Page 65 of The Shattered Kingdom
Kie nods, his lips flattened into a straight line. What’s he thinking? I wonder what Mason’s thinking, too. My mom used to make my brother and me hold hands and share compliments whenever we got on her nerves with our fights, and I’m contemplating making Kie and Mason do the same. I would if we weren’t in a time crunch.
Mason disappears, taking his letter with him, and Kie retreats into the kitchen. He fills a platter with food, then slides it in my direction. It’s a healthy breakfast, full of protein.
“Eat up,” he orders. “We have a long morning ahead of us.”
We plan to be back before anybody notices we’re gone. Kie and Mason don’t want the council, Anox specifically, to know we’ve left. Anox will throw a fit, and Kie and Mason don’t want to risk anybody finding out. It would be too easy for an opportunistic faerie to take advantage of the kingdom being temporarily left without leadership.
I’m shoving the last bite of food in my mouth when Mason returns, now dressed in matching black attire. I want to joke about it, but now doesn’t seem like the right time. Things are too tense, too awkward. I wish I had been paired with mates who don’t have such complicated relationships with their families. It’s not something I’m familiar with, and I don’t know how to address it.
“Let’s go,” Mason says.
He throws his and my bags over his shoulder. I extend my arm, not needing him to carry my things, but Mason doesn’t hand it over. If anything, he looks amused by the mere thought of himnotcarrying my bag.
“I wish I had that treatment,” Kie mumbles, brushing past me.
Mason shoots him a sharp look. “Sleep tonight and I’ll consider it.”
Kie secures his bag over his shoulders before ordering Mason and me to stand aside so he can open a portal. He’s opened them a few times in front of me. The one after finding Lill was violent, and he practically poured magic into the ground to open the portal to the gods’ realm.
This time, it’s closer to what Lill did. There’s no abrupt or aggressive tearing of the world. The air begins to ripple, then splits open like a zipper unlatching. Instead of the black couch I’ve been familiar with, I’m now staring into thick woodlands.
Mason takes my hand, his gloved fingers curling around my palm, before pulling me through the portal. I squeeze my eyes shut as dizzying weightlessness hits me, and I only open them once the smell of earthy dirt hits my nose.
Kie has joined us, and the portal is gone.
I look around, an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu hitting me. The last time I was in these woods, I was angry, hungry, and so fucking scared. Kie and Mason were still planning on giving me to Zaha, and I was half-convinced they were going to rape me. I thought Lill was totally innocent.
Now we stand here as mates. Mates who don’t get along, but mates nonetheless. Queen Gitta is dead, my best friend is a wanted murderer, the shifter who tried to kill me begs me to share a bed with him, and Kie’s refusing to sleep out of fear my heart will stop beating.
I turn toward Mason. “Are there any shifters nearby?”
He shakes his head, the column of his throat bobbing as he gulps. He’s nervous. I don’t blame him. This will be his first time seeing his father since he was sent to live with the faeries, and emotions are high after finding that letter.
“My senses are better in my animal form,” Mason admits.
“I see.” I reach for my bag, intending to pull it off hisshoulder so he can shift.
Mason shakes his head and pulls the bag out of my reach.
“What’re you doing?” I ask.
Mason meets Kie’s eye over my head, the pair having a silent conversation. I hate it when they do that. I don’t appreciate feeling left out, and I glare at the underside of Mason’s chin until he shifts his attention back to me.
Mason clears his throat. “You’re afraid of my animal form.”
What? Is this man stupid?
“I’m afraid of dying even more,” I say. I had to explain this to Kie after he confessed to meeting with Jackie, and I hope this is the last time I have to say it. “I don’t understand why I need to keep explaining this.”
Mason hesitates before setting the bags on the ground and removing his clothes. I used to avoid looking at him when he stripped, but now I let myself stare. Mason hands his clothes to me, and I shove them into his bag before stepping back and gesturing for him to get to it.
His shoulders pop out. I turn away. I’m not interested in seeing, after all.
Several seconds pass before Kie taps my hip. “It’s safe to look.”
I appreciate the warning, and I steel myself as I lock eyes with the giant shifter. Mason’s terrifying, his animal form large, intimidating, and incredibly fucking deadly. I can’t be scared of him, though. We already have enough working against us.
“Hit him.”
