Page 18

CHAPTER 18

Rider

The throne room’s heavy doors slammed shut behind me, the sound echoing through the ornate hallway. My wolf heaved inside me, not wanting to leave Sage with Quill and West — a man who I didn’t know and didn’t trust — but I had no choice.

I couldn’t challenge the High Priestess. She’d made her decision and there was nothing I could do about it.

A growl rumbled in my throat, making Ash, Onyx, and Zinnia, look at me, questions in their eyes.

She’s not my Goddess-damned mate .

She’s not.

But I hated that she’d been in danger, was still in danger, and that the High Priestess had taken a liking to her.

I didn’t know how Her Brilliance had heard so quickly about the attack, but I didn’t like it. She was a powerful leader, used to dealing with human men who looked down on her, and she liked being in control.

But she also had a wicked streak, especially with people who she thought were useful, and clearly from her mention of Sage’s magic, she thought Sage was useful.

Thankfully, Quill had diverted the conversation before Sage was forced to reveal her magic in public, but unfortunately, with the High Priestess taking an interest in her, Sage was going to be the talk of not just the Garden, but the whole court, possibly beyond. And not just unmated men would be interested in her. Everyone would be.

Goddess. Even with our few brief encounters, I knew Sage was shy.

The kind of attention she was going to receive now would be torture. And the High Priestess was going to enjoy watching her squirm before coming to rescue her from the situation she had intentionally created.

I led us down the hall, away from the knight stationed at the door and any other prying eyes and glanced at Ash. His scarred face was an impassive mask, and he acted as if it didn’t matter that Sage had been taken into the Divine Residence where he couldn’t follow her.

But I knew him too well, and the rigid set of his shoulders and the tightness around his dark eyes betrayed his inner turmoil.

The question was: did he fear not being able to court her because he couldn’t reach her in the Divine Residence or did he think she’d reject him once the stress of the situation had worn off?

And with my wolf heaving inside me, straining to rip through my fae form, I couldn’t focus enough to figure out which it was.

“I hope she doesn’t keep Talon,” Onyx murmured as soon as we were out of earshot from the guards.

“I hope he doesn’t require Flint’s healing,” I growled back.

Zinnia’s eyebrows rose in surprise, making me wonder if she knew about Her Brilliance’s proclivities.

I doubted the High Priestess would punish Talon for Sage’s attack. She was more likely to hurt him to keep riding the pleasure she got from playing with Sage. And while Talon was sometimes up for a little pain with his pleasure, it had to be with the right person. The High Priestess and her mates were not the right people.

My vision shifted to my wolf’s sight, and I squeezed the bridge of my nose to keep him at bay.

Protect. Mate. Mine.

Fuck.

There was too much going on and my wolf was losing his mind. Hell, there’d been too much before Ash had told us Wells and Crane had attacked Sage. I hadn’t wanted anything to do with the new arrival, no matter how much she haunted me, and now I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

And she sure as hell wasn’t my mate.

My thoughts leaped to her conversation with Zinnia. The door to the bedroom had been closed, but my wolf enhanced my hearing and I hadn’t been able to stop listening to their words.

“You’ve been raised in the human realm.” Zinnia’s words had frozen everything within me and I jumped to the same conclusion she had, that Sage was a slave.

I’d wanted Sage to deny it. She could have just been raised by humans. It explained why she reminded me so much of Isemay. But in the next breath, she’d confirmed some human was holding her captive and abusing her.

I’d wanted to tear the door down and vow I’d protect her and the human boy she was helping. Both my wolf and I were in agreement that she couldn’t stay where she was. But if she was as like Isemay as I suspected, she’d never tell someone she didn’t trust. She certainly wouldn’t tell someone because they demanded to know.

No, if I wanted to rescue Sage and the boy, I needed to earn her trust. Letting my feral instincts take over wasn’t going to help, no matter how hard it currently was to keep my wolf in check.

“Lord Commander Rider,” a sharp, masculine voice called out behind me.

I jerked to a stop and glared at the knight rushing toward us.

“What?” my wolf snarled through my lips.

The knight stumbled to a stop, his eyes wide. Two more knights drew up behind him, keeping enough distance between them as if they hoped my wolf’s ire would remain focused on the man in front of him.

“Lord Commander Phoenix requires your presence in his office,” the knight squeaked. “Captain Ash and Sir Onyx as well.”

I huffed. I doubted Phoenix was so polite. He’d sent?—

I glanced at the knight’s collar for his rank. Captain. The man cowering before the threat of my wolf was a knight captain.

And the men behind him were both sergeants.

Clearly, they weren’t making Order Knights like the used to.

“I have a text I need to consult, but I’ll head to Sage’s suite shortly,” Zinnia assured me.

I gave her a tight nod and turned back to our escort. “Lead the way, captain.”

He stumbled back a step before turning and hurrying down the hall.

The sergeants waited until Ash, Onyx, and I had passed before following behind us.

I huffed again at their foolishness. I wasn’t going to resist a command from the High Priestess’s knights and just the three of them wouldn’t have been able to stop me if my wolf got out of control.

The captain led us down the long corridors to the north wing where the Order was stationed inside the Residence — a path all of us knew well — and into the sitting room outside the Lord Commander’s office.

The north wing and the Lord Commander’s sitting room lacked the luxury found in the rest of the corridors and rooms in the Divine Residence. The furnishings and features were finer than anything the Black Guard had, but compared to everything else for the High Priestess, it was plain and utilitarian.

Which, ironically, was very much like the Lord Commander of the Order of the Sacred Grove himself. Phoenix was a skilled, dangerous, practical warrior. He was older than me by a century and had been the deputy commander of the Order when he mated the soon-to-be High Priestess.

He was a competent commander but also completely dedicated to his mate. Which meant he’d take Sage’s safety seriously, but if the High Priestess wanted to play with Sage, he’d allow it and no one could stop it. Her Brilliance would think that just by saving Sage, we were interested in her, and we could get roped into whatever game she was playing.