Page 72

Chapter Seventy-One: Bahira

It isn’t a secret lair that we stumble into but, even more surprisingly, a bedroom. A grand bedroom. The kind of sleeping quarters that would be relegated to a king. Haloa whistles, the sound oddly merry considering what we’ve just escaped.

“I think this room is larger than my entire home,” he muses, letting go of Kane and I to lean against a tall wooden dresser.

“I think you may be right.” I take in the four-poster bed centered on the wall sharing the door we came through, gossamer cloth in black and red hanging in sweeping arches from corner to corner. On the adjacent wall is the dresser that Haloa leans against and a large balcony, two sets of glass double doors leading out to it. The sun is beginning to rise on the horizon, orange light filtering in and setting a pair of emerald-green tufted armchairs aglow. I limp towards a wide, tall bookcase stuffed to the brim with books of all thicknesses that is situated between two doors on the wall across from the bed. In the streaming light coming in through the glass, dust motes float in the air, and I note the thick layer of dirt on the shelves. “No one has used this room in a long time.”

“I think this was Kai’s father’s room,” Kane says. I look at him as he walks around the space, his nakedness more obvious now than it was in the darkness of the dungeon.

“You might want to find something to cover up with,” I tell him, holding my side and wincing from the blossoming bruises where the female rebel kicked me. Doing so also irritates one of my dislocated thumbs, and I have to bite down on my tongue to stop the scream that crawls up my throat. Pain radiates down my leg and back, my head still throbbing in a way that makes my steps uneven.

“You okay there, Bahira?” Haloa asks as Kane goes into what I assume to be the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist when he returns.

“Never better,” I grit out.

Despite being covered in his own blood and gods know what else, he sends a wry smile my way.

Kane reaches for the handle of another door, but I stop him by calling out his name. “Did you truly not know that your father was leading the rebels?”

He takes a deep breath, a bloody hand massaging the back of his neck. “You heard how my father spoke to me down there. I had no idea—”

Though it makes white spots flare in my vision, I grip his arm and spin him around to face me, pushing him until his back hits the door. Haloa comes to stand next to me, folding his arms over his chest and causing the mangled one to ooze fresh blood. I doubt we look very menacing, but Kane doesn’t try to fight back. My forearm presses against his neck, everything in me begging to just rest . I push even harder.

“If you’re lying, I will kill you myself. Do you understand?”

He holds his hands out, palms facing me, as he solemnly nods. “I may be an asshole, and I’ll admit to loathing Kai and that dimwit—” I let my forearm slide up higher until the pressure causes him to stop talking, his garbled “sorry” barely audible. When it’s clear he gets the message, I lower my arm but keep the pressure there. “Gods,” he rasps, panting through his teeth. “I swear, I didn’t know. I didn’t have any involvement with the rebels at all.”

I can’t tell if he is lying or not, the pounding of my heart rattling my skull too much for me to think clearly. Haloa gently places his hand on my shoulder, giving me a curt nod when I look at him. I release Kane, stepping back with wobbly legs. “Open the door, then. If anyone is waiting for us, you’ll be the first one they attack.”

Kane narrows his eyes at me but turns and wraps his fingers around the bronze handle, pulling the door open. The sitting room is even larger than the bedroom and just as opulent. Two large leather couches face each other over a burgundy and silver woven rug, the light wood floors beneath standing out in contrast. A wall of windows is to our right, framed by velvet cream-colored drapes. There are gold and silver adornments throughout the room, too many for me to focus on as we all take a collective step into the space.

“I don’t remember much about my time in the dungeon, but know that whatever you need from me, I’m happy to provide it,” Haloa says, speaking as if I am important enough to delegate that sort of thing.

“No. You focus on healing and getting to your daughter. Anything else, I’m sure Kane and I can handle.”

“I am indebted to you,” he says quietly.

I move to tell him that there is no debt to be paid when voices sound in the hall. The three of us tense, my gaze flying to Kane’s. “How close is this room to the stairs?” I ask him, Haloa squaring his shoulders and lifting his chin beside me.

“It’s only separated by a long adjacent hallway. We’re not far away from your room” he answers, his gaze locked on the door.

I hobble forward, tilting my head to the side as I strain to listen. My inhale is choppy through my nose, my attempt to slow my heart rate down only causing it to speed up instead, the beat reverberating in my skull.

“There’s two voices,” Kane supplies, Haloa nodding in agreement.

To stay and hide here, where there’s a good chance Tua could return with who knows how many rebels. Or to risk leaving and finding wherever Kai is. Despite the way my head and body throb in protest, I take another step forward. Coming to the same conclusion, Kane moves in front of me, his fingers gently gripping the handle.

