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“Marikanea.”

“Gaia mentioned that kingdom to me.”Her turquoise gaze brightens.“To meet my biological family?”

My smile is wry.“Actually, they’re already here.”

She shoots upright, sitting on her knees.“Here?”

“I just found out myself.My father told me the news.”

Narrowing her eyes, she scrutinizes me.“Would that have been while you and Kian were giving each other black eyes?”

A smile plucks at my lips.“Black eyes?I’ve been told mine are the color of a gray sky.”

She draws a circle with her finger around her eye.“Bruises.”

“Why?”I tease.“Were you worried about me?”

She crosses her arms.“Why did you fight him?Was it because he took me to the village?”

Reaching out, I untangle her arms.I like to look at her pretty breasts.“He endangered your life and disrespected my wishes by taking you there.”

“I’m a big girl, Aruan.I know how to take care of myself.”

I push up on one elbow.“That’s my job, even more so when there’s an assassin on the loose.”My tone is cold and hard, making it clear how serious I am about this.“In the future, think twice before you let Kian convince you to make wrong decisions.He’s lucky my father showed up when he did.Next time, my brother won’t walk away.The only way he’ll leave that clearing is if he’s dragged out by his feet.I can assure you that Vitai will have his work cut out for him if that happens.”

She scoffs.“For grown-up men, you’re behaving an awful lot like children.”

I shrug.“That’s how we settle arguments in Lona.”

“With your fists?You could simply lash at each other with your powers, throw sticks or something at one another with your minds.”

That makes me chuckle.“Our powers aren’t allowed in the clearing.That’d be cheating.”

“What’s the point of giving someone a beating if Vitai is going to heal him anyway?”

“The point, my sweet, is showing that I’m stronger and that I won’t hesitate to kill anyone, family or not, if their willful actions cause you harm.”

“That’s harsh.”

“That’s our law.”I sit up and get off the bed before offering her a hand.Now that the brutal pleasure of our physical bonding has faded, the violence runs hot in my veins again.“Come.We smell like we’ve been fucking.We’d better have a bath before we question the palace inhabitants, unless you don’t care if they know what we did.”

She rolls her eyes, climbs from the bed, and takes my hand.“You’re crude, you know that?”

My smile is forced this time, my mind already on the next steps.

First, I’m going to interrogate a few people and get Kian to read some minds.Then I’m going to have a word with the human woman, Sandy, for the way she spoke to Elsie.And then I’ll take Elsie away, making sure she stays out of Lona for a while.

I won’t rest until I find the piece of swamp slime who sabotaged the bridge, the traitor who’s trying to kill my mate.

Chapter14

Elsie

The visitors from Marikanea—my biological family—have retreated to rest.Aruan tells me they were eager to meet me, but in light of what happened, the king convinced them to let me find my bearings first.I believe it’s just an excuse to win time to investigate the sabotage.Kian is already reading the minds of the palace residents, and Aruan is questioning everyone in case someone saw something.

So far, we’re none the wiser.

The plan was to leave for Marikanea after dinner tonight, as per my family’s request.Apparently, they don’t want to leave the kingdom unattended for too long.Seeing that the queen is organizing a banquet in their honor, she managed to twist their arms into leaving tomorrow morning.