Page 19

Conditions

Cian

MK: Palace

The one-word message from the Mountain King made me suspect that the negotiations with Sadie hadn’t gone well, even before I arrived in the gallery hallway to find Tadhg pounding on Declan’s black glass door with the side of his hammy fist.

“Don’t be such a dryshite, sulking in your room like some kind of fecking cladharaire .” The rough Mountain King accent that Dublin had civilized out of Tadhg was back in full force as he banged on the door.

“Have ye not a care about our future happiness? She’s so upset about ye not showing up for her, it might tank the entire deal. All I’m asking is that ye talk to her. If ye’re going to resist, let her see ye actively resist—Oh good, ye’re here, Shadow King. Can you sci-fi this door open, then, so I can beat some sense into the High King?”

I set the black leather duffel bag I’d packed for my hopeful stay at the palace down on the floor.

I doubted he was serious about beating Declan.

One of his ancestors had tried that, and doing so had invited sanctions and led to several generations of second-in-command Shadow Kings.

And yes, I could override the lock on the god-tech door, but…

I glanced at the room next door—Sadie’s.

Technically, the suites were soundproofed in ways no human tech could replicate.

But she didn’t need to come out to hear Tadhg shouting.

I thought of our future queen, awkward and shy like me, but with a much prettier smile.

I’d known her less than a day, and already my internal code had rewritten itself with a new root-level priority: protect(Sadie).

Instead of pulling out my phone to punch in the override codes on Declan’s locked door, I flipped the sign I’d made when I passed the empty portico: Sadie where?

Tadhg froze, fist halfway to banging on Declan’s door again.

“She’s not out on the portico where I left her?”

I shook my head, chest clenching.

He’d left her on the portico?

The one that sat only a few meters away from the tower that transported anyone who wished to go to the Wicklow Gate to The Above in the blink of an eye.

I’d sent out a kingdom-wide announcement that the gate was closed until further notice.

But Sadie didn’t have access to our kingdom net.

And the mansion that housed our stone circle entrance was designed to keep people out.

Not in.

She hadn’t screamed.

But she might have run.

Tadhg must have thought the same thing.

With a curse, he took off toward the portico door, employing the speed that had made him such a quality asset when he played for Trinity’s rugby team.

I followed after him, hating that my gut feeling had been wrong.

I’d thought her bewilderment would turn into understanding once she talked to Tadhg.

It had not.

The portico was still empty when we stepped back outside, and Sadie’s strawberry scent was nowhere to be found among the array of foods kept warm on the god tech table.

A quick glance toward the expanse of green between where we stood and the tower didn’t yield any sight of her either.

“Sadie! Sadie! Where are you?”

Tadhg was already on the High Palace’s front lawn, yelling out for the female bear we’d hoped to make our queen.

By the time I reached him, the Mad Mountain King gleam Tadhg always fought so hard against glowed hot in his hazel eyes.

“I shouldn’t have made it seem like a choice and left her alone,” Tadhg bit out between clenched teeth.

“She’d been so upset about Declan not being there, I’d prioritized trying to get him to come ’round.”

Bitter regret shone in his eyes, followed by a hard squint of anger.

“We should have done this in the fortress, like I said. We need to hunt her down, drag her back here, and make her understand what we mean when we tell her not to run from bears.”

That declared, he cupped his hands again to yell out, “Sadie, if you’re in vicinity, you need to show yourself. Now! ”

That last word tore out of his throat on a bearish roar.

This was not good, verging on catastrophic.

Sadie had run. And Tadhg was no longer trying to control his Mad Mountain King instincts.

This was what Tadhg hadn’t wanted.

Why he wasn’t there when Sadie first woke up.

After it became clear that Declan wasn’t going to run the negotiations like he’d always done for our trio, Tadhg had recused himself to the sitting room “to breathe so that I don’t get overeager and show her the Mad Mountain King side.”

He’d done an admirable job during that first meeting.

Staying calm, even when she tried to run.

But now his bear hummed beneath the surface, glowing in his eyes as he cupped his hands to yell out, “Sadie! Sadie! Where are you?”

Couldn’t say I blamed him.

My own bear growled low in my chest as I pulled out the old GoNoTo phone I’d kludged into a remote control and monitor for all the kingdom’s atmospheric and infrastructural god tech.

But now I had two problems: getting Sadie back here and making sure Tadhg stuck to the original plan.

