Page 87 of Enchanted Crown
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he bit out. “Still have the scar to show I learned that lesson.”
“You attacked me with my back turnedandcut my hair, what did you expect?”
On her way to the exit, she stopped by me, reached out and grabbed me by the neck, only to pull me in for a quick and harshkiss. And then she was gone, leaving the ring as quickly as she’d joined us.
What was that for?I sent her.
She looked over her shoulder in my direction but responded through the bond,Because I felt like it.Don’t tell the others, but I am going to go take a nap now. I haven’t trained in far too long.
I laughed.I won’t.
“Lucky prick,” Emric laughed as he looked at her and back to me.
I knew. I so knew. I spun to Malachi. “Were you the man she made cry in this ring?”
He cocked his head. “No, but I have had a few close calls, if I’m being honest.”
“Are all the women in Dra Skor trained like that?” one of the other men asked curiously.
“No,” he bit out. “They have the option to if they’d like to. But Esta as the heir apparent was required to train starting at ten.”
“Ten?” Dex whispered.
I mourned for young Esta. A child who was barely allowed to be one at all because of the weight of the throne she carried on her shoulders.
“She mastered a sword before she even had her wings,” Malachi confirmed. “A human warrior before she became a shifter one.”
I could be jealous. Malachi was an attractive enough man, and he was the reason Esta had mastered the sword. Their training against one another from a young age. He and Esta were not merely friends, they were closer than that. But rather than listen to the urge to be jealous of Malachi and how long he’d been a part of Esta’s life, the role he played in getting her on the throne, I chose to be grateful instead. I reached out and patted him on the arm. “I am glad she had you, brother.”
“She needs us both,” was his response with a smirk, “in very different ways.”
“How are things with Amory anyway?” Emric asked him as he threw his arm around his shoulder.
Malachi let out a long sigh. “I don’t even know.”
“Women, eh?” Emric laughed.
They were nothing if not complicated creatures. Luring us to frustration and devotion both.
Two days later,I was with John and Emric in their rooms while the rain blocked out the sunset. It had been a gloomy day, despite helping Esta with her palm magic that morning and helping to heal five more shifters.
Malachi and Esta were on a patrol and meeting with the other evening patrols. We still hadn’t found Morana, or any clues as to which direction she’d gone once her scent had disappeared. Once again, all our leads had dried up.
Yet this time it felt far less dire because we finally knew the face of our enemy. We might not know where to look, but we did at least knowwhomto look for.
“I am going to propose to Esta,” I said, apparently interrupting John and Emric’s discussion about the healings to take place next.
“You don’t say,” Emric said, voice drenched in sarcasm.
“Soon,” I clarified.
John took down his glasses to look at me. “Why do you seem a bit resigned to the fact when she is your soul mate?”
I took a moment to think through my answer, walking to John’s balcony doors, the rain droplets sliding down the glass. “I was hoping that Morana and this threat to Dra Skor would be resolved and taken care of by the time I proposed. But just like with our bonding, it seems this is going to take longer than we wanted. In the meantime, we can’t just stop living our lives.”
John said wisely, “Happiness and fear coexist in all of us. Theissue lies when the fear takes over enough that the happiness is harder to reach. Or when the fear begins making all the decisions and doing all the talking.”
I inhaled deeply. “I also feel as if I have been living the best of both worlds these last months. I know that when we have finished healing Dra Skor the rest of you will return home to Wylan.” I paused. “I know this is where I belong. I know my home is with Esta, wherever she may be. I also know I will forever have a home in Wylan.” I had to take a moment, the emotion thick in my throat. “I would not have been able to do any of this without those of you who were willing to come with me. And I dread the day you all sail for Wylan without me. Still, I know this is where I belong.”
