Page 376 of Primal Bonds

“My thanks,” Dion said. “I won’t forget this.”

Fear beat in his blood. If Adric’s sister was right, then Rosana was at the night fae court…or worse, Blaer’s captive.

The fae who amused herself by capturing fada and forcing them to live out their lives in iron cages.

He spun on his heel, rapping out, “Let’s go,” in Portuguese to his men.

“Sim.” Rui was right with him. “I know a way inside New Moon.”

“Wait.” Marjani raced after him. “Take me, too.”

“No.” He kept moving. Adric’s sister was an unknown quantity—who knew what she’d do once they were in Virginia?

She kept pace with him. “My bike’s on the next block. It will only take me a minute to get it.” She grabbed his arm. “You owe me, my lord. Remember?”

His stride checked. The den of river fada who’d kidnapped her had included two former Rock Run men, and Dion would always wonder if he could’ve somehow prevented the attack. He’d promised then that if Marjani ever needed anything, she had only to ask.

“Come, then,” he growled. “But you’ll be under my command, understand? You’ll do nothing without my express permission.”

“Understood.” She hurried down an alley, her mate following.

“I’m coming, too,” he declared, and a low-voiced argument ensued.

Dion didn’t wait to hear the outcome. He broke into a jog for the motorcycles, the other men at his heels. Let Marjani keep up if she could.

But as they turned onto the I-95 ramp, she zoomed up on a slim black bike built for speed, her long-limbed mate’s arms wrapped around her waist, and with a terse nod at Dion, fell in behind him and his men.

Chapter 27

She was in.

Blaer’s mouth curved as she followed Olivier down the wide staircase to the starkly elegant foyer.

No windows, but the fae lights had been shaped into disembodied torches. They floated near black marble walls, their imitation flames flickering purple and blue. The floor was a white-and-black checkerboard marble, and in a far corner, a lush arrangement of creamy flowers and vinca spilled from an onyx bowl on a stainless steel stand.

A lean, black-haired woman with a face like a fox’s—all high cheekbones and pointed chin—stepped out of the shadows. “Welcome home, daughter.”

Blaer’s smile warped into something dangerous as the butler faded discreetly into the background. Now, Fleur claimed her. The woman who’d sent her to live with the ice fae when she was just a child, tearing her from everything she knew with no warning.

“Mother.” Blaer descended the last step to the foyer and they air-kissed.

Fleur wore heels and a chic silver shift that showed off her long legs. Funny. Blaer had never realized that she’d unconsciously emulated her mother’s signature style.

Unlike Blaer, though, Fleur wore the high priestess’s black star around her neck. So her mother’s scheming had paid off.

“How kind of you to greet me,” Blaer murmured as she stepped back.

A shrug of her mother’s bare shoulder. They both knew kindness had little to do with it.

Fleur tipped her head to one side. “How is your father, anyway?”

It was Blaer’s turn to shrug. “Sindre suggested I…leave.” As her mother surely knew. “So here I am. And you?” Her gaze raked over her mother’s slight body, taking in the bite mark just above the silver dress’s low neckline. “How is the prince?”

As a ten-year-old child, she’d clung to Fleur, begged to be allowed to stay. But her mother had been adamant that she leave. It hadn’t been until Blaer was an adult that she’d understood why she’d been sent to Iceland. Her mother had caught the eye of Prince Langdon, and she wanted no reminder of her half ice-fae child at the court.

Especially a child sired by the ice fae king himself.

The ice fae hadn’t known what to do with Blaer, and her father had taken only a slight interest in her. When she’d tried one too many times to feed on the other fae at his court, Sindre had forced her into a tower with only goblins and the occasional elf for company. The fae governess he’d provided to educate her had only ’ported in for a short period each day.

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