Page 105 of The Shattered Kingdom
My heart lurches. “You took his hand?” My voice is no louder than a whisper.
Mason shakes his head, the space between his eyebrows furrowing. “He chose to forfeit his hand engaging in a fight with me.”
That’s not how the faeries are going to see it. We’ve been trying so hard to appease them, and Mason’s fucked it all up.
I honestly don’t understand why Zaha put him in charge. The shifter doesn’t seem to have much interest in being king, and Kie’s admittedly the more levelheaded of the two. He makes better decisions. Zaha replaced a strong, caring leader with a volatile shifter who couldn’t care less about the faeries.
Zaha’s playing a cruel trick on us, and I’ve yet to understand her reasoning.
Mason turns, rubbing his cheek against my palm. “Have you had any thoughts about Anox’s offer?”
“What offer?”
“To shadow him and eventually take over the kingdom’s finances. I assumed Kie told you.”
I jerk up. What? “I haven’t heard anything about that. I’d love to.”
I’m ready to work again, to have deadlines and projects and a manager to complain about. Anox is significantly more competent than my boss, Mark, but I already know he’ll give me a lot to bitch about. And I’m exceptionally good with numbers.
“When do I start?”
Mason stares at me, his nose wrinkling. “Whenever you want, I suppose. I didn’t think you’d accept.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s tedious work, and Anox is a nuisance.”
I shrug. “I like finances, and he’s not any more of a nuisance than you.”
Mason huffs.
I admire the side of his head. He has nice ears. They’re proportional to his head, and they’re surprisingly soft. My lips curl as I recall tugging his ear when he was in his animal form. I hurt him, and he didn’t retaliate in the slightest.
I don’t know why that makes me feel so good. I’ve spent a long time being afraid of Mason, and I’m ready to move past it. We’re going to be stuck together for the remainder of our lives. I should get comfortable with each of his forms.
“How many people have you killed?” I ask the question before deciding if I genuinely want the answer.
“Not nearly as many as everybody makes it out to be,” Mason admits. “If you include the shifters we encountered while traveling to the portal of the gods and meeting with my father, nine.”
Nine. My mate has killed nine people. I’m not sure if that’s more or less than what I expected. It’s not zero, that’s for sure.
“I’ve never killed anybody,” I admit.
Mason’s lips twitch. “I’ve gathered as much.” He wraps an arm around my waist, holding me in place as he sits up. “But Kie has killed five, so don’t let him fool you into thinking he’s innocent.”
I glance at the doorway behind us, still waiting for Kie to reappear. What’s taking him so long? Maybe Mason lied about hiding Lord Bishop in there. I wouldn’t put it past him.
I drag my nails down Mason’s head, scratching his scalp. He practically purrs, and he tightens his grip on my waist with a quiet moan. I shift my weight, trying to see if he’s aroused, but there’s nothing hard beneath me. This isn’t turning Mason on, which honestly makes it weirder.
“We should check on Kie,” I say.
I’m getting nervous.
Mason leans forward, connecting his lips to my cheek. Then he stands, bringing me with him. If he thinks I’m heavy, he doesn’t show it.
“Kie doesn’t need us checking up on him,” Mason says. “He’s a big boy.”
As if on cue, Kie comes storming out of the doorway. I can tell by his hurried, stiff movements that he’s pissed. Mason wordlessly sets me on my feet. I step between them, not in the mood for a fight.