Hold on.…

I lifted an eyebrow at the perimeter report I’d pulled up on my screen, then grabbed Tadhg’s arm to get his attention and make him look, too.

He shoved my hand away.

“No, no, I shouldn’t have ever agreed to your approach.” At this point, his voice was more bear than human.

“The stakes are too high—hold on, are you trying to say the tower hasn’t been accessed since you came through hours ago?”

The bear glow in his eyes abruptly ceased, and Tadhg broke off his rant to snatch the phone I’d been waving in his face.

His pupils dilated as he racked focus on the time stamp for the tower’s access log.

“But how is that possible?” he asked.

“If she didn’t run, where is she?”

“Hi, here I am! Here I am!”

As if in answer to Tadhg’s question, the smell of strawberries hit our noses, right before we turned to see Sadie emerging from the hedge woods.

Relief slammed into me at the sight of her shuffling across the lawn toward us, an assortment of branches jutting from both pockets of her adorable strawberry-print dress.

Her thick, wavy curls blew back in the manufactured breeze, which had been scheduled to shift toward the lake earlier in the hour.

That explained why we hadn’t been able to catch her scent when we came outside.

“Sorry about that,” she said when she reached us.

“I went looking for a stick. Then I ran into Brigid’s husband. And I ended up talking to him for a while about your offer, working through all of this.”

Tadhg’s eyes no longer glowed, but the tight set of his jaw told me he wasn’t happy about our Potential talking to another bear.

All his adult life, he’d fought hard against his Mad Mountain King instincts.

Had chosen a boring COO life in The Above to keep that side of himself in check.

Yet here he was, straining against the seams again.

Her mere presence cracked his mask.

And the idea of her talking to someone else—confiding in a bear who wasn’t one of her kings—threatened to shatter it.

So, even though he was supposed to be the main line of communication for the both of us when it came to Sadie, I brought out my whiteboard and wrote, giving him time to slip back on the affable mask he’d ripped off when he’d thought she’d pulled a runner.

I turned the whiteboard to her: Decision?

“Kind of.” She glanced at Tadhg nervously, probably sensing if not completely comprehending his internal struggle.

“I actually have a few counter requests.”

Counter requests .

Interesting. I lowered the board and waited for her to continue.

“You said everything was up for negotiation.” She averted her shy gaze to somewhere beyond Tadhg’s shoulder.

“So, I wanted to talk with you about this training.…”

Not good.

Our entire plan was underpinned by the training we’d give her.

Tadhg and I exchanged a look.

And mask back on, he returned to talking for the both of us with a much gentler tone.

“I said we were open to negotiation, Strawberry. But some things aren’t up for discussion. Especially when it comes to your training.”

“Oh.” Her shoulders sagged.

And my bear made a disgruntled sound inside my chest.

Did she truly not want us, then?

Were none of the sparks I’d felt from the moment she sat up in that box, read my sign, and asked if I was the embodiment of Death present inside of her?

Also, we were not up for negotiation when it came to training.

But there was no scenario where either of us would force ourselves upon her if she did not wish for our touch.

Tadhg shifted his huge body with a conflicted look.

“Strawberry…”

“It’s just, I was hoping there would be kissing.” Sadie eyed the ground miserably.

“I don’t want just touching. I want kissing, too. But if you’re not willing to do that…”

“Sorry, are you fecking kidding me?” Tadhg asked.

“You actually thought kissing was something you could negotiate?”

Sadie didn’t answer.

Just continued to stare at the ground miserably.

And her voice was much quieter when she said, “I’d hoped. Just hoped.”

Tadhg stepped closer and put a finger under her chin to tip up her face.

“And I’m telling you, kissing’s not a thing you hope for with us. Because it’s a non-negotiable. We’re going to kiss you, Sadie Strawberry. We’re going to kiss you everywhere . There’s no getting out of that.”

I had no wish to see Sadie miserable or any more confused than we’d already made her.

But the sweet smile that lit up her face after Tadhg told her that almost made her few moments of pain worth it.

“Was that the only thing holding you back from agreeing to your Potential Training?” Tadhg’s voice had become a quiet, confidential husk, even though there was no one else around to hear him and Sadie talking.

“No, not the only thing.” She took a step back, away from Tadhg’s touch.

And this time, when she lifted her chin, she met both of our eyes.

“I have two more conditions. And these aren’t negotiable for me.”