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He released my chest, taking my hand in his as the warmth of his body refilled my chilled palms. Soren’s eyes were heavy on the side of my face as I turned to face Caldris, his observation feeling far too significant for my taste.

“Was that really necessary?” Malachi asked, his clothing ruffling as if he’d needed to brush snow off his cloak.

I didn’t bother turning to look at him as Caldris leaned in, touching his lips to mine in what started as the gentlest murmur of a kiss. He deepened it only when I moaned into his mouth, that surge of power within me making me want more.

More of him. More of his magic.

More of everything.

The creature within me felt starved for him—desperate to shred the leather and armor that covered his body. He grinned as that need pulsed between us, thrumming down the bond before he regrettably pulled away.

“There are two more waiting for you,” Malachi ordered with a sneer.

Caldris merely took my hand in his, stepping up to my side as he waved a hand. Shadows appeared in front of us, a vortex of darkness and death and all the things most people avoided.

Caldris stepped into it, guiding me into the portal he’d summoned. It swallowed me whole as Caldris guided me through the eternal darkness, the world that existed just beyond ours. The shapes and figures in the realm we’d just left existed just outside the shadows, their light filtering through when I really looked.

Then it was over, my feet stood upon solid land on the other side of the valley.

I looked back at the distance we’d crossed as time slowed, the cavern where the Summer Court Fae worked behind me rather than in front of me suddenly.

Malachi glared at my mate as he summoned a ball of flame to surround him. He disappeared into it a moment later, then the brush of heat struck against my cheek as he appeared at my side within seconds.

“I don’t know what I did to give you the impression you were permitted to shadow walk with her,” he said, shrugging his shoulders and adjusting his clothing.

“I don’t know what I did to make you think I care,” Caldris said, his voice entirely deadpan as he faced forward, Malachi all but an afterthought.

He used his grip on my hand to tug me forward, curling himself around me as Soren appeared at our sides. The air around him was a thrumming mix of purples and golds, like the last vestiges of the sun on the horizon as it faded away into a glimmer.

His eyes landed on mine, that wicked stare probing into me in a glance that felt endless, eternal. Caldris’s arms tightened around my waist, a silent warning to accompany the growl that I felt rumble down the thread between us.

“Are you fond of my cousin, Little One?” he asked.

The barest hint of a laugh escaped my throat, coating the words meant to tease. “He’s very pretty,” I said, tilting my head to the side as Soren’s lips twitched with the hint of a smile.

He shook his head, his shaggy mid-length, deep brown hair falling about his ears in layers to cover the distinct point of his ears. His body was slightly narrower than Caldris’s, but I didn’t doubt the definition that would be packed into his frame. He moved like a warrior, every slight shift in his body feeling intentional, economical. The swords crossed at his back only added to the deadly nature of him. If I’d met him a year prior and not been able to see the otherness that lingered in his features, I’d have been attracted to him.

But now, with my love and mate bond with Caldris, there was nothing but a distant, objective recognition of that beauty.

“Do me a favor, Princess. Don’t compliment me ever again. I prefer my head on my shoulders,” he said, his voice tinted with amusement as he looked above my head at his cousin.

I turned in Caldris’s arms, pressing tighter to him as I stared up at him. His icy gaze never left his cousin, never once turned down to me until I reached up to cup his cheek. I tiltedhis head, pulling him down to me slowly as I stretched up onto my toes. Pressing my lips to his, I murmured the finishing thought to my statement. “Perhaps Fallon will like him.”

The harshness in those features softened, the thread between us relaxing as he continued to glare at me. “Don’t toy with me,” he warned, the menace in those words only serving to make me press my lips into a tight line to refrain from laughing.

“Mated males have killed for less,” Soren said, attempting to be the voice of reason.

“You’d like that, though, wouldn’t you?” Caldris asked, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “You and your violent tendencies would just love to see me murder a male because you think he’spretty.”

“If you’re looking for people to kill on my behalf,” I said, glancing toward where Malachi observed the interaction impatiently.

The tension on his face hinted at his displeasure at how long it was taking us to finish our task, but he hadn’t yet reached the point where he was ready to brave Caldris’s wrath by interrupting our first moments together in days.

“I’d be happy to provide a list,” I said, noting the slight tick of Malachi’s eyebrow.

The threat hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“Don’t worry, my star,” Caldris said, following my gaze to the other man. “I already have one of my own, and I suspect they are fascinatingly similar.”