Page 66 of MidKnight
“I feel it too,” Declan said. His look was pure anguish. “I hate that I’m missing something because whatever it is, Avia’s the one who ends up hurt.”
I knew he’d been close to Avia when we were growing up. The sad brokenness of his tone mirrored how I felt inside, shredded at the thought of Avia getting hurt. Of Avia being tormented. Even if mother had stolen Avia from her family whoever had taken her … they hadn’t taken my sister gently. They’d sent a dragon to terrorize her.
I slid my arm around Declan’s waist, flicked my hand to send Blue flying off, and then I hugged my knight. “We’ll find her,” I promised.
“We better,” Declan’s voice grew bitter. “I don’t want my damned mother barging in on this.”
“Connor told you?”
“We always tell Quinn everything, so he can spread the word quickly,” Declan said. “I just … I need to figure this out, Bloss. We need to get her back. We’re Avia’s family. Blood or not, kidnapping or not, you and I …” he leaned away and met my eyes as he whispered, “you and I are her family.”
I nodded, fighting tears. My stomach felt sick with the thought that it had been days since she’d been taken. “I know.”
The problem was … we were at an impasse. “Everything about Avia’s kidnapping just doesn’t make sense. I mean, who in the seven kingdoms would want to steal her?”
Declan pulled me in harder. “Her family would. Whoever Queen Gela took Avia from. The problem is, we don’t know who that is.”
And that was the question we needed to answer.
Chapter Sixteen
Connor collected me from Declan’s room when his meeting was done.
Declan and I had sunk into his books, flipping pages, listless and desperate for answers at the same time.
When Connor saw us, he said, “Enough! Declan, Ryan wants to go over some unusual activity near the border with you so get your figures for troops from the last flyover together. Bloss, come on, I want to show you something and then I need to update you on the rest of today’s meeting.”
I stood woodenly and followed Connor, who waved Blue backward, shooing the bird until he stayed in Declan’s room.
“Nope. No birds.”
Instead of leading me to his room across the hall, he led me to a secret passage, waving off the guard who tried to follow us.
“Subterfuge, sorry,” he told the guard. Then he leaned in and whispered, “We’ll stay within the walls, but we’re going to the north wing where the duchesses and duke are staying. You can alert the guards in that area.”
Then Connor led me through the passage, shut the door behind us, and shoved me against the wall.
“Connor! What’s going—”
His mouth was on mine in a second, no preamble. He kissed me hard.
Gradually, my shock turned to willingness but the second my tongue moved against his, Connor pulled away.
“I need to show you something,” he whispered.
“Okay.” I was a bit confused by his rapid changes of pace. “A good something?”
“We’ll see. Duchess Malia felt off today. And I want to check on Aiden, obviously,” he ran a hand through his curls, suddenly looking nervous. “I didn’t hit your head when I pushed you against the wall, did I? I’ve just … I’ve always dreamt about doing that.”
A grin lit my face. He was so sarding cute and concerned, running his fingers over the back of my head. The alpha move was definitely out of character.
I grabbed his hand and placed it on my breast, giving him a saucy wink. His playful smile back was adorable.
“You didn’t hit my head. You wanna do it again?”
Bam.My shoulders smacked the side of the passageway. Connor’s eyes narrowed and heat filled his gaze. This time I knew what was coming and I wrapped my legs around Connor’s waist. We kissed until we were breathless.
He nipped at my lip and groaned. “Gah, I don’t want to stop.”
