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If the fae king saw me as a symbol he could control as he saw fit, he wouldn’t want me to give the hybrids that hourglass. No, he’d want to make sure the fae got their hands on their amulets and the hybrids were left to rely on fae benevolence.

I snarled.

“You’re finally thinking it through.” Lorian’s voice was a rough growl behind me. This time, he’d moved the way he usually did.

Silently.

I slowly turned. “You didn’t have to do this. Why did you?”

He shook his head. We weren’t going to discuss it.

I’d work with what I had.

“Youcan’t tell me where the hourglass is. But who else knows this information?”

Pride flared in his eyes, although his face remained expressionless. “Your brothers will be in the fae lands by now. I’m due for a message from Marth tomorrow, so I suggest you add a message for him to give to your brothers.”

Because they might be able to learn the information Lorian couldn’t tell me. Not without betraying his brother.

My chest had tightened, and I forced myself to take a deep breath. “I will.”

“You need to get some sleep,” Lorian said, still studying my face. “We’re training in the morning.”

“What do you mean?”

“Galon won’t be pleased to learn you haven’t been training. It’s time you got back to work. I’ll take over for now.”

I didn’t want to be that close to him. If I told him that, Lorian would only laugh at me. Or give me that blank stare, perhaps with a raised eyebrow that invited me to ask him if he cared.

“Fine.”

He nodded, turned, and stalked away.

I watched him go for long enough that he could probably feel my eyes on him. My gaze slid down to his ass, and I spun, facing the water once more.

Figure it out.

It wasn’t the first time he’d said those words. He’d said the same when he’d agreed to pretend we were already allies before we met the king. And when I’d asked him why he’d chosen to take me directly to the hybrid camp, he’d told me I wasn’t ready for that conversation.

I could accuse Lorian of many things, but I could never accuse him of wanting me to be weak. Time and time again, he’d insisted I learn to wield my power, train to defend myself physically, and conquer my fears. He’d continually pushed me to do better.Bebetter. And even now, with the ashes of our relationship dusting the ground between us, he was still ensuring I had every scrap of information I needed to make the best decisions for my people.

My eyes burned. And then I was striding back to our fire, back toward the fae prince who still made me questioneverything. I didn’t want him. Had come to terms with the fact that he was poison to me. And yet.

He lifted his head, and his gaze pinned me in place. His eyes…gods, his eyes were glowing with repressed power, and tiny sparks jumped from his skin. I could feel that power from here, brushing against me like a well-fed cat.

“Why, Lorian?”

His eyes shuttered. “My people owe yours.”

“Is that the only reason?”

Silence.

Shaking my head, I opened my mouth to press him further.

The sound that came from him was guttural—part growl, part groan. In one of his too-fast-to-see movements, he was suddenly standing in front of me once more. He buried his face in my neck, and I shivered as the stubble along his jaw scraped my skin.

More. I wanted more. I always would when it came to this man. And that was what made him so fucking dangerous.