Laughter shatters down through the trees.
“I love you, Vexy,” Seth cackles. “And any scenario you come up with where Pax or Killian fall in love with a male servant.”
“That’s not what I meant!” I growl up at him.
“I have never loved another man,” Killian mutters, slowly, as if considering it for the very first time.
His jaw tenses and his eyes struggle not to pop wide, then he turns and slams his fist into the tree again.
“Seth,” he rumbles, clearly not intending to say any of that out loud.
“Can I –” Pax begins, drawing my attention away from Killian freaking out and over to his tense words. His eyes are still slightly aglow, but the teeth have slipped back into a more human shape. “Can I touch you?”
He might look mostly man-Pax, but he definitely sounds like Thane is still at least half in control. And the question has completely disarmed me.
“Um, why?”
“You smell like Rose,” Killian explains. “Checking for damage came first.”
Pax is literally rippling with energy.
“First?” I ask. “Before what?”
Oh – before his lips.
I mean, my lips.
Our lips, as his hands slip around my body and all of me is wrapped up against him. He lifts me off the ground. We’re somehow leaning against the tree branch, and I don’t really care how, only caring about the length of his teeth and where he plans on putting them with Killian and Seth nearby.
My eyes slide shut, and the only sounds my ears care to decipher are our two entangled breaths.
“You can’t taste like her,” Pax growls, a hint of Thane in the syllables as he grips my bottom lip in his teeth – then bites.
My back arches, and I press my hips against his. My body hints that this might be painful… Maybe it is… Or maybe it should be… but I still don’t want it to end.
Warm blood runs underneath my tongue as Pax’s tongue traces over the roof of my mouth.
“That’s better,” he whispers, at the exact same time as Killian punches the damn tree again.
My eyes shoot wide, expecting to feel it fall over. There’s a pulverized hole in the middle of the thing – but it’s still standing.
Pax still looks pissed, Seth is still hiding up a tree, and Killian is still trying to shatter all of his knuckles multiple times over. So my distracted moment has only managed to leave me with a sore lip.
“Why are you mad?” I demand. “I have every right to be mad. What happened down there sucked for me, but it achieved great things for you. I saw them all bowing.”
All it did for me was strip my self-worth away. Made me feel like a Soot once more. Right up until the moment I kissed Rose – though I’m not going to tell them that.
“Because it worked,” Killian growls as he draws back his fist.
The tree shudders before Killian can hit it, then the next one, and then the next one over. Seth’s gone full-monkey and has begun jumping from tree to tree. I resist the urge to look up and gawk at the huge guy flying through the air, instead keeping my gaze on Killian.
He lowers his fist and points at me instead. “Because of you.”
“Me? Why me? Okay, you guys need to break this down for me. Make it sound really simple.”
“Seth forced you all into confrontation,” Pax says, his tone still hard. “If Rose hurt you, we would have torn her apart.”
“And made a mess of your plans to save the realm. You realize that’s part of the problem here, right? That I’m just a piece in your puzzle to save this realm. If I meant more to you than that, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Oh, crap. Now Pax looks like he needs a tree to hit too.
“We discussed this plan on the ride back from Tanakan,” he says.
“He didn’t realize that breaking the all-male or all-female triune rule would give us this advantage, Vexy,” Seth calls out.
The tension in my face relaxes, a lot actually.
“Why didn’t you guys just tell me!”
“You sleep too much,” Killian says.
“You guys have to start trusting me. I handled it – didn’t I?”
Killian just grunt-growls. Long. Low.
Irritating as bralls.
“What was your plan, then?”
“Just keep you alive,” Killian says.
Right, it’s not if or even when I die – it’s how. Killian’s saving me for my first encounter with a grimm. How romantic.
He chuffs at me. “Rose isn’t romantic.”
“That’s not what I was thinking,” I say, looking at him a little too accusingly.
He flexes and fists his hand, the torn skin pulling tight over his knuckles. I grab at it, tugging it closer for just long enough to see the damage, before he yanks it away.
“You’re an idiot,” I tell him.
“He’s an idiot,” Killian counters, pointing in Seth’s vague direction.
“You’re all idiots!”
My idiots – yes, but still idiots.
Pax’s eyes heat into a long, slow glow. The corner of his mouth pulls deliciously into the kind of half-smile that literally takes my breath hostage.
Seth appears out of the branches, hanging upside down from one of the lower limbs.
“You’re welcome, by the way,” he says. “For bringing them to their knees without bloodshed.”
“Seth,” Pax booms.
His tone ricochets through the trees. I’m overcome by the sense that physically I’ve turned to stone – completely under Pax’s command. And just to test that idea I lift my hand and push back my hair. Not stone – though I feel like I should be.
“You are forbidden to take Shade into danger. Forbidden.”
The words bore into me, pulling my mind tight like an elastic band stretched to its limits, and he’s not even talking to me.
“Yes, boss,” Seth strangles the words out.
Pax exhales, and I feel my insides relax.
“What was that?” I whisper.
“That was Pax being excessive,” Jada says, sauntering into the group. She makes me jump, but the guys must have known she was approaching because none of them even turn to look at her.
“I thought you’d stopped giving Alpha orders to poor Seth, especially when what he just did was quite successful.” She flashes a smile in Seth’s direction before walking up to Killian and resting a hand on his arm. “Dangerous, entertaining, and successful.”
She doesn’t look at him, just rests her hand there, as she turns her almond eyes towards Pax.
My Pax, and her nasty fingers are on my Killian. Wrapping around his bicep like she owns him.
“I give orders when he’s likely to act like an idiot,” Pax rumbles. “He still walks at my back because his Chaos gets the better of us all.”
That’s why Seth is number Two.
Pax. Seth. Roarke. Killian.
One. Two. Three. Four.
“Us all?” I mumble, wanting to reach across and slap the woman’s hand off Killian. But I’m pretty good at multitasking, and I can be possessive and have realizations at the same time. Like realizing that what Rose said to me was almost exactly the same as what I had been thinking.
“Pax, you can’t take your orders out on him. That was my idea – all of it.” I raise my voice just enough to ensure his attention moves back to me.
“No, Vexy, my Seed listens to his orders,” Seth says from his upside down position. “This is a good idea.”
I ignore that because everything in me is being hit by the truth – that was my idea. I was sitting down there, my back resting against Seth’s back, running scenarios through my mind.
Jada’s attention is on Pax, but her damn hand is still on Killian. Killian doesn’t seem to care as he gives his broken knuckles a rough inspection. Seth and I look past the two of them and lock eyes.
He’s smiling way too mischievously, but I feel like someone kicked me in the chest and hol
lowed my insides out.
“Pax, Vexy looks genuinely distressed,” Seth says.
Pax lets out a long sigh, but it’s Jada who speaks. “When we were kids, Pax used to,” she hesitates, possibly because Pax is looking like this story will end in murder, “ah, make a mess of things. Chaos is maybe the only Seed that can absorb Pax’s level of… ah, reaction.”
“How?”
“The only thing that can exist in harmony with a Saber power when it is running out of control is Chaos.”
“But how?” I demand, because that really didn’t explain anything.
“Seth will always be one step ahead of Pax; it’s in his nature. If Pax’s reaction could annihilate the known world – Seth would be the only one to preempt it, or at least curb it.”
She’s saying it’s better that Seth take the brunt of Pax’s anger because Seth has the most resilience – and I don’t like it.
“Not always,” Seth calls.
“You mean he makes me react?” Pax rumbles.
Jada shrugs. “That too. Point is, he keeps everyone else alive.” