Page 129 of Kiss of Fire

“He saved my life. And he rescued you. Hard not to like him.”

“Yeah. He grows on you.” She sat on the edge of the bed. “But seriously, you’re a hero too. Shade told me you dragged yourself for more than a mile to get back to the castle. You could have died.”

“It was nothing. I needed the exercise.”

“You tried to stop the kidnapping. You realised it wasn’t Shade who came for me after the demonstration, didn’t you?”

“The aura wasn’t right. But I should have known sooner.” The smile dropped from his face. “If I’d put two and two together earlier, I could have prevented the whole thing.”

She laid a hand on his arm.

“Stop it. Because of you, Shade knew where I was. He came to get me. And he brought my mother.”

“I know. The Vulcani council have been discussing it.”

“How do you know?”

“One of the girls in the kitchen told me.”

“You’re getting visits from the kitchen girls?”

His brow wrinkled.

“I seem to be getting a lot of visitors. I didn’t realise so many people cared about me.”

“And do these visitors happen to be mostly female?”

“Aye, now you mention it.”

Raya rolled her eyes.

“Big surprise.”

Tor took her chin and turned her head so he could see her ears.

“Nice. Do you like them?”

“Well, they don’t itch anymore.” She rubbed the pointed tip self-consciously. “I’m still getting used to them.”

“I think they’re cute. Do you want to see my scar?”

He pulled his top up and rolled onto his side. A reddish circular mark blemished his otherwise smooth skin. Raya touched a fingertip to it gently.

“No permanent damage?”

“The arrow missed every major organ. Dumb luck.”

“It must have hurt like hell.”

“Aye. It did. But they’ve got great healers here.” He straightened his shirt. “I hear you’re the Fae Queen now. Should I be bowing?”

“Not you. You get special dispensation.”

“I’m honoured. So what will you do?”

“My mother will rule for me as regent. She could use help, if you want a job as an advisor?”

He shook his head.

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