Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
I knew this.
I’d even seen digi-mag spreads on some of their properties.
They were sublime.
That didn’t make me feel better about my Gayle.
I shook that off and inquired, “Did Aleksei mention the whole weirdness around him and Laura, Cormac and Gayle and me and you?”
He reached out, wrapping his fingers around my wrist to pull one of my arms from being crossed on my chest.
He then commenced playing with my fingers while watching himself do it, another odd intimacy that was magnificently affecting.
Eventually, he looked at me.
“Once we learned Gayliliel was his mate, Bainon, Mac, Aleksei and I discussed this. Mac discounted it. I don’t think he’s discounting it now.”
He certainly was not.
“What about Bainon? Does he have a thing for our friend Monique or something?”
“We discussed that too. And no. He—”
He cut himself off.
“He what?” I prompted.
“This is highly confidential,” Tanyn warned.
I rolled my free hand (he was still holding my other one). “Right, right. Confidential. Blah, blah, blah. Who would I tell?”
“Your mom.”
Hmm.
“Your dad.”
Hmm again.
“Laura. Gayle. Monique,” he went on.
“Even if I did, they wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“Catla,” he said low.
I ground my teeth before I capitulated.
“Oh, all right. I won’t say anything to anybody.”
“His mate is Aleece.”
My mouth dropped open.
Aleece was Princess Aleece, Aleksei’s sister.
I closed my mouth so I could use it to ask incredulously, “How doesn’t she know it?”
“He’s spelled her so she won’t.”
Oh my gods!
“Why the hells did he do that?”
“To begin with, he wasn’t ready to go there. He reached puberty before she did, so he felt it when she would not, and even at that young age, he was well aware he’d one day be king. Therefore, the choice of his queen would have wide-ranging ramifications and had to be considered carefully.”
“So he spelled her?”
“Yes, he spelled her.” Tanyn confirmed. “As they got older, he didn’t release her because he wanted her to have time to live her life and do her thing before negotiations between the two royal houses of two realms could initiate. One can say, he hasn’t been enjoying that very much.”
I actually grimaced, not even knowing how it felt to have a fated mate.
But I couldn’t imagine Aleksei ever allowing Laura to sow her wild oats before he claimed her.
Though, it had to be said—especially by me, who had my fate taken away, perhaps not by destiny but instead, my father—it was a nice thing to do.
Tanyn kept going.
“While that was happening, with very bad timing, because Bainon was ready to go for it, Aleksei got involved with Bainon’s sister, which made a mess of things, especially when they got engaged, and then rather spectacularly un-engaged.”
“This is a muddle,” I remarked.
Tanyn agreed with a nod of his head. “Now, Bainon is stuck, because the beings in Dawn’s Break are furious Aleksei threw over their golden princess. He can’t release Aleece from the spell and announce she’s suddenly his fated mate and their future queen. It would be a PR nightmare.”
It really would.
“Totally a muddle,” I mumbled.
“Indeed.”
We both fell silent.
I broke it.
“So…what now?”
“Now, my beautiful Catla, we go to dinner with your mother and father, Aleksei and Laura, and my friend Nayden—”
“Your friend Nayden?”
“Yes. We met at The Eyrie.”
The Eyrie was the military academy he went to.
“Now he’s a captain in the Red Dragoons,” Tanyn told me.
“Impressive,” I said, and it was.
The Red Dragoons were the premiere infantry unit of Sky’s Edge Army. They used to fight on horseback but were also highly skilled in fighting on foot.
Now, their skills encompassed everything—land fighting, aerial battles, you name it. They could leap from a craft or moto-bike, in or on which they were attacking, and fight beam to beam, saber to saber or hand to hand.
His mouth cocked and he said, “The being most impressed with Nayden is Nayden.”
I sensed this was friendly ribbing.
And why was I feeling all squishy inside not only in the face of seeing Tanyn had a friend it was clear he liked a lot and was close to, but also that I’d get to meet him?
Damn.
I was fading fast.
“And we should go. They’ve probably already started gathering for drinks,” Tanyn said.
When he made a move to get up, I caught his hand.
He stopped moving and regarded me.
“Okay, so it seems clear I have to stay here,” I began.
“Yes, that is clear,” he stated inflexibly.
Let it go, Catla.
I let it go and remarked, “But there are a whole lot of bedrooms in this place.”
“Your point?” he asked.
I looked over the back of the couch to the bed, then to him.
I verbalized this look. “I’m in yours.”
“No. You’re in ours.”
I pulled my hand from his. “Tanyn—”
“Someone text commed you to tell you that you were next up for murder.”
“Yes, I know. But—”
“No fucking buts, Catla. Are you fucking joking with this shit?”
At his words and tone, his obvious sudden anger that was so totally not him, I slammed my lips together and stared at him, watching his eyes seeping straight to pissed-right-off demon red.