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‘Edored would never have stayed quiet about it if you sounded like a squeaky bagpipe!’ That argument didn’t seem to leave much of an impression, so I jolted up before he could strike back and added, ‘And if you sounded like a braying donkey, you wouldn’t even have wanted your voice back. You’d have dwelled in dramatic and mysterious silence forever while you quietly killed every single person still aware of the embarrassing truth.’

Convincing, he admitted, grin turning wry.

‘I’m a very convincing sort of person, Your Highness. So, are we going to make a plan?’

Why?A single sign; it looked like a challenge.

‘We’ll have ten days at most,’ I said quickly. If I just clung to that unpleasant new fact, he could hardly lure me into his bed before we’d figured out how we were going to handle it. ‘And we’ll travel more slowly with a larger group. Which means we need to have a clear idea of where we’re going, and—’

You’ve been working without pause for weeks, he interrupted. Although he lounged in that chair, a flicker of something sharper broke through the easy seduction in his eyes – like a honed blade slicing straight through lush velvet.Stop telling yourself the fate of the world is all in your hands. You need to breathe.

I couldn’t help glance at my hands, small and white-knuckled as I grasped the armrests harder than I’d realised. ‘I’m the only unbound mage we have.’

I’m the only half demon fae prince we have.He shrugged.Agenor is the only godsworn mage we have. Tared is … well, one of the few alves with a brain we have, supposedly. Naxi is—

‘I know, but that’s different!’ I drew in an exasperated breath, gesturing wildly at the world behind his bedroom walls. ‘Until we get rid of those damn bindings, no one else is going to take the Mother down and no one else is going to prioritise your voice either, so—’

Em, he interrupted, and somehow the sight of those two letters alone turned my insides to mush.Come here.

I clenched my fists, scowling at him. ‘I don’t think I should.’

He quirked up an inquiring eyebrow.

‘If I sit in your lap you’re going to be so stupidly seductive and …muscular,’ I grumbled, ‘and then I’m going to accidentally touch your wings—’

Accidentally, he repeated dryly.

‘—and then you’re going to make thatfaceand I’ll be on my knees before I know it,’ I stubbornly continued, ‘and then we’ll be fucking each other for two hours and we still won’t have a plan.’

He chuckled.I’ve yet to hear any negative consequences.

‘You’re not helping, Creon!’

I’m absolutely helping. Just not the way you want me to.

‘Sometimes I wish that well of wisdom of yours would dry up,’ I ground out, gripping the armrests even more tightly. His smile was a siren’s call, lethal yet irresistible like the songs that sailors heard on the Elderburg coast at night. ‘Can’t you help without ruining all my plans, in that case?’

As you wish.He sat a fraction straighter, unfurling his wings.But only if you come sit here with me.

‘No wing stroking,’ I said, sending him a warning glare. ‘Accidental or otherwise. And no smouldering faces either.’

Promise.Amusement twisted his lips.Unless asked, I’ll try not to appear in any way alluring or tantalising. Although it will be a considerable effort, of course.

‘Prick.’ But I gave in.

He didn’t seduce or tease as he pulled me into his hold, no quick kisses, no brushes of his lips over my forehead. He merely turned me around in his lap with an almost business-like motion, so that I faced the blank wall on the other side of the room, half an arm-length between us, my back towards him.

I wavered, pushing away a senseless sting of disappointment. ‘What are you—’

He wrapped his hands around my upper arms. His thumbs brushed over my shoulder blades, then pressed down simultaneously, finding the exact spots where my muscles had tightened into hard, painful knots.

Agony radiated down my spine and into my arms. ‘Ow!’

His breath betrayed a chuckle as he shifted his hands half an inch and repeated the action. I let out a frayed cry, reflexively bucking away from him – but he didn’t let go, keeping me in his lap as his thumbs continued to rub merciless circles over my shoulders, tracing the lines of tension until the pressure radiated into every fibre of my torso. Enough pain to leave me gasping for breath, the calloused pads of his fingers rough through my soft linen dress – but my muscles slowly surrendered to the force of his touch.

Blood flowed back into places where no blood had been in weeks. All those hours on rigid library stools … All those times I’d fallen asleep over my books, spine twisting into unnatural shapes as I sagged onto the reading tables …

‘Point made,’ I gasped through gritted teeth as he drove his fingers into a brand new section of tormented muscle, this time just above my armpits. Was it evenpossibleto overstrain your armpits? ‘And I could swear you’re using demon powers to find where I’m hurting most, you cruel, heartless …’