He wasn’t alone.
A dark-haired fae followed him in. Faye’s silvery skin was darker than Tanner’s, often reminding me of a stunning pewter shade. While Faye had the most impressive resting bitch face I’d ever seen, and I often wasn’t sure if she actually liked me, she had a no-nonsense mentality, and I trusted her. She, like Kalen, another fae, were warriors. They didn’t feed on humans, so they could be killed a lot easier than those who did, but they were still faster and stronger than any human could ever hope to be.
Faye’s cousin Benji was one of the missing younglings, and I suspected that he wouldn’t be returning to the hotel. There was a good chance that he, like the others, had somehow gotten ahold of Devil’s Breath, a liquor laced with a drug derived from the borrachero tree. It turned humans into virtual zombies, and the fae into evil creatures controlled by the Winter fae.
“We’re sorry to interrupt,” Tanner said, clasping his hands behind him as he glanced over at me. “We were just worried.”
“We heard you shout in the hall,” Faye explained.
Well, that explained how Caden had found me. “I’m fine.”
Faye lifted a dark brow. “You don’t look fine.”
I couldn’t be offended by Faye’s bluntness. “I feel better than I look.”
“I would hope,” Tanner murmured.
Faye walked to where I stood, her gaze coasting over my face. My muscles stiffened as I forced myself not to flinch or take a step back. It had nothing to do with Faye, but with the fact that Aric had been really good at teaching me to be wary of anyone getting too close. Oddly aware of the tension radiating off Caden, I held myself still as she placed a hand on my shoulder. “I heard that it was you who killed Aric.”
“It was.”
Her eyes glimmered. “The next time I need backup, I know who to call.”
Pride swept through me like golden fire. Out of everyone, Faye never doubted my ability to fight and defend myself, even though she saw my thirst for revenge as a risk. She hadn’t just seen me as the Willow to the Buffy, something that had taken a while for Ivy to recognize.
“I’m not sure how I feel about that,” Caden said.
“It’s a good thing you don’t have a say in what I do,” I retorted.
Tanner’s eyes widened while the glimmer in Faye’s deepened.
“But I do have a say in what she does,” Caden remarked.
I shot him a look, to which he simply grinned. Then I remembered what Caden had told me. Ivy and Faye had helped to change my bandages while I was unconscious. “Thank you for helping to take care of me.”
She inclined her head. “You would do the same for me, would you not?”
“Of course.”
“Because that’s what friends do for one another, even human and fae friends,” she said, and a hint of a smile pulled at her lips when I rolled my eyes. “More importantly, that’s what warriors do for one another.”
Warriors.
She was talking about me.
Twice in one day, someone had referred to me as a warrior. I liked that. A lot.
Tanner replaced Faye and took my hands in his. “I am relieved to see you here. We didn’t lose hope that you would be returned, but that hope didn’t lessen our fears. After what happened to you and…and Merle, I couldn’t…” He trailed off, lips tightening in a grimace as he cleared his throat.
A ball formed in the back of my throat as I squeezed his hands. “I know.”
His pale eyes searched mine. “I am relieved to see you up and moving about, but are you sure you’re ready for that?”
“You know,” Caden began as Tanner let go of my hands, “I was saying just the same thing to her.”
“I’m ready. Besides, I think getting up and moving around will help with the whole healing thing. Anyway,” I cut in before Caden could reply. “I hope I didn’t interrupt your meeting,”
Tanner appeared as if he wished to say that I had, but he seemed to know better than to say that in front of Caden. “Not at all.” His lie was so smooth, it brought a faint smile to my face. I knew that Tanner liked me—well, liked me when I wasn’t calling Caden names. But I also suspected that he would not be pleased to learn that there was a relationship between Caden and me. Then again, I imagined he already knew that something was going on. “We were discussing a few important details—”
“That can easily be discussed later,” Caden interjected. I had a feeling it was about Caden’s impending engagement. I doubted that Tanner knew it had been canceled.
The male fae nodded. “Of course.”
“I’m actually glad you guys came by,” I said, moving so I sat on the chair across from a square ottoman. Caden’s head tilted to the side as he watched me. “I remembered something that Aric said—something I think you all need to know.”
Tanner sat in the other chair, and Faye moved to stand behind him. “What is it?”
“I wish I’d remembered this sooner,” I said, almost apologetically. “But things have been...” Kind of a mess in my head? I didn’t say that.
“It’s okay. I understand,” Caden said. “They understand.”
I lowered my gaze and took a deep, steady breath, clearing my thoughts. “Aric said that someone within the Summer Court has been helping him.”
Tanner went stiff while Faye became alert, but it was Caden’s reaction that I saw the most. He’d gone impossibly still, his chest barely rising as his jaw became as hard as granite. The air above his head seemed to ripple, reminding me of how flames distorted the air. My breath caught as the faintest outline of a…of a crown began to appear on his head.
“Go on,” he said, his voice deceptively level.
My heart thrummed as I stared at him. I’d only see the flaming, burnt crown and sword once before. Both seemed to have appeared out of thin air, and then disappeared again into it. The near presence was both fascinating and unsettling.
