Page 92 of Drawn in Blood
Ember choked back tears. “But how?” she whispered. “How did you convince him? He must know you’re my friend.”
“It doesn’t matter how,” Killian replied, his throat bobbing. “Has anything ever stopped me before?” His smile lit up his entire face, seeming to warm every inch of that marble ball room. It was at that moment that she realized just how cold she had been for the last few months.
“You found me,” she whispered. Not a question.
Killian smiled lazily, a hand in his pocket and the other tracing the gold trim on the sleeve of her dress. He was so close to her she thought she might stop breathing.“I willalwaysfind you, Starshine,” he replied huskily.
“How long are you here?” she asked, as she looked around, keeping an eye on Helvig, who was still on the other side of the room talking to Malcolm.
“I go back after my uncle is done here, later this evening. What are you doing in a castle? And where’s Theo and your mum? What happened?”
Ember bit her lip and took a breath, then explained everything that happened almost three months prior. About how her mother had whisked her and Theo away without any explanation, how she was in a giant chateau on the edge of the city. About the mountains and the wards.
“I don’t trust him,” she whispered, not knowing who was listening. He seemed to have ears everywhere. “Something is going on, and I intend to find out what it is. I think this is who Rowan was talking about last year. I think this is who sent her to find the Book.”
“Rowan?” Killian asked, as he furrowed his brow.
Ember nodded. “She’s here,” she replied. “Rowan is here. She lives in the castle and has been working with Helvig.”
“She’shere?” he asked, a little louder than Ember would’ve liked. She shushed him, and he quickly snapped his mouth shut.
“Something is going on, and I think Rowan knows what it is,” she whispered. “That’s why I’m here, to try to get a feel for what he’s hiding.”
“Ember, you don’t need to get tangled up with Helvig,” Killian warned. “From everything my uncle has said, he’s a dangerous man.”
“I am forever entangled with him unfortunately,” Ember sighed. “He’s my grandfather.”
The shock on Killian’s face made it evident that he didn’t know—maybe no one did. “But if the Jarl is your granda’,” he whispered, “then that would make you?—"
“Don’t say princess,” she breathed, eyes closed. She couldn’t stomach it, couldn’t make sense that it was who she was.
“Well,” he sighed, “this changes things, now doesn’t it?”
“It doesn’t,” she replied. “He is hiding something, and grandfather or not, I’m going to find out what it is.”
As if on cue, Rowan waltzed into the room, and Ember stiffened as she saw Veda and Oryn at her side. The twins' smiles looked almost feral as their eyes locked with hers, and it took everything in her not to recoil as Oryn leaned in and kissed both her cheeks.
“I didn’t want to believe it when Father said you were here,” he grinned, “told him he had lost his mind. But I stand corrected.” His eyes roved over her like she was a mouse caught in a trap, and his grin made her stomach turn sour.
Killian let out a low growl, stepping closer to Ember, and looked like he was ready to slit Oryn’s throat clean open. Rowan let out a laugh as she trailed a hand along Killian’s shoulder, rounding him to stand between them.
“Simmer down, boys,” she said, as she pinned them both with a dark look. “Now is not the time or the place.”
Ember bristled, watching as the muscles in Killian’s jaw twitched, nostrils flaring as Rowan’s hand made contact with hisbroad shoulder. Oryn seemed to take a step back, holding his head just a hair higher as he kept his eyes on her.
“I was wondering how long it would take you to get here Vargr,” Rowan said, as she inspected her nails. “I will say, I expected better timing honestly.”
“Our dear cousin has been quite busy.” Veda smiled, then turned to Ember, who was looking between the three of them with a furrowed brow. “Has he not told you what he’s been up to?”
Against her better judgement, Ember shook her head.
Veda let out a breathy laugh as she grinned. “Killian has finally come around to the family business,” she cooed. “It took him a few tries to prove himself, but he’s finally got the hang of it.”
Prove himself.
Ember felt bile rise in her throat as she swallowed dryly. Killian’s face was stoic, but she could see the amber flash across his eyes as Oryn inched closer.
“Rafe better watch out,” Oryn grinned, “or Uncle will have a new favorite son.”
