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Chapter Twenty-Nine: Bahira

The king and Kane stare at each other for a few seconds, the air so charged that I’m sure they’ll start throwing punches. Or shift into animals and fight that way.

Kane huffs out a breath, casting another glance my way before straightening his tunic and glowering up at Kai. “As you say, Your Majesty. ”

He brushes past us, his shoulder bumping into Kai’s arm as he passes. Kai and I wait until he rounds the corner to the stairs before we turn and look back at each other.

“What the fuck was that?”

“You tell me,” he responds, his voice a menacing growl. “You’re here to work, not fuck your way through my court.”

I don’t think when I move to strike his face with my left hand. Kai catches my wrist right before I make contact and walks us backward until my back hits the wall. His massive hand pins me there, the other slamming into the wall next to my head—the vibration of it rattling my skull—as he leans over me. “I’m getting tired of you hitting my face.”

“It’s none of your business who I decide to sleep with.” At my words, Kai’s lips lift in a sneer, and my heart bruises my chest with how hard it beats.

There is no point of contact between us other than where he holds my wrist, and yet I’ve never felt so ignited within. Anger mixes with desire, the blend making my pulse race even faster. I want to rebel at the idea that this male—so clearly disliked and unwanted by his own kingdom—could rule over my body and desire in such a way. It makes me feel powerless, and that is one thing I can not allow. I have spent sixteen years scraping together parts of myself to try to fill the gap that being magicless left. I refuse to lose any of it to him .

I hold his gaze, bitter determination flooding through me as I start to slide my right hand down my stomach. Kai’s eyes dip to watch the movement, his brows drawing up the smallest amount when I slip my hand under the waistband of my skirt.

“What are you doing?”

I wouldn’t call his question breathless, but I wouldn’t say his voice is steady either. Knowing that watching me touch myself sends the smallest fracture through his stone armor is enough to fuel me to keep going.

“You stole an orgasm from me,” I respond, my chin lifting as I dare Kai to stop me. “I’m taking it back.” My fingers travel beneath my undergarments, finding the wetness already coating my sex. My next inhale stutters as I push a finger inside myself and then draw it back out, before plunging two back in—deep enough to draw a gasp. My desire is sharp, sending pinpricks of lust that sink deeply into me. “I detest you,” I rasp, pumping my hand harder. “You—”

“ Stop talking ,” he commands, and damn him, all it does is coil that tension tighter. His fingers flex around my wrist, a quiet moan slipping free from me with the movement. He doesn’t touch me anywhere else, doesn’t even lean in any farther, but I don’t want him to. I want to come around my fingers with his eyes on me, and then I never want to think about him this way again.

The heel of my palm rubs against my clit, and my eyes threaten to close from the friction, but I force them to stay open. To stay on him and show him that the power he thinks he can wield over me is useless .

My panting fills the hallway, our bodies cast in the shadows between the flame gems hanging from the walls. Kai’s breathing grows labored, his inhales and exhales long and exaggerated, but still, his deep brown and gold-speckled eyes lay siege on my gray ones.

I climb and climb, each flex of my fingers and slide against my palm bringing me closer and closer to that edge. Then Kai’s nostrils flare, his head dipping a little closer, and it’s enough to shove me right over. My orgasm unravels fast and hard as my head kicks back and my thighs squeeze together, a hum of pleasure vibrating past my lips. My arousal coats my fingers and palm, a heady sensation of weightlessness causing me to lean my weight against the wall. Kai’s eyes stay focused on mine, his gaze brutal and scrutinizing.

When my breathing evens out, I remove my hand from underneath my skirt, intent to leave now that I’ve done what I needed to, but the king’s other hand snaps out and grabs it, bringing my wet fingers into the small space between us. It could be the post-orgasm endorphins or something equally as stupid to blame, but I can’t help the way I study his handsome face. His edges are sharp and broad, meticulously carved from stone. He’s a predator in every sense of the word.

But so am I.

Neither of us moves as his gaze focuses intently on my fingers, his arms bulging though his grip on me is no tighter for it. Then, with a snarl, he releases me, stepping back and running a hand through his hair. If looks could kill, I’d be struck dead from the pure fury pouring off of him.

“Don’t ever do that again.”

Turning on his heel, he walks down the hallway, not towards the stairs but in the opposite direction. He opens a door across the hall from mine and then slams it shut, shaking the glass orbs holding the flame gems.

With my ears still ringing, I enter my room and huff out a rattled breath. My motions are automatic as I undress and make my way to the bath, hoping to wash away how his touch felt like a flame against my skin and how his scent only brought me closer to my climax.

Yet, as the night goes on and sleep eludes me, the only relief I receive is when I come twice more by my own hand. The most troubling part of it all is that when I close my eyes, my fingers pumping between my legs, all I see is him .

