Page 79 of Valor’s Flight (The New Protectorate #5)

Chapter Fifty-Three

The sun had already set by the time he finally made it back to the nest. Once he finally got him talking, Sergei’s interrogation had taken hours. Debriefing with Theodore and his Wing had taken another interminable stretch of time.

His mind buzzed with everything he’d learned, but his recovering body screamed for rest.

Returning to his nest after a long day had always been a relief, but there was nothing like stepping through the door to find Alashiya sitting cross-legged on the bed.

Her curls had been piled on top of her head and she’d put on one of his comfortable workout shirts.

She didn’t seem to mind the slits in the back as she hunched over a tablet.

Her fingers tapped clumsily against the glass.

Going by the hard set of her mouth and brows, she appeared determined to learn how to use the device.

When she glanced up at him, little squares of light reflected in her eyes. “Oh!” She set the tablet aside and crawled to the edge of the bed. “You’re back!”

“I’m sorry that took so long,” he sighed, closing the door behind him.

Drawn to her as inexorably as he’d always been, he crossed the room and sank onto the bed beside her.

He didn’t hesitate to snag her around the waist and pull her into his lap.

Her shapely legs stretched out, bare and beautiful, as she looped her arms around his neck.

His tension instantly released when she looked up at him with those soft eyes. “What happened with Sergei?”

Taevas let out a long breath. “I had to make a few promises, but I got him to talk.”

“Why did he do it?”

Still conflicted even hours after hearing the story, he answered, “His mother asked him to.”

Alashiya blinked. “His mother?”

Tucking her close to his chest, Taevas told her what Sergei had reluctantly revealed — only after securing immunity for himself and his mother in exchange.

After years of instability following Jaak’s death and the subsequent fall of her own family’s standing, Enel had indeed joined Glory’s Temple.

It was the only thing that brought her joy, Sergei told him.

He’d been primarily raised by his grandparents, but his love for his mother was clear.

Even when he explained her descent into darker fixations and the desire for revenge against Taevas for ruining her family, he did his best to support her.

His only hesitation came when his mother entangled herself with a shadowy group he couldn’t seem to trace.

Suddenly she wasn’t just devout. She was determined.

And the deeper she went, the more desperate she became.

Then came the day she begged for his help, saying she would be in danger if she couldn’t deliver.

Sergei claimed he had no idea what he was getting into until he saw the reports that Taevas had been kidnapped, then was called in to help the Ardeo soldiers with his transport.

By then, his fear that his mother had gotten into bed with people who wouldn’t hesitate to hurt her if he didn’t comply had crystalized.

“My father terrorized her,” Sergei had explained, haltingly and with palpable bitterness.

“The world threw her away and told her to survive on her own. Even my grandparents didn’t care what happened to her.

I’m the only person who cares. I’m the only person who’ll protect her. So I did what I had to do.”

Taevas didn’t want to feel any sympathy for Sergei, but he did. He understood what it was like to feel that driving need to protect, even at great cost to himself. It didn’t mean he forgave the man for the part he’d played, but it did mean he wouldn’t kill him.

“He doesn’t know much,” he explained to Alashiya, “but he was able to give us more than anyone else. He said that he was instructed to bring me to the border between the Orclind and the EVP. He thinks that whoever has orchestrated this whole thing is in the desert.”

“Why were you the only one kidnapped?” She nodded toward her discarded tablet. “After Margot and I had dinner, I wanted to read about what happened. Everyone else was attacked, but you were taken. Why?”

“He didn’t have an answer for that,” Taevas replied, shaking his head.

“Or much else, for that matter. From what we can tell, it seems like he was used for his ability to get the soldiers through the ’Riik’s security.

When the assassinations went sideways, he was brought back to assist a change in plans.

The best he could offer was speculation. ”

“Does any of it sound plausible?”

Taevas weighed the benefits and drawbacks of telling her what he suspected. He didn’t want to scare her when they’d only just gotten some stability, but she was his partner. His equal. Keeping things from her was an insult to her.

