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His grip on her nape lingered, thumb stroking just below her ear, an idle, absentminded caress that saidminewithout a single word.

He finally turned toward Ren. Not with anger. That would imply Ren mattered.

No, the look Skye gave him was something else entirely—bored amusement, as if he’d walked in on a child getting ideas above his station.

“Skylen,” he greeted, voice a smooth, lazy drawl.

Ren straightened, eyes going cold. “Ren Blacksong.”

Taly felt the change before she saw it. The way Skye’s breath went silent. The way the fingers at her nape stilled, his entire body locking up.

Then realization flickered through his eyes—she knew the moment he placed the name.

Skye’s smile was slow in coming, but when it did, it was sharp enough to slice through bone. “Oh,” he murmured, soft as a promise.“I know who you are.”

From the table, Aimee’s laughter rang out—bright, delighted, and utterly unhelpful.

Taly could’ve strangled her. Sheknewthis had been the plan. To see if she could awaken that legendary Fey possessiveness, rile Skye into staking a claim.

She had absolutely no idea she’d just lit a match and tossed it onto dry brush.

“Stop it,” Taly warned, slapping Skye’s chest. Then again when he continued to stare poor Ren down like he was trying to decide the easiest way to dispose of a body.To Ren, she said a bit sheepishly, “I might’ve told one person about your uncle.”

Granted, it had been years later—that night in Della when Skye had tried to weasel his way back into her good graces with a bottle of brandy and a drinking game. But the story eventually came out, and Skye had just gone quiet—so terribly quiet. And then he’d promised to pay Ren’s uncle a visit.

Lucky for the uncle, the Seren Gate was out of commission for the foreseeable future, so she still had time to talk Skye out ofmurder. Ren, however, might be in danger, and he knew it. He’d already moved back a step.

“He’s all yours,” Ren said, holding up his hands. “All I ask is that you tell me where you bury the body so I can piss on his grave.”

That seemed to mollify Skye—somewhat. His eyes still gleamed, something dark and restless coiled beneath the surface. Like he hadn’tentirelydecided against violence, only whether it was worth the mess.

“Whew, what a night.” Kato popped between them. He downed the rest of Taly’s drink, ruffled her hair, and then clapped Skye on the shoulder. “Whatever this is, would it be possible to move it back to the table since the drinks only manifest when your lady love is near?And you,” he said, turning to Ren. “I think Aimee stole your friend.”

He pointed to the table where Swift was now sitting in Taly’s empty seat with Aimee draped over his lap.

“You’re welcome to join us,” Kato went on. “You can sit by me. Trust me, no matter how much my brother may want to kill you right now, he wants to kill me more. And I’m still here. You’ll be fine.”

Kato swept an arm across Ren’s shoulder, and Taly swallowed a laugh at his expression—wavering between humor, confusion, and a definite edge of fear at being sandwiched between two shadow mages.

“Us men,” Kato whispered drunkenly. “We need to stick together. We’ve got to hunt in packs, if you catch my drift.”

“I’m not sure I—” Ren began, trying to pull away.

Kato yanked him back. “Just follow me, my lad. Together we will conquer this bar. To battle!” And with that, Kato dove back into the crowd with Ren in tow, leaving Skye and Taly staring after them.

Kato was a lot of things. An asshole, a liar, a sadist. But he’d also just potentially saved them from a barfight and spending the rest of the night in lockup, so for now, she was grateful.

After a moment, Taly turned to Skye. “Sooo… what just happened?”

He leaned against the bar, every motion too measured. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Really? Because that was—and I mean this—the moststunningdisplay of alpha male posturing I’ve ever been lucky enough to witness.”

Was that color on his cheeks?

“If I didn’t know any better… Em, were you jealous?”

His lips thinned, eyes flicking downward. “What’s going on here?” He pointed to her breasts.