Page 70 of Third Offense

We would have easily fought until the sun went down, but Sorin and Zian came soaring toward us.

“What the fuck is wrong with the two of you?” Zian demanded, his feet landing on my chest as he drove me several steps backward.

Sorin held off Auric, the two of them putting even more distance between us as I bared my teeth.

Raven stood off to the side with a puzzled frown. She glanced around and back to the ocean, then at us, like she was trying to shake herself from some sort of enchantment.

It wasn’t the first time Auric and I had fought, but it might have been the first time she’d seen us at each other’s throats like this.

Get a fucking grip,I snarled at Auric.

“You’re the one who needs towake up,” he snapped back.

Why did he keep fucking saying that? I was wide awake!

And pissed off.

Because my mate was alone with Ketos right now somewhere where I couldn’t see her, andAurichad allowed that to happen.

What was he thinking, anyway?

Stalking off, I couldn’t look at Auric without risking violence again, so I ventured into the palace as blood roared in my ears.

A weird shimmer seemed to glitter off of everything. The walls. The paintings. The fucking floor.

How hard did that asshole punch me?I wondered.

Except, Auric’s demand that I wake up echoed inside my head.

And I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

What if Auric is onto something? What if none of this is real?

CHAPTERNINETEEN

LAYLA

Ketos pouredthe tea in a similar manner to my mother, making me wonder if she’d taught him that skill.

Rather than hold the question back, I asked her, “Did you help raise Ketos?” From my previous discussions with my mother, I knew Ketos had been found as an infant, his power signifying his godly heritage. Maybe even his gold markings, too.

And she’d mentioned a mate-circle had raised him in Ireland.

But I didn’t know much else.

My mother’s eyes widened with the question, then she glanced at Ketos and laughed a little. “No, he was fully raised in Ireland by Gadriel, Batar, and Ariel. All changeling children appear to strong mate-circles around the world, and those mate-circles raise them. And as none of us can afford to be in the same place, it’s rare for us to meet for extended periods of time. Such as this week.”

Ketos grinned in response. “Yes. Typically our time together equates to less than a day. As your mother said, we can’t remain together for long. It provides too big a target for the Nora.”

“Is that why there are so many guards?” I asked, recalling the line of sentries in the sky during my morning flights with my mates.

“Yes,” Ketos murmured. “There are an abundance of them here right now to keep you all safe.”

I frowned. “Not you?”

“Ketos keeps escaping them,” my mother said conspiratorially. “He’s quite the rebel.”

He chuckled in response and relaxed into the couch beside me. He was close enough to touch, but kept a slight distance between us, as though he didn’t want to encroach on my space too much. “I don’t need a guard.”