Read i 0e57392105b539eb Online
Authors: Unknown
from the back wall stopped her. Kai slept on the sofa between the
bookshelves, his dark hair fanned over his face. Tucked into the crook of
his neck, Hamlet squeaked and grunted, nudging Kai’s jaw with his pink
nose.
“Hamlet, sit,” Kai mumbled, his eyes still closed, and his voice husky
with sleep.
The
bekshin
plopped his butt down on Kai’s shoulder, his twin tails
wagging excitedly.
Ivy’s heart flopped over in her chest and melted. “I see you two are
getting along.”
“He’s still a beast,” Kai answered groggily, but he scratched under
Hamlet’s chin with his forefinger. “How was your meeting, dove?”
“It was good. Wyn’s okay, a little stiff, but he’ll come around. What
about you? How was your morning?”
Swiping his hair back from his face, Kai yawned as he rubbed the
tiredness from his eyes and looked up at her. Ivy knew the moment his
gaze landed on her bruised cheek, because he sat up on the sofa so fast
he sent Hamlet rolling down his chest and across the cushions.
“What happened?” he demanded, shoving to his feet and stalking
toward her, all traces of sleep gone. “Who did this?”
“Kai, calm down, it’s not a big deal.”
With a shaking hand, he held the side of her face, urging her to him
so that he could brush his lips tenderly against her swollen cheek. “Tell
me what happened.”
“I was sparring with Sion, and I guess I’m a little off my game.” She
hadn’t been able to use her abilities to slow down her perception of time,
and she’d been unusually distracted. All in all, not a good showing for
her. “It’s not his fault. These things happen.”
“Where is he?” he asked, his tone deceptively calm.
“Not here.”
“Tell me.”
“Kai, let it go. I’m fine.”
“Tell me, dove, or I’ll find him myself.”
Knowing he could—he had an entire army at his disposal after all—
Ivy closed her eyes and released the breath she’d been holding. “He’s in
the Valley, but Kai? Don’t kill him.”
A soft wind breezed across her face, and when she opened her eyes,
only she and Hamlet remained in the library. Bending at the waist, she
groaned at the ache in her back, and scooped the piglet into her arms.
“That went well, huh? Do you think he’ll hurt him too much?”
Hamlet grunted twice and pressed his nose to her cheek. “Yeah, me, too.”
Ivy whirled around when a loud crash rent through the library,
echoing off the ceilings and vibrating the floors. Stars, she’d never get
used to people popping in and out of existence, especially when they
reappeared so…violently.
Kai had Sion trapped against the wall by the throat, leaning over him
until their noses almost touched. The rage in his eyes held Ivy immobile,
and anything she might have said lodged in her throat.
“If you
ever
touch her again, I will end your pathetic existence.”
Ivy held her breath, waiting for Sion to explode, and when he didn’t,
she examined the scene more closely. Whatever magic Kai used, it
pinned the shifter to the wall completely, rendering him unable to move.
It didn’t, however, prevent him from speaking.
“Get the fu—” Sion choked and coughed when Kai applied more
pressure to his throat.
“Don’t speak. It inhibits your ability to listen, and I want to make
certain you remember this conversation.”
Ivy finally found her voice and unstuck her feet from the floor.
Rushing forward, she curled her fingers around her mate’s forearm and
tugged, but she might as well have been pulling on a two-ton boulder
for all the good it did.
“Damn it, Kai, let him go.”
“Don’t fret, dove. I won’t kill him, because that would upset you.”
His fingers flexed around Sion’s throat momentarily, his entire frame
vibrating with fury. “I simply want to assure we understand one
another.”
“Now who’s acting like a barbarian?” She loosened her grip and
rubbed his forearm in calming strokes. “I’m not some damsel in distress
who needs saving. I’m a soldier, a warrior, and like it or not, a few bumps
and bruises come with the job description.” Setting Hamlet on the floor,
she pressed in closer to her mate’s side and wrapped her arms around
his waist. “Let him go, Kai.”
