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“I want this. For Rhett’s sake,” she admitted. “But Zayne, it’s your mission, your rules. I’m not the one who would be taking a stowaway to their sister’s court.”

Rhett peered hopefully up at me.

A heartbeat passed. “I’ll think on it.”

He closed his eyes with relief. “Thank you.”

I waved it off. “So what would be the plan when her mother notices she’s missing?”

“Run like thieves?” Ayla offered.

I chuckled. Indeed, we were thieves. First of shards and potentially a mer lady.

“So what’s the plan?” Rhett asked.

“Your plan,” I corrected, “is to stay alert when Ayla accepts a lesson with the Starlit King. We’ll take care of the rest.”

Chapter twenty-seven

Asking for Help

Ayla

We joined the stream of attendees just as the group meandered toward the throne room. The mood was jovial on the surface, and yet everyone spoke in low whispers, wandering from one group to another.

Rhett and I fell into step, Rimu at our side. My long skirt flounced at my ankles, giving me false bravado. It had felt nice to shower and dress, and while it did nothing to hide how small our group felt without Ninti, I became the fae I pretended to be.

I was someone who was lucky enough to mingle with royalty, ignorant to the deception surrounding me. And now, after a day of venturing on the far side of Mer, I was filled with admiration for this beautiful isle and unable to stop smiling.

I was young and mesmerized and certainly not terrified to be playing a game entirely out of my league. With my arm wrapped around Rhett’s, I babbled on meaninglessly about my day on the coast.

Zayne stayed near as we weaved toward the ballroom, the tether showing him to me like a dark aura. His emotions wereas steady as my own, growing into a presence that felt more and more distinct.

We crossed the palace yards, his dark being, like a comforting pressure, following me.

So close. So far away.

Is Zayne my mate?

Rhett was such a romantic. Of course he wanted to believe in the word tossed about into music and shaped by myths.Mates forged by fire, destiny of desirehad a nice beat, but it was nonsense. Fae committed to one another the same way humans did, without any special bond between them.

But nothing’s normal with Zayne.

Just thinking of him was more than I could bear.

My mind still raced with memories of our time on the beach. Him over me. Him under me. The beach—

It took all my self-control not to reach for him, to caress my skin in search of his remnants. We’d been touching ever since we returned from the lagoon, if only a stray finger or lingering caress. In the suite, he’d helped me prepare, cleaning me in the shower and dressing me.

Only a few feet from me, his emotions wrapped in my head, he felt so very far away. I walked with Rhett, speaking about a beautiful beach I’d never forget and an emptiness grew inside me, every inch of my skin haunted by the feel of Zayne.

This was a new hunger, and I was ravenous.

I glanced at his shadows, and my core clenched around nothing. A blush warmed my cheeks. In response, humor, like a chuckle, echoed through the connection. Zayne was amused and…

I forced myself not to study his shadows.

Oh.