Page 127 of A Warrior's Fate

“Are we pretending your mate doesn’t exist again?” Ameera said.

“Nothing’s changed.”

“The other day you two couldn’t even touch, and you were just all over each other.”

“When we figure out what we want to do with our bond, we’ll let you know.”

Sentiments Kai had held onto since they’d met.

As Isla heard the shuffling of footsteps like they were preparing to go, she grabbed the doorknob. All eyes went to her as she pulled it open.

As she had when she first met them at the bookshop, even if she’d gotten to know them each a little bit more, she felt like a fish out of water.

But even with that, Isla met Kai’s eyes and said, “Let me come with you. I want to help more. It’s why I’m here.”

Her proposal drew looks from the others. She may have even called them impressed.

Kai’s jaw tightened. “This isn’t worth you getting discharged from the warriors.”

“I think I can decide that for myself.”

Ameera let out a cough and looked away as she smiled.

Kai wasn’t nearly as amused. “You’d be sent back to Io. And I need you here. I need you safe.”

Isla ground her teeth, understanding the full picture. Kai was lucky he was right. That she likely would be discharged for going out without being ordered to. That she would be sent back to Io. And right now, that was the last place she wanted to be. At least, until she’d gotten the full gist of his theories.

Isla folded her arms and leaned against the doorframe. “Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?”

Now Kai smiled, and every step he took in Isla’s direction matched with a firm beat of her heart.

He angled himself to her in a way that had her blocked from the view of others as he always seemed to do. Shielding her however he could from the world. His world.

When he took her face in his hands, Isla was ready, already rising onto her toes. The kiss this time was sweet and simple. They knew what anything further would bring about.

And as those strings between them spun, as they weaved and wound and sang, as she relished in the comfort, Isla’s mind drifted to the man, coated in the blood of his wife, who’d return to an empty home tonight. Who’d had every wondrous thread snapped. Had his soul cleaved in two.

Because of this thing.

That had her body sighing. That had her mind spinning. That had her feeling something she’d never experienced for a man she barely knew. The one she was meant to spend eternity with. That she would need to give up life as she knew it to be with.

But those thoughts disappeared as quick as they’d come.

When they broke apart, Isla looked up into those eyes and traced his nose down to the lazy smile on his lips, just enough that she could see that dimple in his cheek.

Her heart gave an unsteady beat, and she cleared her throat, placing her hands on his arms as she said, “Don’t give me a reason to go after you. If I feel anything wrong—”

Kai chuckled, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs. “I know.” He leaned down to press his forehead to hers. “Thank you.”

She knew it wasn’t just for staying put, but for all she’d done—for his home.

“It’s why I’m here,” she repeated, making a point of it.

Kai’s grin grew, and she was about to kiss him again—something she was realizing she didn’t want to ever stop doing, ever—when two hands suddenly clamped down on his shoulders.

Kai and Isla stepped apart, though he kept a hand on her back. Rhydian was behind them, and Ameera already stood by the door.

“If you want to just deal with this now,” he jeered, “we can give you two a few minutes.”

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