So he swallowed his impulse to protect her and said, “I think there’s real credence to the theory that they intended to tamper with my mind.”

Alashiya stiffened. Fingers curling into his shoulders, she rasped, “Why would they brainwash you but kill everyone else?”

“I don’t know for sure, but if the goal was to destabilize the alliance, it would be smart to keep one of the original signers alive and biddable.

Compared to Sophie, Sigrid, or Lee, I’m the most personable.

Maybe I was the easy choice. That way the public would have a familiar face to trust as they took over.

” Feeling the way she’d gone stiff in his arms, he smoothed his hands down her spine in a soothing stroke.

“But it’s just a theory. We won’t know anything for certain until we uproot the source of all this violence. ”

A pervading sense of worry bled through that strange new sense he possessed, the one that was attuned to his Chosen.

He could feel her even when they were apart, but when they touched…

It was like she existed inside him. All around him.

That vital glow that he’d so admired enclosed him, blocking out the dullness of the outside world.

And when he caught whispers of her thoughts, he understood better than ever why Theodore would jealously guard his connection with Margot. There was no gift more precious than the ability to connect with his mate mind to mind.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered, touching their foreheads together. “Whatever the plan was, it failed. We’re safe. We’re surrounded by friends and allies. That’s all that matters.”

Alashiya stroked the cords of his neck, her touch delicate. “We’re safe with our grove.”

His lips quirked. “Our grove. Our clan. As long as we’re together, we’ll be all right. It’s you and me forever, my queen.”

Giving him a narrow-eyed look, Alashiya said, “You know, we never did finish our negotiations.”

“We didn’t, did we?” Sitting back a bit so he could look into her eyes, he commanded, “Go on. What does my queen demand?”

“I want to help nymphs,” she told him. “I want to do something like what Hele’s done with the elementals. I don’t know how, and I’m pretty sure I’m unfit for the job, but…”

Frowning, Taevas pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing her to meet his gaze. “You are not unfit. You are the perfect person for that job, my Shiya.”

“I don’t know if that’s true. I’ve been hiding my whole life.

My people deserve someone who’s outgoing and brave and ambitious.

That’s not me.” She pressed her hand to the space above his heart.

It beat in time with her own when she continued, “But I’m here.

I care. I have you and I have your— our clan.

That means the job is mine, whether I’m the best fit for it or not. ”

Taevas let out an amazed breath. “I felt the same way when I became Isand. I was scared shitless. Suddenly everyone was looking at me like I knew what to do and how to help them. What did I know? I was just a pissed off kid with too much blood on his hands. I felt like the biggest fraud in the world.”

“But look at how well you’ve done,” she whispered. “Look at how much your people love you. They were willing to go against the entire UTA because they refused to believe you were dead. You’re so, so loved, Taevas.”

“I am. And you will be, too.” He tilted her chin up to press a soft kiss to her lips. She tasted like sweet wine and wild things and home. “Because you’re kind. You’re brave. You know what’s right. And you have so much love to give this world, my Shiya.”

“I never really thought about loving the rest of the world. I only ever wanted to love you.”

His chest squeezed tight. It was the strangest thing to feel such joy and regret bundled together.

Voice raw, he pleaded, “I want another wedding. That’s my condition.

I’ll give you whatever you need to reunite the nymphs.

In return I want a wedding I’ll actually remember.

I know we can’t do the full ceremony again, but I can’t have missed being Chosen by you. I can’t stand it, metsalill.”

Of course, he would give her what she needed regardless, but if he had to negotiate, then he was going to demand the only thing he really wanted: her.

“But your people don’t do weddings,” she said, brows pinching.

“Our people will do whatever you ask them to. And so I am asking you, my queen, to marry me one more time. In front of our clan. In front of the world. I want everyone to know what a lucky son of a bitch I am.”

A whisper-soft laugh, a sound of pure joy, escaped her plush lips. Cupping his jaw, she teased, “Didn’t you announce that to the world this morning? I saw the news, you know. It scared the shit out of me.”

He winced. “I probably should’ve warned you.”

“Yes, you should’ve.”