Slowly, his fingers unfurled from Sion’s throat, and the corners of his
eyes softened when he turned to look at her.
“You’re right,” she pressed, “it would upset me if you killed him. I’m
also not keen on the idea of you maiming him, either.”
With a frustrated grunt, he flicked his wrist, sending Sion sailing
across the room to crash into one of the many bookshelves. “Very well,
my sweet dove, but if he harms you again…” He trailed off, leaving the
threat open-ended.
“I know.” She’d have to find a new sparring partner. Better yet, it
would probably be safer for everyone if she spent some time alone in the
training sim. “Consider me properly avenged.”
“You mock.” With a wave of his hand, he vanished Sion from the
library before the guy could even make it to his feet. “He’s back in the
Valley,” he said, answering Ivy’s unspoken question.
“Good idea. I think you both need some time to cool your jump
drives.”
Gathering her into his arms, he rested his chin on top of her head and
sighed. “I have no idea what that means, but if you’re implying we need
distance to calm ourselves, you would be correct.”
Echoing his laughter, Ivy rested her uninjured cheek against his chest,
thankful the crisis had been averted, at least for now. “That’s what I
said.”
“It would have been simpler to let me kill him.”
Ivy relaxed into the king’s embrace, and a shiver of pleasure rippled
down her spine when he began stroking her hair. “Probably, but I kind
of like having him around. Plus, this won’t be the last time I get knocked
on my ass during training.” Tilting her head back, she glared up at him.
“I have to train, Kai. It’s who I am, and you can’t freak out every time I
show up with a bruise or a scraped knee.”
Staring back at her, he lifted his hand to lightly caress the side of her
face with his fingertips. “I make no promises. You may be a warrior,
dove, but you are
my
warrior, my queen, my soulmate.” After several
heartbeats of silence, he offered her a concession. “You may train with
Tira.”
She didn’t remember asking for permission, but she tried to put
herself in Kai’s shoes. While she doubted she’d have overreacted to a
simple black eye, the idea of someone seriously hurting him filled her
with a cold rage that sank to the pit of her stomach.
Tira would be a worthy opponent, and she trusted the captain
wouldn’t take it easy on her just because she was the king’s mate. “And
what happens if she clocks me a good one?”
“I suspect you’ll both be bruised and bloody at the end of your
sessions. I won’t like it, but I will try to understand.”
Ivy blinked several times. “How is having my ass kicked by Tira any
different than getting my ass kicked by Sion?” It sounded sexist as hell,
and she didn’t like it. “I can take care of myself.”
“I don’t like him touching you,” he answered, the undercurrent of a
growl in his voice.
“Oh.” Realization dawned. “Oh!”
He didn’t want her sparring with Sion, because he didn’t want
another male touching her, not because he doubted her mad skills on the
mat.
That
she understood. Thinking of another female touching her mate,
even in the most casual of gestures, awakened a nearly uncontrollable
jealousy.
“Okay, big guy.” Arching her neck, she rubbed their lips together and
grinned. “Deal.”
“Thank you,” he breathed before capturing her mouth in a sweet,
lingering kiss. “Come, dove, a warm bath and a bit of hollygrass oil will
ease the discomfort.” He looked down to where Hamlet ran circles
around their feet. “And bring the little beast.”
Laughing, Ivy bent, catching the piglet on his next rotation, and lifted
him off the floor. “Can you just poof us to the bath?”
Kai frowned. “Yes, but I thought you didn’t like to be transported.”
“I don’t really.” It made her dizzy and a bit queasy to her stomach. “I
like the new guard even less, though. He’s waiting out in the hallway.”
“Has he done something?”
She rubbed Hamlet’s belly and shook her head. “No. He just gives
me a weird vibe.” Lowering her voice, she looked up, watching Kai for
his reaction. “I don’t trust him.”