I swallowed. “He said that it was a member of the Summer Court who wished to see the return of Queen Morgana,” I told them. “I think…I think he went to meet with this fae while he had me.”
“Impossible,” breathed Tanner. “No Summer fae would ever want such an atrocity as she to breach this world.”
“Did he ever say how he planned to do so?” Caden asked.
I remembered, and I wasn’t sure if telling him would cause that crown to make a complete appearance. “He said that it was unlikely for you to complete the prophecy, but he believed he could force you to open the gates. Is that possible? Can you open the gates without the prophecy?”
A muscle ticked in Caden’s jaw. “I can.”
That seemed to be news to both Tanner and Faye. “How?” she asked.
“If properly motivated, I could open a gateway,” Caden said, the air settling above his head as his gaze held mine.
“You mean you could simply open one?” Faye asked. “Like turn a doorknob and…bam, it’s open?”
My heart started pounding as flickers of memories surged. Aric had been searching for the King’s mortuus, believing that he could use the person to force the King to open the gateway. It wasn’t until he figured out that I’d been given the Summer Kiss that he realized I was the mortuus.
“Yes,” Caden answered. “Obviously, that is information not widely known, and it needs to stay that way.”
“Obviously,” Tanner sputtered. “Especially with the Order. They would view you as a threat—”
“And that would be the last thing they ever viewed if so.” Caden snarled, and a shiver of goosebumps spread across my flesh. His golden eyes burned. “It’s not something I would do.”
Unless.
That one word wasn’t spoken, but I knew it hung in the silence between us.
And that was the moment I knew Caden’s reaction had more to do with what Aric could’ve shared with this Summer fae. Aric could’ve told the fae traitor that I was the King’s mortuus. His greatest weakness that could be used to control him.
“You can’t stay here,” Caden said. “You will stay with me.”
My mouth dropped open in surprise. Partly because I hadn’t thought he’d say something like that in front of Tanner and Faye, and also because he thought he could just state that and I’d go along with it.
“I’m not planning to stay here forever,” I told him. “Luce said I just need to stay the rest of the week, and then I can go home.”
“I don’t want you to live here. I want you at my place where I can make sure you’re safe. If you don’t want to go to my place, I’ll take you to yours. Luce will just have to deal with that.”
A tumbling motion swept through my stomach. Caden and I staying together couldn’t happen. I obviously didn’t have the willpower necessary to keep from kissing him within five seconds of seeing him. There was no way I could do what I needed to do if he was living with me. No way at all.
Caden’s eyes narrowed.
I squared my shoulders as I lifted my chin. “I don’t recall asking you to stay with me or giving you permission.”
“I don’t recall needing either of those things.”
“Are you serious?” I demanded, rising to my feet. “Of course, you need my permission to stay at my house.”
He glared up at me. “Under normal circumstances, yes. But when it’s to keep you out of harm’s way, I don’t.”
“Yeah, that’s not some unspoken law or something. And even if it were, I don’t need to follow it. I’m not fae. You’re not my King.”
“Um,” Faye murmured, shifting from one foot to the other uncomfortably.
“I know exactly what I am to you.” Caden rose to his full height, but he didn’t step toward me. I gaped at him. “This isn’t up for discussion.”
“That we can agree on, because you’re not staying with me.”
His smile was slow, predatory. “Then you’re staying with me.”
“No, I’m not!” I shouted. “I’m staying here until I can go home at the end of the week and sleep in my own bed—”
“I like where this is heading,” he cut in.
Tanner made a choking sound.
I stepped forward. “By myself. I’m going home at the end of the week. By myself.”
He quirked a brow. “We’ll see.”
Anger flashed through me hotly. “We won’t see crap. You’re not—”
“Okay. Let’s all take a breather.” Tanner had stood, holding up his hands. “No matter where Brighton decides to go at the end of the week, I am sure that she is not in any danger here. Aric is dead, and if what he said was true, which is unlikely, no Summer fae would seek to harm her, especially not here.”
“I will rip the skin from any fae who even has the smallest inkling of looking at her in a way I do not like,” Caden bit out.
My eyes widened. “That’s a bit excessive.”
Caden didn’t take his gaze from me. “That’s your opinion.”
My hands curled into fists. “That’s a mentally healthy opinion.”
“You know damn well that it’s not excessive,” he all but growled.
“If you’re worried about Brighton’s safety, I’m sure that Ivy or even Faye would be willing to stay with her after she leaves. I will also make sure she’s watched while here,” Tanner tried again, and Faye nodded while I bristled at the idea of being under surveillance, even if necessary.
“I will make sure she is safe here,” Caden replied.
Tanner appeared beyond flustered. “I mean this with all due respect, my King, I know that Brighton is important to you, but you must think about how this will look to Tatiana and her brother.”
Caden’s head snapped in his direction. “Do I appear as if I remotely care how it looks?”
The breath I took was as sharp as the one I knew Tanner inhaled. “You should care,” I told him, and I had no idea how he didn’t crack his neck with how fast he turned those furious eyes on me.
