Page 19 of The Stolen Bride

Viktor sat on a trunk pulled next to the bed, twirling two daggers in his hands. Bright morning sunlight filtered through holes and seams in the tent.

I’d slept all night while a berserker played with his weapons a few feet away? Yikes.

The vestiges of the dream faded to mist, to be dissected later. Right now, the king glared bloody murder at me. I poured through my options: run, run fast or run faster.

“Don’t,” he barked, predicting my decision to go with option three. He set the weapons aside, rested his elbows on his knees, and linked his fingers.

Okay. All right. Withoutthe blades, I didn’t mind staying put and looking him over. He’d bathed, his hair damp and his clothes clean. Today, he wore a plain black T-shirt that covered his wealth of tattooed strength. His eyes possessed no glaze or gold, and his glare became a soft stare.

Unfortunately, the lack of aggression caused me to notice details I’d previously missed. Like how long and thick his lashes were. The perfect frame for those wild green irises. His aquiline nose complimented his stubborn jaw. And his lips. Wow. They couldn’t be as luscious as they appeared. Nothing could.

My skin flushed. He was something far better than beautiful right now. He was crazy sexy hot. “Good, um, morning.”

Silent, he held my gaze, daring me to look elsewhere.

Trembling a little, I smoothed locks of hair from my face and realized I still wore my tank and shorts. But dang it, the daggers I’d stolen were missing. Well, not missing, per se. He’d been twirling them a moment ago. I recognized the carvings on the handles.

Irritation bloomed. “Are you just gonna ogle me or is there something you’d like to say?”

“After a night spent in contemplation, I have concluded you are not my firebrand,” he stated simply.

I almost snorted. “Okay, sugar pop. Whatever you need to tell yourself.” Mental gymnastics couldn’t hide the truth for long. “What’s for breakfast?”

He snapped his teeth at me. “I cannot deny your presence comes with certain…benefits.”

“Yeah, you’ve already mentioned the fog and the whispers, neither of which I understand.” But. Hmm. My dream. In it, I always dealt with a fog, too. Could our experiences be connected? “But don’t forget, I’ve seen what happenswhen you’re trantruming and I approach. I’m one hundred percent your firebrand.”

Shock of shocks, he let the taunt slide. “A thick, agitating fog has enveloped my mind for centuries. Some days it’s thicker than others. A necessary evil. Through it, the Valkara helps me see what I need to see. Our relationship. The future.” He paused. “The end. Does that ease your confusion?”

“Yes, thank you.” Finally! Information for the taking. “I’d argue that there’s no such thing as a necessary evil, but that’s a conversation for later.” As for his relationship, it was clear the Valkara intended to wed him, his firebrand or not. I figured the primordial of primordials was the strongest original, aka Vik, the last of them. Of course she wanted him.

So. If he wanted her too, as he claimed, why hadn’t he pulled the trigger already? “To me, you don’t exactly look helped by the fog,” I pointed out.

He inhaled with authority. “Enough about her.”

“No, not enough. As your definite firebrand, I demand answers.”

“Very well,” he replied without missing a beat. “I’ll answer your questions, but in return, you will answer mine.”

I noted the satisfaction in his voice and realized he’d herded me precisely where he’d wanted me. “Fine. Agreed.” It wasn’t like I hadn’t already told him all kinds of things, free of charge. “Who is the Valkara that she gets to wed the primordial of primordials?”

A muscle jumped in his jaw. “The guardian of Starfire.”

Oooh. “The glowing stone that crash-landed on Earth has a living, breathing otherworldly protector? I should have guessed.”

“Starfire wasn’t a stone but a collection of eggs encased inside a hard outer shell for travel through the galaxies. In blood and pain, those eggs were fertilized and birthed within us that day on the battlefield.”

That made an awful, terrible sense. “So the Valkara isyourprotector, too.” A woman who wielded more power over him than I’d realized.

Clipped nod. “Ja.” Frown. “Nem. I amherprotector.” He thought for a moment, his frown deepening. “It’s complicated.”

Exactly what Ben had said about Kami. “What has Val–theValkara told you about the future?”

He pursed his lips. “She has said there are certain things we must do for the greater good.”

Oh, yeah. Theremustbe a connection between our fogs. No reason to mention it, though, and every reason not to. “I’d love to learn more about that.”

“It revolves around protecting our species, our homeland, and subduing the beasts within us.”

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