Page 112 of A Warrior's Fate

So, she made a haphazard excuse that no one really cared about and walked out.

It wasn’t hard to get away. Eli was just a bit too drunk and disoriented from whatever had happened to follow her body weaving through the crowd, and Kai, the only person who could maybe track her as she’d masked her scent, couldn’t rush off without making it obvious. She found herself in the courtyard again and fighting a chill in the air. The shawl she had didn’t do much.

Her eyes trailed over the expanse of the stone, hedges, flowers, and grass, and then over the doors of the multiple buildings. It was possible that she’d get in trouble for it, but she went for the one that caught her attention most, the fourth door of the Eastern Hall, and walked through it. From there, she found some stairs and walked up those, too. She ended in one of the suspended hallways, the one that connected the East and the North.

She could see down into the city from one of the windows here. Nearly all of it if she craned her neck enough. For a minute, she almost felt like she was home again. In Io. In her apartment window, watching the bright lights of the Imperial City gleam against its gold. Maybe she’d try calling tomorrow—Adrien, Sebastian, or her dad. She’d just need to find a long-distance service that would reach them, and then hope one of them was home to pick up.

She remained like that, staring out the window and drawing patterns over the stone’s edge for nearly twenty minutes before that pull came.

Not the alpha.

Just Kai.

“You’re never going to change, are you?” His voice had come from a different angle than the one she’d climbed from. He knew this hall, obviously. He must’ve gone a faster way. One that didn’t venture through the cold courtyard.

She glanced at him and then back down at the city. “You should be thankful I left.”

“And why is that?”

She rolled her eyes at his smugness. There was no point in hiding, she knew he could feel it.

“If you were ready to kill a man when there was no chance of anything happening between us, I can have feelings about someone you apparently have quite a history with and know very intimately.”

Kai stopped a few feet away. “Who told you about Amalie?”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said, turning to face him now. “Why did you meet with her?” She narrowed her eyes as if daring him to utter the words “pack business”.

“It’s really something that wouldn’t interest you. Unless you care about the state of our trade with Mimas.”

“I could.”

She didn’t.

Crossing her arms, Isla lifted herself from the window and paced a few steps away. She didn’t know if she could go back there. Do this. Watch Kai dance with and entertain all of these—

“You look beautiful.”

Isla froze, her heart stumbling a beat. She spun to examine his face. The words had been nearly breathless.

“Davina is a miracle worker,” she joked before gesturing down to her gown, the jewels. “And you have good taste.”

Kai laughed. “I really didn’t think it through.”

“How so?”

“All I can think when I look at you, all I can think when I’m down there, is what I would do if it weren’t for the bond.”

Isla felt that tether tremble, just the slightest bit. Felt a cruel rise beneath her skin. She bit down on her lip.

“Like what?”

“What?”

“What would you do if it weren’t for the bond?” Her voice was as silken as the fabric upon her skin. “Tell me.”

Kai’s brows raised, a challenge, and Isla swore uncertainty crossed his face. They hadn’t played this game in a while. It was dangerous. So, so dangerous.

But she didn’t care.

---