Page 72 of A Heart of Sin and Evil

I smile at the thought, imagining how protective Selliss would be over me, even more than he already is. I picture him holding our kids, playing with them, putting them to sleep. It’s a wonderful image.

“I would love that,” I say.

“Motherhood has been so kind to me,” Lorelai says. “And it brought me and Slyth even closer together, which I didn’t think was possible after we mated. He truly is an amazing father.”

“Zalith, too,” Rory says. “I’ve never seen him happier than when he’s spending the day with the kids.”

“Are you worried about him?” I ask, still unable to take my mind off of where our men are.

“I am.” She looks at the ground. “But I know that he would never put his life in jeopardy. He knows me and the kids need him. He won’t let himself get hurt. And he will make sure his men arrive home safely, too. He is a good Prince.”

“And Lasta is the Captain of the Royal Guard, so if anyone knows what they’re doing, it’s definitely him.”

“But they all hate Selliss… What if they don’t look out for him?”

“Oh, honey, they would never do that. They aren’t bitter. Please don’t ever think that. They are good men, I promise you,” Lorelai says, pain in her eyes.

“It’s just that, your mates are all best friends… and Selliss was their enemy up until last week.”

“Was their enemy. The past is the past. Selliss is proving himself by helping them keep that town safe, and they won’t overlook that. Trust me,” Rory says.

“Okay…” I nod.

“Look, why don’t we take our minds off of this? Let’s play a game with all the kids. Hide ‘n seek?” Krista says.

“I think that’s a great idea. Krista, why don’t you be the one to hide since you can’t exactly run around seeking right now? We can help the kids find you.”

Krista rolls her eyes but stands up, hobbling her way down the hall to hide.

“We’ll give her a minute before we tell the kids, she’s a bit slow,” Lorelai jokes.

I giggle, watching Krista waddling away.

Despite the shitty situation, I wouldn’t want to spend this nerve-racking time with anyone other than these women. All I can think about is how thankful I am to finally have human friends again.

And the best part is that they all have naga mates, so they can give me all the advice I could possibly need. Not one of them is ever going to judge me.

What more could a girl ask for?

29

SELLISS

Icannot believe they actually went through with it.

Someone is talking to me, but I cannot really hear them, because all I can see is the horror of the mutiny around us.

Bile rises into my throat at the sight of several naga who have been beheaded and dismembered, their now formless, misshapen bodies piled up in the center of the town we just arrived in.

“There’s more of them up ahead,” Lasta says, drawing his sword.

He points at the mob that is trampling down everything in its path a few miles away from us.

“They’re moving from the center of the town towards the forest, to the next town over. We cannot let them get there,” Lasta murmurs and looks back at his men.

He doesn’t need to give them any orders. He simply nods and they nod back and spread out, disappearing between the houses, and into the forest surrounding the town.

“You should go back to the palace.” I turn when I hear Lasta speaking. And there, coming up behind us, covered in swords and knives, is Zalith.

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