When I growl at his back, he looks down at me from over his shoulder. “Of the three of us, I’m the least injured. What was it you said earlier? I’ll be the first one they attack?” He smirks when I narrow my eyes in response before turning back towards the door to open it.

Kane moves slowly, quietly pulling the door open. I force my body to remain loose, preparing for the worst when the voices grow louder. One male. One female. One whose cadence I recognize right away and another whose timbre sends a shiver down my spine.

“It’s—” I’m interrupted when the door’s hinges squeak loudly, all of us freezing in place. The seconds tick by, my heart beating at my ribcage so loudly that I swear it fills the room with its pounding. Except the noise falls out of rhythm with my heart, and when Kane lets out a curse and stumbles backward, the beating stops as someone else comes into view.

His presence fills the doorway, his size even larger than I remember. As if it’s been months and not hours since I last saw him and I had forgotten. Forgotten the breadth of his shoulders and size of his arms. The way he nearly touches the top of the doorframe, and how his face, each line strong and broad, is perfectly carved. Even when he looks angry. Especially when he looks angry, as he does now. His gaze immediately finds mine as a ringing starts in my ears.

“Kai, what are you doing? You’re acting unhinged! And that’s coming from me! You need to—” Jahlee pushes her brother out of the way and comes to a halt, her mouth dropping open. “Bahira,” she whispers, her shock only pausing her for a moment before she runs to me and wraps me in a hug that pulls air from my lungs and sends waves of torturous, fiery misery all over my being. But I wrap my arms around her and bury my face into her shoulder. Her hands squeeze me more tightly while both of our bodies tremble. “Gods, I was so worried about you. I couldn’t find you, and I knew you hadn’t left. I fucking knew it. He did too, but he is such a stubborn asshole …”

I lift my head and glance at Kai, only to observe the emotion wiped from his stone-hewn face. His image blurs, tears slipping down my cheeks as Haloa says something to him that draws his gaze away from me. Jahlee leans back, cupping my face in her hands as her shining brown eyes look me over.

“What happened?” she asks softly.

I swallow roughly, shaking my head as I clear my throat. A male grunt shatters my concentration, Jahlee and I both turning to find Kai standing over Kane. The latter is on the ground and holding a hand to his face. “I didn’t fucking do anything, you dick !”

“He’s right,” I admit, waiting until Kai meets my gaze again. “He was attacked and brought into the dungeon at the same time I was.”

“Move, Jahlee.” Kai’s deep voice sends a ripple of fear and desire and anger through me. Sandalwood and citrus invade my next breath, and I wish I could burn it out of my memory forever. If only to stop the way my heart softens its beat in his presence.

Jahlee steps back, Kai filling in her place as she goes over to Haloa. “I’m going to take him to Lana,” she says, and I try to protest, but Kai stops me.

“She’ll be fine. The rebels are gone from the palace.”

“Where is Tua?” I rush out.

A faint line forms between Kai’s brows, his gaze flicking to Kane before returning to me. “He’s speaking with the court of advisors on the other end of the palace.”

Though I relax my shoulders, agitation stirs deep in my gut.

“Guards are stationed throughout the palace and at every entrance point. Every rebel that partook in the attack is either dead or locked in the dungeon,” Kai adds. “She can handle herself.”

Jahlee nods her head in agreement and gives me a weak thumbs up that I’m surprisingly grateful for. “I’ll take this asshole too,” she snaps, pointing at Kane who stands a few feet away, his eyes glowing golden.

“Your generosity knows no bounds,” he retorts. Kai growls at him, and Kane wisely lowers his head and lets Jahlee lead both him and Haloa out of the room.

The silence between us, the way I can’t get a read on the shifter king, does nothing to relieve my aching head. But I force myself to stay standing, to keep my eyes on his despite the way it ravages my insides to do so.

“You’re here,” he murmurs, and I don’t know if he’s relieved or angered by that fact. His head tilts to the side, a small lock of his dark brown hair falling over his forehead as his face remains impossibly placid. “Who did this to you?” he asks, his large hand gently gripping my chin as he tilts my head up higher.

“Does the name Niko mean anything to you?” I question as I jerk away from him. The action makes me sway on my feet, and Kai’s hand shoots to my hip to steady me.

He nods, a faint gold illuminating his irises. “He is one of the liaisons for our Master of Sails.”

“The rebels want to kill you and replace you with one of their own. You will need to do an entire overhaul of your advisors and the nobles living here,” I add, shaking my head. How would he even determine who was truly on his side and who wasn’t?

