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The taste of earth and moss and the salt of the winds above the sea coat my tongue, fill my lungs, a soft pair of lips grazing the side of my neck. Black strands of hair tickle my cheek, the sensitive skin along my collarbone and my sternum as he moves down inch by inch. Heat blows over my peaked nipple, sending a flare of fire through my core.

I’m liquid starlight floating on the ocean, no, fire. I’m fire. And my body is alive with desire.

“I’m not sitting front row in your daydreams, Ayna.”Kaira’s reprimand quenches the warmth between my legs, and I could swear the earth is taunting me with the tiny puffs of dust rising as I shift my feet in request for it to finally do its task and swallow me.

“I’m not daydreaming.”

“Definitely not.”Kaira shoots me a grin. “And most definitely not about Myron.”

Groaning my frustration, I lift my dagger, coating it in silver power as I lift it over my head and attack.

Clio is ready. Of course, she is. That female is never flabbergasted by my shifting moods and seemingly random attacks. As if she has a sixth sense for what it means to be in a weird place with her mate.

Perhaps I should ask her sometime.

“If you’ve come to annoy me, you can turn around and leave right now.”I don’t even look at Kaira, channeling my anger and embarrassment into my magic instead.

Clio whoops her approval when I crack her shield wide open with the next blow.

“You’ve been secretly practicing, admit it.” A laugh bubbles up her throat, spilling into the arena like wind chimes.

I hate the cheerfulness of her tone. Hate how I want to laugh with her.

I’m supposed to be mourning my mate.

I can barely think the word.

He’s not lost for me. Not in the way of a true un-mating. He’s still there, inside me. Yet, I can’t sense the bond. I can’t tug on our connection and summon a flicker of the emotions I’m used to.

It’s overwhelming and the dryness of a desert both at once.

I stillhavea mate. Why am I going through the un-mating symptoms?

“I thought you’d never ask.” Tori steps into the arena, a shadow in wicked blue and dark brown garments of thefinest making. His auburn hair is tied back at the nape of his neck, and his eyes sparkle with the glimmer of the sun.

“Get the fuck out of my mind.”

Kaira attempts a response of outrage, but Tori is faster.

“Not a chance, Ayna.” He stalks to Clio, pressing a kiss to her temple, fingers delving into her hair in such a proprietary way I believe he’s marking his territory so the guard won’t take a wrong glance at Clio, but that’s not it. Not at all. I can see the warning in his eyes when he finally lets go of his mate and approaches me with arms crossed over his chest.He’s reminding me he’s not fair game, no matter what the un-mating process is doing with me.

“Silas warned me you might be asking exactly that question.” He jerks his head at the stack of logs at the edge of the arena, where I sat with Silas the first day I left my room, and starts walking.

Kaira and Clio follow, leaving me with the choice to remain where I am and ogle the guard, or join them.

I do the latter, climbing onto the edge of the lowest log and sheathing my daggers.

“Did he have an answer, or was he merely being a smartass?”

That costs Tori a chuckle, Clio a frown, and Kaira a twist of her lips.

“He’s suffered through true un-mating. Don’t make fun of something you can’t begin to fathom.”

“I’m not fathoming this?” I glance around, pretending to be checking whether there’s someone else he might be talking to. “If I remember correctly, I’m the one whose mate mark has been burned away and who’s now going through exactly what Silas predicted.

The patience innate in Askarea’s general must be Guardians-given because I can’t begin to think the things I’d already have done had someone else acted the way I’m acting.

I can’t help it, though. My body is a battlefield of a different kind, and if the mating bond is still there, my heart must have been ripped out.