I had a feeling that whatever was about to come out of his mouth would be tantamount to me taking out an ad announcing that I was his mortuus.
Thank God that Faye spoke when she did. “Not to interrupt this very awkward conversation, but a Summer fae wanting the Queen to enter the human world? Do you really think one of our own would be working with Aric? With the Winter fae?”
“As if it hasn’t happened before,” Caden snapped. “Let’s not forget that Aric was one of my closest confidants. He was my Knight. So, it’s not just possible, it’s extremely likely.”
Chapter 5
I hadn’t believed that Aric had lied, but knowing that Caden saw it as highly likely was like watching a pall of death settle over the normally warm hotel.
Tanner was in shock. I couldn’t blame him. Faye looked as if she wanted to start a Fae Inquisition, and Caden looked like…
Well, I was doing my best not to see what he looked like by studiously ignoring him. Wasn’t exactly doing much since I didn’t need to see him to know that he was mad. His fury was in every clipped response and the tension that bled from him. I didn’t know what he was angrier about—that someone in his own Court had betrayed him, or that I had pushed back on the idea of him staying with me.
There was no way I could allow that to happen.
I kept trying to leave while Tanner and Faye discussed who the traitor could be. Still, every time I moved an inch, either Faye would ask if there was anything else I could remember, or Caden sent me a look that froze me in my tracks.
Which caused my irritation to skyrocket to uncharted territories. I would’ve loved for Caden to stay with me. For him to be there with me. But that was beside the point. Even if things were hunky-dory between us, I wouldn’t be cool with his high-handed attitude. I had a say in this. The final say. And he needed to get that through his thick, albeit sexy, skull.
Finally, after it was agreed that Kalen, another fae, and Ren and Ivy would be advised about the potential traitor in our midst, Tanner and Faye headed for the door. It had also been decided that it would be best to keep the knowledge of Caden’s ability to open the gateway limited to those in the room. As Tanner had said, there was no need to cause undue distrust and weaken the fledgling bond between the Summer fae and the Order…if one could call the sliver of a thread brought about by an agreement to work together a bond.
I rose, my gaze fixed on the door as if it were a lifeline. It was far past time to act like the entire future of the human and fae race, of our child, depended on us—or me—making the right choice. Our child. Those words caused my heart to start pounding. I made it about two steps.
“Brighton.”
A tiny, childish part of me wanted to pretend as if I hadn’t heard him. I was a lot of things, but a coward wasn’t one of them. I stopped.
Okay. Maybe I was a little bit cowardly, because I didn’t face him. I could feel him though. He couldn’t be standing more than a few feet behind me.
“Talk to me.”
“About what?”
“Don’t pretend that you don’t know.” He was closer now. I could practically feel his heat against my back, and it took everything in me not to turn around and throw my arms around him. To revel in that warmth and comfort once more.
I stayed where I was. “Maybe I just don’t want to talk about what I know you want to discuss.”
“And maybe I don’t want to stand here and talk to the back of your head, but that’s what I’m doing.”
“You stopped me,” I pointed out.
There was a beat of silence. “What is going on, Brighton?”
Sighing, I faced him because he didn’t deserve to talk to my haphazard ponytail. Even though I’d been sitting in the same room with him, had been in his lap and had been kissing him just a bit ago, I still felt a little breathless when I met his gaze. There was such openness in his striking features, not at all like when I’d first gotten to know him.
“Why are you so resistant to coming home with me or staying with you?” he asked. “You know damn well it’s necessary. If Aric
told anyone that you’re my mortuus, you’re in danger.”
My chest hollowed. I didn’t want to be in danger. Not after what I’d gone through, but it wasn’t like my life hadn’t been risky before. As a member of the Order, even one that wasn’t expected to patrol like the other members, I still had a target on my back, as history had proven. “We really don’t know if Aric told this Summer fae traitor anything. It wasn’t like he lived long after realizing what I was.”
“But it’s also not like you killed him the moment after he realized what you meant to me, right?” he challenged.
I hadn’t. “All that means is that we don’t know.”
“And that is why we need to be extra cautious. I will not allow harm to come to you. Not again.” His chin dipped as those fiery eyes met mine. “Never again.”
His words brought forth too much pleasure. “I can protect myself, Caden.”
“Didn’t say you couldn’t, but why should you have to do that by yourself?”
I folded my arms over my chest, mainly to stop myself from looping them around his neck. “Because I always have.”
He took a small, measured step forward. “But things are different. You have me now. You have all of me.”
It felt like a knife being shoved straight into my heart. His words shouldn’t make me feel that way. They should bring me nothing but happiness.
This isn’t fair.
It really wasn’t, but that didn’t change reality. “I don’t want you to protect me,” I forced out, each word stinging and scraping at me. “I don’t want you at my house. I don’t—I don’t want you.”
His brows lifted. That was the only response he showed.
I drew in a shallow, burning breath. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me, but I can’t… I can’t do this with you. I care about you, but I…I don’t want to be with you.”
“You don’t?” His tone was flat.
The Summer King Bundle: 3 Stories by Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 40