Technically, Wyn hadn’t done anything wrong, and he said all the
right things, but something about him set off all her alarm bells. Maybe
because she knew he’d been sent by the elders to keep an eye on her.
Whatever the reason, she preferred to keep her distance as much as
possible.
“Who is he?” Kai asked, his gaze flickering toward the closed door.
“Wyn-something Nightstar. I can’t pronounce it.” She furrowed her
brow and scrunched her nose. “Why can’t he have a normal name like
everyone else?”
Surprisingly, Kai laughed at her. “My full name is Kaireedtheryl
Ignarian Blackthorn. It’s a tradition from the old days to give our
children lengthy names, because the ancestors believed an enemy must
know our true names to invoke magic against us.”
“Is that really true?”
Kai shook his head. “No, dove. It’s just a superstition that has
survived through the ages.”
“Yeah, well, I still don’t like him.”
“I’m not familiar with the name, but I trust your judgment. I’ll ask
Tira to research his background.” Winding his arms around her again,
he pulled her close and kissed her temple. “Close your eyes, dove. Let
me care for you.”
Warmth and safety surrounded her, and Ivy did as he asked without
argument. She had friends, people she cared about, and some she even
considered family. Never had she
needed
someone, not the way she
needed Kai.
She was barely treading water, struggling to keep herself from
drowning, and if she wasn’t careful, she didn’t doubt she’d soon find
herself head over feet in love.
“I’m not doing it.” Ivy crossed her arms over her chest and barely
resisted the urge to stomp her foot like a toddler. “This is ridiculous.”
“The celebration is in two days,” Cami reminded her. She sat curled
in one of the armchairs in the quarters Ivy shared with Kai, both Olive
and Hamlet sleeping peacefully in her lap. “Do you want to make a fool
out of yourself in front of everyone?”
Ivy felt sick. There would be hundreds of people in the dining hall,
everyone there to see the king’s new consort with their own eyes, all of
them judging her. Obviously, she didn’t want to embarrass herself or her
mate.
“My lady,” one of the female attendants with more bronze than black
in her long hair held up yet another dress for Ivy to consider. “This one
is quite lovely, and it matches the color of your eyes.”
It was indeed a beautiful dress. Dark green with bell-shaped sleeves
and gold trim around the collar and hem, it would certainly make an
impression at the celebration. It was also the ninth dress she’d been
presented with, and honestly, they all looked the same to her.
Cami wrinkled her nose. “No, that’s no good. It would look awful
with your skin tone.”
Ivy didn’t have a clue about any of that stuff, so she deferred to her
friend’s expert eye. “This is hopeless.”
Giggling, Cami eased the piglets out of her lap and rose to her feet.
“Honey, relax. We’ll find the perfect dress, and everything is going to
just fine.” She turned to the attendant and winked. “Isn’t that right,
Luci?”
“Yes, Lady Cami, that’s correct.” With a warm, motherly smile, she
draped the green dress across the mattress and turned to take Ivy’s
hands, squeezing them affectionately. “Calm yourself, child. We have
time, and no matter what you choose, you will be stunning.”
Ivy sucked in a deep breath, held it for a heartbeat, and released it in
a rush. “Thank you, Luci.” Curiosity got the better of her, and she had to
ask, “Will you tell me your full name?”
“Lucileendra,” she answered readily.
She rolled the name around on her tongue a few times and smiled.
“That’s beautiful.”
Since Kai had told her about the Xenon tradition, she’d asked both
Tira and Lorcan for their full names. She’d also inquired about Kai’s
parents, as well as the other elders, and a few random staff members
she’d passed in the corridors. At first, the long, complicated monikers
had seemed entirely strange, but the more she learned, the more
fascinated she became. Each name she learned was more unique than the
previous one, and she wondered if any two people on the planet shared
the exact same one.
She’d never given much thought to her own name. It was just