Page 200 of A Vow of Embers

But Quynh trusted him. She ... loved him.

That should be good enough for me. I opened the door far enough so that he could see in.

His eyes widened, and then he began to laugh so hard that he was bending over at the waist, putting a hand against the wall for support.

Turning to Xander, I said, “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be waiting,” he said with a smile that made me dizzy all over again.

I stepped out into the hall and closed the door. I didn’t want my husband telling his brother what we had just been doing.

Although I was sure he could figure it out.

“Was there something you needed?” I asked Thrax, feeling very, very embarrassed.

He wiped tears from his eyes. “It can wait. As you said, he is indisposed.”

Still chuckling to himself, Thrax began to walk down the hall.

“Wait,” I said.

Pausing, he looked at me expectantly. “Yes?”

“Is she ... is she well?” I didn’t say Quynh’s name. I didn’t know who might be listening.

The smile changed from one of amusement to one of fondness. “She is.”

“Will you tell her ... tell her that I love her? And miss her?”

He nodded.

Taking in a deep breath, I said, “Tell herLialoves her. And misses her.”

Thrax immediately understood that I wanted things to change between us and he got my implication. That I was giving him permission to use my name. Which he did. He smiled at me and said, “I will, Lia.”

“And ... I’m sorry. To you and to her. I shouldn’t have reacted the way that I did when I saw ...” I gestured toward the bracelet still on his wrist.

“I would have thought less of you if you hadn’t,” he said in a serious tone. “You showed me your loyalty and love for her. Two things that you and I have in common.”

It still wasn’t easy to hear him say that, but I nodded. I would have things be better with us for Quynh’s sake. I went over to Io’s room and knocked. I hoped she was back by now.

“If you’re looking for Io, I just saw her in the courtyard.”

“Thank you,” I said. He smiled again and then left. I glanced back at my own door. I suspected that Xander would be pleased that I had been nicer and apologized to his brother but not at all happy if he knew that I was about to go and murder his sister.

Chapter Sixty-Five

Io, Suri, and Ahyana were sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard, and every single one of them looked guilty when they saw me.

“What did you do?” I tried not to yell.

Io raised her chin defensively. “I thought you and my brother should be on equal footing. You were once influenced by the honeyed wine, and it only seemed fair that he experience it as well.”

That hadn’t been the reason and we all knew it. She had wanted him to be overcome by lust and seduce me and for me to give in so that we would break the physical connection.

Io on a mission was a dangerous thing.

And I’d never let her know how close she had come to succeeding.