“Who else?”

“Tua.” A small flare of distrust flashes in his gaze, hardly longer than a blink, but it’s enough for me to take a step back from him. “I’m not lying,” I grit out, gripping on to the back of one of the couches for support.

“I didn’t say that you were. Am I not allowed to be surprised by that information? By finding out that the man that has guided my journey as king since I was forced into the role has actually been plotting against me?”

“I tried to warn you,” I bark back. “Tua told me about your father, claiming Noa did something to your mother while she was pregnant with you. He didn’t say what, only that the magic you possess is a direct result of whatever he did. Whatever he learned. As is Jahlee’s inability to shift.”

Kai’s brows furrow as a desperate look crosses his face.

“I know you won’t believe me, but it is the truth. Tua is leading the rebel movement and has been for a very long time. His connections and relationships with your advisors have given him the power that you, as king, should have. Magda, Haloa, the burning of Adrian’s business and murder of his son? They were all punished because they support you .” I draw my hands down my face, hissing in pain as I do. “He’s been trying to kill me since the ship left the Mage Kingdom. I wasn’t seasick; I was being poisoned . The attack in the forest and the ambush in my room were both planned by him. And he knew from the very beginning that I didn’t have magic.”

Kai grits his teeth together, his features rippling as he fights the urge to shift. I can’t imagine how it must feel to be so betrayed by someone who held so much of your trust. My deception had compounded that. I limp over to one of the velvet-wrapped chairs, sinking into it with a grimace. Kai follows and, to my utter surprise, gets on one knee in front of me.

“Do you want me to bring Lana to you? She’s our best healer,” he says softly, but I shake my head.

“I’m fine.”

“Bahira—”

“Don’t,” I cut him off, tears threatening again despite the fact that I’d rather not feel anything at all. When the silence lingers, I push down the way it slices me between my ribs. “I need to ask you for a favor.” Holding my trembling hands out in front of me, I watch silently as he drops his pensive gaze from mine down to them. His brows rise towards his hairline when he takes in the state of my thumbs.

“How?”

I lift a shoulder, my head falling back against the chair. “Shackles were easier to remove this way.” A low rumble leaves him and travels directly to my low belly. Stupid fucking body . Kai cradles one of my hands in both of his, carefully moving so as not to jostle it more than necessary. I squeeze my eyes shut as my breathing begins to quicken. “What are you going to do about Tua?” I ask, knowing that I have no right to the information but desperate for a distraction.

He gives me no chance to stew in my fear before he pops my thumb back into place. A whimper that I’m too weak to stop slips out as my head swims in stars. Kai lifts my tingling hand up to his mouth, placing a kiss I barely feel on top of my thumb before he lays it in my lap.

“I’ll need some time to figure that out.”

I open my eyes to find his already on me. “You may not have a lot of it. This seemed to be Tua’s final stand, and once he discovers the rebels’ bodies, he’ll know that I’m the one who did it. He’ll immediately be suspicious that I went to you.”

He nods and then quickly sets my other thumb. His figure blurs into many bodies before settling back into one while my chest heaves. “You will have to stay hidden.” I shake my head and lean forward to argue with him, but the dizziness makes me wobble back. “You and Jahlee will wait in my rooms until you’re healed, while I figure out if I have any allies.”

“First, you can’t tell me what to do.” His lips twitch at that. “Second, how do you know who you can trust? What if he tries to kill you while—”

Kai laughs, cutting off my panicked rambling. “Despite what you think, I’m not a complete idiot. I’ll let Tua think that I’m ignorant to everything. Let him assume that you escaped and left the island altogether.”

As he had assumed. That unspoken truth settles between us, but neither of us dares to speak it. Kai stands, extending his hand out to me to help me up. He wraps an arm around me and guides us to the door and out into the hall.

“Were these your father’s rooms?” Remnants of dried blood from the shifters who were slain in this wing of the palace stain the rugs and walls, the scent of iron still heavy in the air.

“It was.”

I refrain from asking why the fuck there is a secret dungeon attached to the king’s chambers.

We make our way down the long hallway and turn, Kai holding the majority of my weight as I limp along next to him. We pass the door I recognize as his and head towards mine, the wood splintered and hanging ajar. My stomach sinks when I push the door the rest of the way open to see that my entire room has been ransacked, clothes and papers strewn about and discarded carelessly. Shards of glass litter the floor, as well as the ancient mage journals from home.

“Bastards,” I fume, letting go of Kai to kneel down and inspect the journals. Luckily, the magic from home appears to have kept them from any damage.

