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Speaking of which, I shivered as Ambrose moved closer to my back, pulling me against his chest and trailing his mouth up the column of my neck.

Scion and I looked at each other in the darkness, and his eyes flashed again. Like a challenge, beckoning me forward.

I shot a hand out and pulled Scion closer. He didn’t seem to need much encouragement. He kissed me hard, parting my lips easily as I whimpered against his mouth.

Ambrose nudged the underside of my jaw with his nose, and I turned my face slightly, meeting his lips instead.

Fuck, I wanted to sleep every night like this–sandwiched between them and passing lazy kisses back and forth. But how far could I push this–push them–before their individual love for me was outweighed by their mutual hatred of each other?

Aiming to find out, I trailed my fingers down my own stomach to the hem of my blouse, and began to inch it slowly up my skin.

A distant shout of laughter stilled my hand. We all froze, as if turned to stone, and waited to see if the voice came closer.

It did.

The laughter grew louder as someone approached, followed by the voices of several men and the clopping of horses' hooves.

I pivoted, disentangling myself slightly and tried to sit up. As one, both Ambrose and Scion threw an arm over me, clamping me back down to the ground.

“Our horses are hidden,” Ambrose breathed in my ear. “But we’re not.”

I gave him a sideways look, wondering why on earth it mattered.

But as the voices grew nearer, the question answered itself.

These were soldiers. They wore the same black obsidian armor Scion typically wore, and looked to be escorting several carriages. Almost like…

“A royal procession,” Scion breathed as they trundled past.

My heart beat sped up. That couldn’t be any of the Everlasts, which could only leave one person.

“Idris is traveling with a procession as if he’s the rightful king?” I growled low in my throat, surprising myself with my own reaction. “Where do you think he’s going?”

“Only one place he could be going,” Ambrose said. “To Overcast. And the fact that he’s forcing the party to ride through the night instead of making camp makes me think it’s urgent.”

“Serious, but not urgent,” Scion corrected. “If it were a truly urgent matter he’d shadow walk. If he’s bringing the carriages he’d still be trying to keep up appearances.”

“For whom do you think?” I asked. “He usurped you all from the throne—at least, temporarily. Why would he care about the rest of the family?”

Scion chewed on his lip. “Technically, he usurped you, and us by extension. He may have no issues with the rest of the family, and is possibly looking for allies.”

His words rang too true for words and I grimaced, watching the procession. There were so many carriages that it might take a full twenty minutes for them all to pass, and in the meantime we needed to keep our voices low and not be noticed.

That was apparently easier said than done.

“Halt!” A shout rang through the woods, and was echoed by all the other soldiers down the line. “Halt! Halt! Halt!”

The carriages rolled to a stop and I peered into the darkness, unable to tell what they were looking at.

“There’s something over here, my lord,” one of the guards shouted. “Something in the water.”

“Shit,” Scion swore under his breath. “We need to go, now.”

“But what about the horses?”

“The horses are what they’re looking at, rebel. They’ve likely spotted the movements in the water, but we need to go.

“Let me see!” A familiar voice cried, opening the door to his carriage with a flourish.