Page 177 of Cruelly Bitten

They were questions she heard but didn’t answer. She wasn’t ignoring me, though. She simply didn’t know how to respond yet.

It was a conversation we needed to have, among many others.

However, this was neither the time nor the place for it. Especially as my progeny and cousin were approaching me now, and she was still discussing risks with her twin. He felt Blood City might be a trap, but finding out the truth outweighed the potential for danger.

“There’s also an interesting connection between Lily and Willow,” Damien went on. “We found out when we landed that they’ve met before.”

“They have?” Ismerelda sounded surprised. I supposed that made sense with how regulated human life had become in this world. There wasn’t a lot of opportunity for socializing, even within the universities.

“At the breeding farm,” Damien explained. “The same one I met Cedric at last year after he asked me for a favor.”

Her eyebrows shot upward. “He took Lily from the lycans?”

“Yep. And I helped him. So he owes me a favor. We’ve also allied in the past. I suspect that’s actually why Khalid offered him and Lily up as a counter when Ryder rejected the original plan.”

“So you’re saying you trust Cedric?” Ismerelda asked slowly, her thoughts hopeful. She wouldn’t let her brother see it, but deep down, she was concerned about his safety. And this new detail helped ebb some of her worries.

It also made the prospect of Blood City that much more real. Because, in her mind, if Cedric truly was an ally, then he might want a future similar to what the others desire.

And she’d already witnessed firsthand how Majestic Clan had treated humans differently from other territories.

Damien shrugged. “Trust is fickle. But Ryder and I have been taking care of ourselves for a long time now. We’ll be fine.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I just said something similar to you a bit ago. Perhaps you should consider taking your own advice.”

Damien gave her an indulgent look, his expression saying their situations were very different. Fortunately, though, he didn’t voice that aloud. Instead, he just gave her another hug. “We’ll be back soon. Then you and I need to catch up. It’s been too long, Iz.”

“Yes,” she agreed, a hint of emotion trickling through our bond. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too,” he whispered back to her, his lips ghosting across her cheek. He gave her another squeeze, then looked at me. “Be good to my sister, or I’m going to play target practice with your head.”

I simply arched a brow, daring him to try.

“Go before Ryder leaves without you,” Ismerelda told him, her hands appearing much smaller up against the other man’s chest.

It was like her brother had taken all the muscle and height from the womb they’d shared, leaving her slender yet curved in all the right places.

My palms itched to touch her, but I held myself back.

After everything we’d been through, I needed to take this slow. Let her come to me.Allow her a choice in the matter.

I’d taken that choice away from her before, not realizing what it meant. She was mine. I’d thought she wanted to be with me.

Now that I’d relived some of those memories from her point of view, I wasn’t so sure.

I needed to reestablish trust. Rebuild us from the ground up. Create a new connection, one founded in the present and not the past.

Explore who we could be together now, as a king courting his queen, not as a superior predator romancing a delicate swan.

Her pretty eyes met mine, her mind in tune with my thoughts.

Alas, before she could comment, Darius and Jace stepped forward, their expressions all business. “We need to talk,” Jace said to me.

I repressed the urge to sigh. The only one I wanted to talk to right now was Ismerelda, but given how Jace and I had left things during our last conversation, I wasn’t surprised he wanted to discuss more now.

When we’d spoken a few weeks ago, I’d been under the impression that Jace and Darius were trying to undo my hard work.

Now I knew the truth—we were all on the same side.