Page 36

The morning had been a scramble of activity. Still missing hours and hours of lost sleep from days prior, it took Aurora’s mind a good while to start working after Rhaego had awoken her. He’d apologized for not allowing her to sleep in, but they didn’t have much time before Phirdo was set to arrive and he needed to answer his call with Verakko to explain what had happened and quickly devise a new plan.

She watched him as he dialed in codes and logged into the call, but couldn’t think of any helpful suggestions to offer. Her brain wasn’t exactly functioning at a hundred percent, and Rhaego also made it a little difficult to think.

Looking at him now, she’d have never guessed he’d just spent six days putting his body through hell. He’d modestly explained that his kind recovered quickly, but his resilience still amazed her. It also made her feel like a whiny weakling in comparison.

“On this day…” Rhaego began, waiting for Verakko’s coded answer to continue.

Aurora tried not to read into why he hadn’t set the communicator to speaker this time.

He must have heard what he needed because he launched into an explanation. “We’re secure now. We haven’t been blown. But we were betrayed.” His throat bobbed as he listened. Then, slowly, he answered, “My mother.”

His voice was so thready Aurora couldn’t stop her feet from carrying her toward him. She sat next to him, taking his hand in hers.

He didn’t look at her, but his fingers twitched and his eyes blazed ruby.

Telltale signs of the approaching heat had been making themselves known, and Aurora couldn’t decide how she felt about them. Perhaps because she hadn’t seen the effects of the heat building in the days prior, his current state was more of a shock than it would’ve been otherwise.

He was jittery and brimming with odd energy. Not necessarily aggressive, but not not aggressive either. His horns were scratched and raw from all the times he’d gone outside to mark the surrounding trees, yet he hadn’t asked to mark her yet as he’d been doing. There was an aura of tenuous control around him, and she didn’t know how long that control would last.

Many times throughout the morning she’d caught him watching her with such unconcealed hunger that her legs itched to put space between them even as heat pooled in her belly. And it wasn’t just arousal that plagued him. His mood swung to anger on a dime as well. Never toward her, but it was still off-putting to see irrational fury pour off her sweet, polite demon.

“No,” he grated. It was directed toward Verakko, but he stood as he said it, pulling out of her hold and putting space between them. His stare burned into her from across the room where he’d placed himself, and she shivered.

Aurora sipped her morning brew and tried not to wallow. No matter how much she wanted to cross the room and wrap her arms around his neck, she also could see plain as day that he wanted space.

“A day will not suffice,” he grated. “The heat arrives tomorrow.” He watched her from across the main floor’s sitting room, eyes red and claws—sharp once more—retracting and extending, punching holes into the back of the sage-green couch he leaned against.

Aurora glanced away. Despite their toe-curling night, Aurora found she was a little…not shy, exactly. Not worried either. Just…nervous.

She didn’t know the best way to act around someone going through such an intense physiological event. Suddenly she was jealous of the training he’d gotten. When she’d been on her period, he’d known exactly what to do to help her feel better. She wished she’d taken a class in managing a Tuvastan heat.

Rhaego’s gaze shot away at something Verakko said, and his features hardened. Aurora stilled. Something had happened. “You’re sure?” His eyes slipped closed, lips pulling back until his teeth were bared in a snarl. “I cannot leave tomorrow,” he barked into the line. “Two days. Same strategy. Same extraction point. Agreed?”

Aurora didn’t know whether Verakko had had the chance to answer before he slammed the communicator closed then stomped outside without a word, presumably to collect himself. She focused on her brew to give him some privacy.

The smell of his musk hit her before the sound of his footsteps, and she finished her sip, sneaking a glance at him as he reentered the den. She found his gaze riveted to her mouth, fever thrumming in his eyes. Without thinking, she glanced down to his pants, sure she’d see the telltale signs of his arousal plain as day, but no gargantuan bulge greeted her. Perhaps he had more control than it seemed.

“I’m sheathed,” he growled. He reached down with a knuckle and knocked it against something hard on his right thigh.

Aurora had absolutely no idea how to respond to that. She let out a clipped high-pitched noise that she’d meant to be nonchalant but came out one hundred percent chalant .

For the love of rosemary, she needed to get herself together. “What happened?”

“Our team had to abandon Zentithro. Someone followed them back to their safehouse. The Queen almost caught them.”

She squinted her eyes shut and dug through her groggy brain. “What does that mean for us?”

“It means we need to leave as soon as we can. The Queen will realize she’s using the wrong female as bait when Marsol doesn’t return to rescue her. It’s only a matter of time.”

Aurora nodded, heart pounding in her throat. “Same strategy, you said?”

Rhaego’s heated gaze trailed down her body. “I am not in a fit state to devise anything new. But I cannot steal the carriage from our dock again. There will have been extra security placed near the carriages, I’m sure. I’ll have to call Phirdo to our den and subdue him.”

Aurora stiffened. “But I thought…you said that wouldn’t work because—”

“It may not work. We have no other choice,” he interrupted. Rhaego never interrupted her.

“Okay,” she breathed. “And you…” What the hell was the best way to ask what she wanted to ask without offending him? “You’ll be…you’re fever won’t be…” She chuffed. “Are you going to be capable of this the day after the heat?” she blurted.

The tendons of his muscled neck jumped. “I will be no worse than I am today.”

That was not an answer, but she kept herself from pushing. “In that case, what’s the best way… I mean…how do you want me to treat you? I mean, what can I do to make this easier for you?”

