Page 92 of Blue Embers
“So you told them about the compound?”
“I did. Draven is speaking with Baliss. He’s still the regent in Nytho. They’re trying to find records of the compound as we speak in case it was erected by the Order. They’re more equipped on their end than we are here. As for our regent, Kasper, he’s alert to any strange activity. We have friends everywhere, but we also have enemies. There are rats.”
“How do we know who to trust?”
“We don’t.” Killian smiled at me, stopping to turn me toward him. “But we’ll handle it.”
“If Draak are so reluctant to start an actual war, why would Ares have betrayed you?”
Killian sighed, raising his brows like the subject was a burden to discuss.
“Ares was young on Kumir. He barely lifted a hand in the war. He desires power, I suspect, because he doesn’t know the true cost of it. Not the kind he’s after.”
“What’s the cost?”
“Everything.”
I was quiet for a moment. The more we talked, the more real the idea of war was. Killian was right. We were playing a game and the game had us all standing on a wire, trying not to slip one way or another. The tension was so high I could have nicked it with a butter knife.
“Well,” I exhaled as we came to a cabinet where Killian’s dagger was safely concealed behind glass once more. “I guess I’ll have to learn to play.”
I glanced at the floor where I’d stabbed myself, but with Killian by my side, I was able to focus on him saving my life rather than the puddles of blood that had pooled around my body on the marble.
“I believe you’re rather skilled at playing these games already,” Killian commented, staring at the knife with a sense of bitterness now.
“There was a journalist,” I explained. “Just before you got here. I had an unpleasant conversation with him.”
“About what, love?” Killian asked, turning his attention toward me.
“He asked questions about us. I could tell he was fishing for something incriminating.”
“Let him fish. Roaches might survive impossible odds, but that doesn’t make them any less squishable.”
“That’s sort of along the lines of what I told him,” I chuckled.
Killian grinned, watching me closely before he glanced at the floor where he’d found me those weeks ago. The smile withered away, but rather than scowl, he looked almost at peace. I squeezed his hand, stepping close enough to him for my body to touch the length of his arm.
“It’s behind us,” I whispered. “All of it.”
“I know. I’ve accepted that I almost lost you. More than once, I might add.” He looked at me, his gaze an endless pool of blue fire. “I wasn’t thinking about that.”
“Then what are you thinking about?”
Killian’s eyes did that thing again. They slowly fell down the length of my body in an almost hungry manner, his lungs filling as if he was taking in my scent.
“The fact that you’re mine forever,” he murmured. “And now that I’ve seen this wonderful accomplishment done, all I can think about…” he leaned in, speaking quietly into my ear. “Is taking this absolutely stunning dress off of you and celebrating our small victories.”
I quivered, a wave of electricity vibrating through every inch of my body. Killian raised his hand slowly up my waist.
“We should probably stay through the event,” I said, despite how much I wanted to strip him of his clothes right. “It’s our event after all.”
“The message is here. Now the event itself seems insignificant. I’ve been away talking far too much business the past few days.”
“At least meet with more of the press. The idea coming from you might seem more meaningful and I’m sure you’re sharper with your tongue than I am.”
Killian smirked, his gaze moving to the skin of my chest. “That I am,” he whispered, his hand pressing lightly to the mark on my waist.
Suddenly a ripple of sensations fluttered through my veins, touching me in places that made my cheeks flush. My breath shook and once more I found myself biting my lip to keep from reacting in a way that others would notice.