The next morning, I sit in a dark blue armchair in my room, eating a breakfast pastry brought up by Lana. She had stared at me for a moment before her lips widened and she started cackling. I sent her out of the room immediately after that. How the old hag seemed to know that something happened between Kai and I, I don’t know. I also don’t know how to quantify exactly what happened last night. Or why it didn’t ease any of the ache I feel when I think of the way Kai’s eyes lingered on my slick fingers.

After eating, I dress for the day, intent on finding a room that can double as my workspace to set up my magnifier. I find a pair of blue cotton trousers and a lightweight white sleeveless tunic. My hands braid my hair loosely, and then I slip on some sandals that I brought from home.

Home. The word rattles me enough to pause as I think about my family and all that I’ll miss in the next three months. I reminisce about Daje, his birthday only a few weeks after the Autumnal Ball which is near the end of my stay here. His sapphire eyes shine brightly in my mind, the memory of him begging me not to accept Kai’s proposal.

I snort out loud at the word. Two different proposals by two men who could not be more opposite, and yet I had accepted the one from the male I didn’t know but still loathed beyond comprehension— and am most inconveniently attracted to. Daje had stripped me of the very little power I had by taking away my choice and throwing an ultimatum at me instead. Pick him and sacrifice my heart or choose myself and lose the man I’ve called my best friend for the majority of my life—neither option was ideal, and neither one seemed necessary .

Shaking my head as if I can clear the looming deadline that will alter my life, I roll my shoulders back and stand, walking to the door. I shriek at the dark brown eyes staring down at me from across the threshold when I open it.

“ Why ? Why are you lurking in front of my door?” I shout.

Kai’s pupils flare for a moment as if his mind has betrayed him with thoughts of last night before his face once again becomes impassive. “It’s time you start what you came here to do,” he orders.

I scowl at his tone, at how chastising he sounds, as if I haven’t been waiting for his instructions on what I should be doing. “Of course, Your Majesty ,” I cajole sweetly, enjoying the way he bristles at the title. “Just tell me where you have need of me, and I’d be happy to get out of your hair.”

The animosity between us burns, turning any of my lingering thoughts of desire into ash. Kai breathes deeply through his nose before relaxing his jaw, the heat in his eyes cooling.

“Tua has asked around the capital for any families willing to let us speak with them, so you can see firsthand what the blight is doing. We leave in ten minutes.”

He doesn’t give me a chance to respond before he’s already walking towards the stairs. I stare at the now empty space in front of me, exhaling an exaggerated breath before stepping back into the room to gather my journal and spelled pen. Swapping my sandals out for boots, I drop my supplies into my backpack and stride towards the stairs.

Kai leans against a wall on the first floor, his eyes snapping to mine once I’m within a few feet. Dressed casually in a tan tunic with short sleeves and black trousers tucked into dark brown boots, he’d blend in with the rest of the shifters milling about were it not for the fact that he’s a head taller than most of them. We proceed out of the palace and down the path we followed when we arrived from the docks, the noise of Molsi growing louder in the distance.

I scour the faces we pass, looking for signs of discontent. Kai’s presence draws every gaze, their eyes bouncing from him to me and back again before they reveal whether or not they despise him. As a creature who hides behind her own makeshift armor, I’m beginning to understand why Kai’s disposition is less than pleasant most of the time. My own people may have hurled cruel words at me as a child and then levied looks of pity my way as an adult, but it was rare to see someone so openly loathe my existence back home. Not like with Kai and the shifters of Molsi.

I look at him from the corner of my eye as a different feeling stirs low in my stomach. Not the normal lust or animosity that so easily toggled back and forth between us but something gentler, more understanding.

“What do your tattoos mean?” I blurt, needing the distraction.

Kai swings his head in my direction, a somewhat surprised look on his face like he’s forgotten I was walking next to him. Looking back ahead, he mutters, “They mean many things.”

When he doesn’t expand on that, I remember why hostility is one of the emotions I feel towards him, and we continue walking with only the shouts from merchants and clamoring of shoppers between us.

Kai follows a path that leads away from the very center of Molsi and, instead, goes to where a collection of small homes made of stone and wood are gathered. Smoke blends into the air above the huts from their chimneys, while lanky trees with wide dark green leaves stretch far above them. We halt a few feet in front of one of the homes, a large paw print and snake symbol carved into the light-colored wooden door.

“Here you will see how the magic of our kingdom has changed,” he says vaguely, folding his arms over his chest.

I nod, observing the home once more. It appears to be normal, no odd noises or sights anywhere for me to even begin to guess what he is talking about as Kai knocks on the door.

The wooden door creaks open, and I look down to find a young female shifter, no older than eight, staring up at us. Her light brown hair is braided haphazardly, the long plait draping over her shoulder. Kai stares at her, his hands opening and closing at his sides slowly like he can somehow yank the words he wants to say out of the air.

When another few seconds pass and she begins to shrink away, I clear my throat and squat down to her level. “Hello. My name is Bahira. What’s yours?”