“It would benefit me greatly if you abstained from being so fucking beautiful.” The compliment was delivered with such severity that she could only chew on the inside of her cheek and stare.

“Sure. Sure,” she mumbled absently. It was his intensity that put her at such a loss. It reminded her of the one and only time she’d gone bungee jumping. She’d wanted to do it for as long as she could remember but had found herself stuck on the platform for an embarrassing amount of time, too scared to actually step off the edge.

That was what Rhaego was to her right now. Dangerous and safe. Alluring and frightening. He was a ride she desperately wanted to ride. But if she didn’t heed his warnings and pushed him too far too fast, would she regret it?

“There’s nothing you can do, little doe.” She shivered at the way he rumbled that pet name of his. Normally the words were filled with sweetness and warmth. The way he said them now though?

She felt as though she were a doe, and he was ready to sink his teeth into her.

“Your perfection is…difficult.” His eyes blazed, and her body responded. “Don’t fret. Tomorrow I’ll hike to our isolation hut to endure the worst of the heat.”

“The hut is here?” Aurora didn’t know why she was surprised. The women at the luncheon had mentioned the special huts males barricaded themselves in during the heat if their wives had decided they were unworthy. But she’d just assumed it was located somewhere else. In town, maybe.

Rhaego began to pace, his gaze darting back to eye her every few seconds as though he couldn’t help it.

“An hour or so south in our forest.” The muscles of his jaw worked, his failure still weighing heavily on him.

Her heart ached to think of being away from him again when he was feeling such clear discomfort. “Couldn’t you just spend the night in your room?”

“No.” Rhaego laughed, a dark ominous sound. “My mind will drift in and out of a fever-stricken state throughout the night. I shouldn’t be too close. If I am…”

A confusing combination of arousal and ice flooded her body, short-circuiting her brain. “I guess I have an answer to my next question then, which was shouldn’t we try to leave tomorrow while everyone is preoccupied?”

Rhaego shook his head silently, needing no time at all to disregard that idea.

Aurora pushed up from her seat and mirrored Rhaego’s pacing, hands on hips. “If the heat affects everyone to this degree, why have a luncheon the day before? Isn’t everyone just going to be on edge and miserable the whole time?”

“Yes. They will be.” He threw a hand out in exasperation. “Why we put ourselves through it? The traditional answer is that this outing is like a final test of our strength of mind. The most difficult one considering we’ll be bound.” His eyes burned brighter like he was imagining being closer to her even now. “I don’t believe that’s true anymore, though. Wives have already decided whether they’re sharing their heat or not. It’s an excuse to gossip, in my opinion. An opportunity for wives to brag about or scold their partners.” He turned to her suddenly, as though just remembering something. “You will need to speak poorly of me when asked and encourage your friends to do the same of their husbands.”

“No,” Aurora scoffed. “Why would I?”

“If I’m in isolation, it’s because you’ve denied me your heat. Since I’m the blight, they’ll be drooling to know why you’ve deemed me unfit yet again. It’d be best and easiest for you to play along and tell them. Say my cooking made you ill or I’ve been too needful of your emotions. Any excuse will do.”

“I’m not doing that.” She set her chin stubbornly. His chest rose and fell in clear aggravation, so she quickly changed the subject. “When should I tell Diana and Maggie we’re leaving?”

Though he kept pacing exactly as he had been a moment ago, she could somehow tell that his fever had shifted to anger. Something about the set of his muscles and brows made it clear. “The soonest it can be is one night after Lumina.”

“Okay. I’ll tell them.” Aurora wrung her hands. “I hope they didn’t use all the quena leaves. I don’t have any more to give them. Their husbands are probably suspicious now too. They might not be able to get them to smoke like that a second time even if they have a dose left.”

She peered at Rhaego, who was staring at her again and scrubbing a palm over his strong jaw as though staring at a delicacy he knew he was not allowed to eat.

“Tell them to do their best. That’s all we can hope for. My mother ensured that.”

Tentatively, she glanced toward Rhaego. Her stomach hollowed like it had every time she’d thought of Ishara since realizing what she’d done.

“Are…” She swallowed, eyes following him as he stalked around the room, moving noticeably farther from her as he did. “Are you going to speak with her?”

Rhaego’s steps halted, body stilling. She expected to see the heat of anger return to him, but it didn’t. Fever faded from his eyes almost like the chill of his sadness had doused it. Jaw grinding and gaze fixed on a spot in the rug before him, he didn’t answer.

Aurora then realized he didn’t know.

She took a step toward him. His shoulders rose, but he didn’t jump away, so she took a few more. “I could go with you again?” she offered.

He shook his head. “If I choose to see her, it’ll be alone.”

“Do you know what you’ll say?”

He raked his fingers through his hair, claws flicking in and out of view. “No.” He was still for a moment longer before shaking himself out of his thoughts and peering outside. “You should get ready now. Phirdo will be here soon.”

He was nearly within arm’s reach. Her body swayed forward, an invisible magnet inside urging her closer.

Nostrils flaring and brows furrowing, Rhaego’s gray eyes turned crimson as they met hers. Electricity skittered down her scalp.

The air between them sizzled, heat rolling off him like a furnace. The smell of his musk was a little different today—more spiced than normal, and the sweetness had a warm depth to it, like brown sugar or crème br?lée. It was like his fever altered every part of him.

His fingers twitched like he wanted to reach out, then they curled into a fist. “I’ll be back shortly,” he blurted, steps eating up the space between her and the front entry.

Aurora’s shoulders fell, and she whined inside her head, Why mark the trees when you can mark me?