Page 32 of Forgotten Queen

Cole shrugged. “We’re linked. It’s barely a spider’s thread, but when you use a big enough pulse, I’m… aware.”

Should I be able to feel Cole the same way then?

Cole used my silence as a chance to carry me over to the bed. But from his grip and expression, he wasn’t looking to advance what we’d started in the bathroom. No, the male had a single-minded focus to see me rested and whole.

“I can bunk with Daphne,” I protested. I was fatigued, but I could sense I wasn’t about to pass out for four days again.

The single shake of Cole’s head told me what the response to that argument would be.

“Fine,” I said before he could open his mouth to say something all possessive likethere’s nowhere in this castle you’ll sleep except my room, which would be way entitled and over the line and make my stomach twist in ways entirely different from the way it had in the bathroom. “But I needactualclothes then.” I gestured to the black silk shirt. Which might have been a mistake because, in our little make-out session, several buttons had opened to the point I was nearly flashing my goods right at Cole.

The wolfish grin he cast over me said he enjoyed the view. But he didn’t deny the request. “Anything you want shall be yours.”

“Anything but answers,” I pointed out.

“In time, you’ll know all. Let that be enough.” A plea. A demand.

I sighed back onto the pillow, tossing an arm over my head. I was tired of having the same argument over and over again. “As long as I’m ignorant, I can’t be with you, Cole.” Maybe it was presumptuous of me. Maybe he’d laugh and say this was all physical, deny what I felt between us.

But he didn’t. I glanced up, shifting my arm higher.

He nodded.

Then he settled on the bed next to me. Not touching. Not pulling me in. The bed was large enough for both of us, yet my inner wolf howled at the distance.

“Do you trust me, Avery?”

Trust was complicated. Did I trust Cole with my life? Yes.

But could Ifullytrust him if I didn’t know him, secrets and all? No.

“Somewhat,” I hedged.

He didn’t protest. “Trust this, little wolf. You will be safe here, and whatever shreds of your trust or affection you choose to share with me, I’ll take until earn them all.”

But as I’d soon learn, not everyone was happy to have me here.

Chapter XVI

Thenextday,Iconvinced Cole to let me out to explore the city.

It wasn’t without an argument. First, that I shouldn’t go at all, then that he should come with me, then that if he couldn’t come, Hecate should.

But in the end, I won. I argued I wasn’t going to be cooped up in a castle (again), that he definitely had kingly duties to attend to, and that I didn’t need a babysitter.

“Besides, I’ll have Daphne with me, a proper shifter without any defects,” I joked to ease the tension riding his shoulders.

It had the opposite effect. “You have nodefects,” he hissed, “save a little too much stubbornness.”

I beamed at him. “Then if I have no defects, I’ll have no trouble protecting myself and can go out and explore the city.”

He acquiesced. The open air of the capital tasted like victory.

The truth was, I had a goal. I was going to get answers about this place one way or another. I hadn’t found Hecate since that first day, and though Cole answered some questions about the land itself, he was cagey when it came to how I fit in. Sometimes, when I pushed too far, he got an inconsolable look in his eyes that made my heart ache. It wasn’t him being manipulative, that I was certain of. But something had clearly hurt his past so deeply that even remembering it was painful.

I loathed seeing him in pain.

I’d gathered that the realm I’d stumbled into upon dying had been nothing more than a slight pocket realm, as Hecate had said. It was unclear how I’d even landed there, but I suspected it had to do with my connection to Cole. I’d thought that space was huge, but Hell itself was unbelievably vast. The true realm was so vast it bordered on endless. The capital was the main city, but there were others, though none especially large. While there was a degree of trade and commerce, Hell was not suited for stability. He alluded to the fact that, once, that had been different. Now, the city only managed a measure of peace because Cole was there to enforce it.

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