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“And Kieran?” I asked. “He still wants to do this?”

“Yes.” The smile played over his lips. “That’s why he’s waiting for us.”

My stomach spun again. “Then what are we waiting for?”

Casteel chuckled. “For you.”

I started to stand, but he clasped my cheek. “What?”

“Nothing.” His left palm found mine, pressing our imprints together. “Nothing except that I’m in love with you. That I will always be in love with you, from now until our last breaths.”

My heart swelled as I leaned into him, filling with emotion so powerful and deep that words couldn’t even capture what I felt. “I love you.”

Casteel kissed me, taking my mouth softly with his. It was one of his sweet kisses. The gentle kind that left every part of me warm—even the cold, hollow parts. “Ready, my Queen?” he whispered against my lips.

“Ready.”

Wearing cloaks and what little clothing we had on underneath, Casteel led me out from the chamber and down a back hall. We left the manor unseen through a set of doors that led to an overgrown garden that Kirha would have enjoyed.

It made me think of Jasper. “Where is Jasper?”

“With my father and Hisa.”

“Not Vonetta?”

“I think she’s with Emil.” He arched a brow as he led me down the walkway. “Something’s going on between them, isn’t there?”

“You’re just now realizing that?”

He snorted. “Better question is, has Kieran figured that out?”

“I think he was just beginning to when we left Oak Ambler.”

His grin kicked up a notch. “Thoughts and prayers for Emil.”

“More like thoughts and prayers for Kieran if he tries to intervene. Vonetta likes Emil. I don’t think she’ll take all that kindly to Kieran not minding his business.”

“True.”

With Cas’s hand firmly wrapped around mine, we entered the Wisteria Woods and went beyond the inner fortress wall, deeper into the forest. The sound of rushing water grew closer as we wandered through the twining vines, appearing a silvery purple in the moonlight. As we walked, Casteel talked about how Kieran and he had made sure they wouldn’t get lost in the tunnels they had explored when younger. They used to mark the stone walls with their initials, and I wondered if that was what they’d done now. If Kieran had carved his name into the trunks, allowing Casteel to know exactly where to find him in the maze of heavily clustered trees.

Casteel’s words, his voice—all of him—had eased my nerves by the time he parted another heavy curtain of limbs. Beyond him, I saw that we’d reached the bank of the River of Rhain. And then I saw Kieran.

Sitting by the edge of the river, he rose and faced us as we walked out into the narrow clearing. He wore only breeches like Casteel had on under his cloak. I’d seen him shirtless hundreds of times, sometimes without even a stitch of clothing, but it seemed different now. “I was beginning to wonder if you were going to sleep the night away.”

“I have a feeling she’d stab me if I allowed that,” Casteel commented as the wisteria limbs fell back into place behind us.

I shot him an arch look. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“It’s okay.” Kieran grinned and looked up at the star-drenched sky as we stopped in front of him. “I didn’t mind waiting. It’s beautiful here. Peaceful.”

It was, with the water of the river so clear it looked like rushing pools of silver, the chirping birds in the trees, and the heavy, sweet scent of the wisteria. When Kieran’s gaze returned to me, I felt my heart skip. There was no room to think about anything but what was happening here. I cracked open my senses. What I felt from Kieran was the salty nuttiness of resolve. There was also something sweet and soft, a little bubbly and smoky. I didn’t sense any uncertainty. I felt the same from Casteel—well, almost the same. There was sugary amusement, and he felt hot with a different, heavier softness—spicy and sweet. I looked around. “Are we alone out here?”

Kieran nodded. “No one will get close to us.”

He said that with such certainty, I had a feeling I knew why. I turned to Casteel. “We’re being guarded?”

“By the wolven,” he confirmed. “They’re not close. They won’t hear or see anything, but they will make sure no one gets too near us.”

I nodded. “Do they…do they know what we’re doing?”

“Would it bother you if they did?” Kieran asked.

I thought about that and realized that it didn’t. Well, if Vonetta wasn’t with Emil and was among them, I truly felt sorry for her. Because that would be so awkward for her. “It doesn’t.”

Kieran’s approval was a ripple of buttery cake. “They see it as a great honor to protect such a tradition.”

“Oh,” I whispered, blushing. “I’m glad they approve.”

Casteel’s lips curved into a smile as he pressed them to my forehead. I drew in a shallow breath, the decadent scent of pine and lush spice surrounding me. His breath danced over my lips and then the curve of my cheek as he dipped his head to speak softly in my ear. “I thought you’d like it here, with the river and the wisterias.”