“Grab some clothes and whatever you want to keep yourself entertained and then head to my room. I’ll send Jahlee there next.” I nod, gathering the journals in a small stack before standing. Kai’s steps crunch over the glass and the debris from the shattered door, but he stops just before exiting the room. Looking over his shoulder at me, sincerity softens his expression. “I am sorry.”

I don’t know what he’s apologizing for exactly, and I can only nod again, both too many words and not enough strangling me into silence. I wait until I hear his steps fading down the hallway before I gather my things, and I contemplate what the hell I’m supposed to do next.

Jahlee is already waiting for me when I open the door to Kai’s room. While I’m happy to see her, it’s what she’s holding in her hands, twirling it irreverently, that has a smile lifting my cheeks.

“You found my spear,” I rasp, dropping my items onto the dark wooden coffee table nestled between two sapphire-blue couches and matching armchairs.

“Are you crying?”

“Absolutely not.” I clear my throat, fighting the urge to hug the spear to my chest when she hands it to me. “Are you alright?”

“Completely fine, other than dealing with my cranky brother.”

I snort as I lean against the chair and take in the rest of the sitting room. Much like the official king’s room, it’s spacious and contains multiple bookcases, each one packed to the brim. Double glass doors lead out to a balcony, a sheer white curtain drawn over them to filter out some of the sun’s light. There are three other doors, one of them opened and revealing a bedroom.

Jahlee follows my gaze and points to one of the closed doors farthest to the left. “Extra bedroom.” She moves her finger to the closed door centered in the middle. “Bathroom. And then that one is Kai’s room.” I nod, taking a step towards the bathroom. I want to take the hottest shower possible and burn the memories of the dungeon from my skin. “All I ask is that when you and Kai fuck, you keep it quiet.”

“There will be none of that, Jahlee.”

This time, it’s her who snorts, her watchful gaze taking in every detail of my movement. “I’ll have Lana out here waiting for you. I’m really glad that you’re alive. And that you didn’t leave.”

I smile, leaning against the door to the bathroom as I look at her. “And miss all the fun? That would be boring.” She beams at me, light coming back into her eyes in recognition of the play on her words from when we first met.

The shower is a welcome reprieve. Enough so that I finally do cry, letting everything out under the safety and privacy of the steaming water. When I exit the bathroom, Lana is sitting with Jahlee, the old female practically crowing from whatever injuries of mine she can see. Within ten minutes, she’s covered every wound and cut with a foul-smelling poultice, all while chastising me to eat more food.

When she leaves, Jahlee and I sit across from each other on the couches. “He’s going to try to do everything alone,” Jahlee muses, sipping on dark red wine from a stemless glass.

“I’m sure he can handle it,” I respond, taking a sip of my own drink.

“You can drop the act, Bahira. You don’t have to pretend with me.”

I lower my glass to look at her. “And what act might that be?”

“The one where you pretend that you don’t care about him. That you don’t care about what we need to do to help our kingdom.”

“It’s not my kingdom,” I retort soundly—hoping if I say the words forcefully enough, it will make them feel more true.

“Maybe not, but it’s his , regardless of who might try to take it from him. I don’t believe for one moment that you want to see him suffer.”

I avoid her gaze and stare out one of the windows. “You don’t know anything about what I want.” I don’t even know if I do anymore.

I had come to the Shifter Kingdom with the hope that I could advance my knowledge of magic, that I could have another breakthrough. I suppose that I did to a degree—learning how the blood of those with magic might be a solution to the magical blight—but there is still so much I don’t understand about it. I have no answers for the shifters here, no answers for my own kingdom or myself. Soon, I will be heading home, only to lose my best friend when I decline his marriage proposal.

“I know he cares about you. That’s why the truth hurt him so much, even if it’s hypocritical for him to hold it against you. And, I want to reiterate, it is hypocritical of him. But he’ll come around.”

“Maybe, with everything going on, it would be better for me to leave the island early.”

Jahlee’s eyes narrow on me, her perceptive gaze piercing right to my bones. “I didn’t take you for a coward.” I stiffen at her words, and though I want to refute them, I can’t—even as anger licks at my heart. Jahlee stands, finishing off what’s left in her glass before setting it down roughly on the table between us. “I’m going to figure out a way to support Kai. To help him take a stand against the rebels. Leave or don’t. Help or don’t. I just hope that you can live with yourself, whatever choice you do make.” She glares at me before stomping off to the spare bedroom, the door slamming closed behind her.

Sighing, I place my glass next to hers on the table and curl on my side on the soft velvet couch, my entire body tender and aching. “I hope I can too,” I whisper.