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“That’s not all.”

I raise my eyebrows, picking up my cup of tea and taking a swallow.

“The queen’s harem went missing—supposedly, they were taken right out of the queen’s bed, though no one saw it at all.”

I nearly choke on the tea.

A rapist and the queen’s entire harem all go missing on the same night?

There’s only one person with both the motive and power to do such a thing, and he wasn’t in my bed this morning when I woke.

Temper steals a slice of bacon from my plate. “People are saying Des did it.”

Just as they blamed him for the soldiers’ disappearances. Only now…now I’m not sure where to begin and end defending him.

“Where is he anyway?” Temper asks.

I shake my head. “I don’t know.”

She sits back in her seat, a smug little grin on her face. “That cheeky bastard did it, didn’t he?” she says. “I think I like him.”

I feel Des’s magic lasso me, tugging me and my seat backward.

Speaking of the cheeky bastard…

“Shit,” I curse under my breath, grabbing the edges of the table as my crossed ankles slide off it. The chair I’m sitting in begins to slide away from the table in jerky fits and starts.

Temper pauses. “What is it?”

My blood quickens. “Des is back.”

Chapter 43

It’s not just that Des is back, it’s that he wants me to train yet again, hence the magical leash all but dragging me out to one of the queen’s gardens. It’s only once I arrive that the Bargainer’s magic dissipates.

I catch sight of the man himself leaning against a tree. In front of him, he holds the pommel of a sword like one would a cane, his outfit today 100 percent human, from his Kiss T-shirt to his leather pants and black steel-toed boots.

“Morning, cherub,” he says, stepping into the sunlight, looking far too chipper for his own good. He tosses me the sword.

“Morning,” I say back cautiously, catching the weapon with ease. I’m wearing a flimsy fae dress and thin leather-and-lace sandals. From my attire alone, I can tell this training session will be tougher than the others.

I watch Des as he heads to the side of the gardens and procures another sword for himself.

“What?” he says, his back to me.

I’ve long since stopped wondering how he can figure out my expressions when he’s not even looking at me.

There’s no sense beating around the bush. “Are the rumors true?” I ask.

“What rumors?” He swings the sword in his hand as he approaches me, loosening his wrist.

Only once he’s mere feet away does the weapon drop to his side so he can pull me in for a quick kiss.

I close my eyes at the rush he sends through me. He tastes like secrets and deception, my wily king.

I pull away, my eyelids lifting slowly. “That you’re responsible for the disappearance of the queen’s harem?”

He stares at me for a long moment, those silver eyes ever enigmatic.