“What?” I asked her.

“Would you like me to read it to you?”

“I trust you, Summer. But Rian will certainly want to read it before he hands it off to his envoy,” I warned.

She hesitated and blushed before glancing at the page in uncertainty. My brows rose at her.

“What exactly have you written to her?”

“I… Well, obviously I wrote about the Rot and how the Wild Hunt is trying to stop it,” she defended herself, but then her face softened. “But she is my friend, so I also wrote about… I wrote aboutyou.”

“About me?” I verified in confusion.

“Yes! Are you really surprised that I wanted my friend to know I met my mate? That you are good and kind and everything I need but far more than I deserve? That I am safer than I’ve ever been and so much happier than I ever thought was possible?”

My incredulous expression slackened, and I could feel the awe consuming my features as she pressed on with a worried glance at the paper.

“Maybe itisa bit too much. I thought some personal touches might make it more appealing but… She might not even believe this came from me!”

My smile was soft as I reached up to slowly brush my knuckles down her cheek and eased her nerves.

“Read it to me.”

Summer was not at all enthused to be training with me, but she knew it was necessary not only to experiment with our bond, but to learn to summon her own armour. I might have been content to let her wear mine to keep her warm during our recent flights, but she was going to need her own once we flew into battle.

The thought of which made me even more determined to help make sure that she was ready.

Thankfully, her complaints all grew rather quiet after we walked by the sparring ring where Ciaran whipped new recruits into shape. His brutal methods got the desired results, but I would not be subjecting her to him.

Yet.

We had gone down to a secluded area by the river with some practice swords and our vargr, who were growing more and more consumed with one another. It was similar to the wayPyrope had been with Rian’s vargr, Éadrom. Like they were pair bonded.

We had spent a couple of hours going over her training and what she remembered of it for me to get an idea of where to begin training her. Now we were sitting across from one another. It was midafternoon, and the sun was blazingly hot, so it took a lot of stern discouragement to prevent Summer from stripping down naked. As much as I would have enjoyed admiring my claim displayed all over her, I would also feel inclined to kill someone else if they happened upon us and saw her fully nude.

I had a feeling that now that we were in a warmer part of the Autumn Court, keeping clothing on her in public was going to be a little trickier.

I caressed her mental shields again, trying to help her become aware of what she had constructed unconsciously in her mind, so she could take control of it. Her brows condensed in focus as she tried to examine these barriers that felt much like thorny walls.

I should have known that it would be a need to heal that would make you connect with me like this.

Her responding thoughts were a jumble of emotion and vague whispers.

Try again,I urged her.

“I am! I have no idea how you do this so easily. It feels like shouting at a wall,” she complained aloud.

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