“Mira,” she squeaks, her eyes—brown with stripes of golden yellow—moving from Kai to me.

“Hi, Mira. The king and I are here to visit. Are your parents home?” I ask, looking past her shoulder and into what I can see of the small living room.

She nods her head, her small hand twisting the fabric of her skirt. “My mom is always home now.”

My head tilts as I dissect her answer before a bare-chested male appears in the doorway. His tattoos run up his arms, pouring over onto the front of his body as well. Part of the pattern is covered by his unbound straight black hair, but the swirls and lines are hard to ignore, especially as I wonder if Kai’s chest is adorned with similar ink.

“Majesty,” he says by way of greeting to Kai before looking at me. “And Lady…”

“Just Bahira.”

He motions for us to enter his home, Mira tucked into his side tightly. The living room is modest, just a few pieces of furniture adorning the space. A tiny kitchen is to our left, a dining table that seats four set in the middle. Draping from wooden shelves attached to the wall are potted plants, all of them varying in their stages of decay as if someone has forgotten to care for them over time.

“My name is Haloa,” he says, laying a hand to his chest and tilting his head forward. “You’ve already met Mira. Thank you both for coming. Come, my wife is back here.”

Kai and I follow behind Haloa and his daughter, going down a short hallway and into a bedroom. The room is narrow, only a bed and a dresser holding a glass case filled with plants making up its contents. I cast a curious glance Kai’s way at the empty room when he gestures with his chin to the dresser. Together we move towards it, the wood floor beneath us creaking loudly from our steps.

My fingers grip onto the edge of the dresser as I follow Kai’s gaze to what rests on top of it. Small plants and grass grow from the black soil tightly packed in the bottom of the glass box, rocks and twigs spread out in a thin layer on top. A large chunk of wood is set in the middle, and residing atop it, nearly camouflaged in its environment, is a small green and black striped snake. I suck in a sharp inhale, realizing that this isn’t just a glass case; it’s an enclosure.

The symbols on the door—a paw print and a serpent—were not sigils or random carvings but a representation of the shifters that reside here. One of which I was staring at.

“Can she no longer shift back?” I ask Kai quietly under my breath. His eyes hold mine, and he doesn’t have to speak for me to understand. This is the blight. “ My gods .”

“She shifted nearly two weeks ago,” Haloa states from behind me, forlornness woven in his voice. “I’ve been doing the best I can with Mira, but I have to work both the day and night shifts now that my wife—” He takes a moment to compose himself, and I have to squeeze my eyes shut at how desperate he sounds as he tells Mira he is alright. “Can you help her?”

No. This is beyond what I was prepared for. Beyond anything I could have prepared for. And the fact that the king knew this and led me in here blind anyway enrages me.

“Excuse me,” I say sharply, tearing my gaze away from Kai’s as I leave the bedroom.

I open the front door too roughly, having to then catch it before it slams into the wall. My teeth grind together, and I feel the pressure of hot tears sting the backs of my eyes. Failure. The word burns as it lands in my thoughts, Daje’s voice pushing it deeper into me.

“Bahira,” Kai grumbles from behind, his heavy footsteps catching up to me quickly. He grips my arm and pulls me to the back of one of the nearby homes, keeping us out of sight. “What is wrong with you?”

“You led me in there completely unprepared.”

Kai drops his hold on me to throw his arms out to the side. “What did you think you were going to see, Bahira? What were you expecting to find? We are shifters, and something is wrong with our magic.”

“I didn’t think—” I bite down on my tongue as I run a hand through my hair. I didn’t think it would be this. Naively, I had assumed that it would be a problem similar to the one back home.

Kai’s eyes flash golden, his expression sharpening the longer he watches me. “Are you saying that you don’t think you can help?” he questions, his hands bracing on his hips.

I know what’s at stake—for both kingdoms—if I fail. Though Nox had said that Rhea was responsible for the magic we felt, they both ran from the king of the Mortal Kingdom, and I have no idea if he knows they ran to the Mage Kingdom or if he will retaliate in any way. Part of me suspects that if he had a magical niece under his nose all this time, then there is a chance he might have other magic hidden within his kingdom. We still need the protection that King Kai is offering, and the only way to keep it is to ensure that I stay on this island for as long as possible.

“I will do it— can do it,” I say, standing up taller. “But I’m going to need you to start giving me more information. I will need your help, Kai , and a space in the palace that I can work in. Somewhere I can set up all of my equipment and have access to any books or research I deem necessary.”

Kai’s hardened expression eases a little as he contemplates my request. The sun shines directly onto him, the exposed skin at his neck and collarbone gleaming in its light as we stare at each other. “You will have it,” he finally says.

A rush of surprise catches me off guard, but I give him a nod and swing my backpack around, opening it as I search for my journal and a spelled pen. Once the pack is back on, I gesture with my hand, and Kai leads us back into the house.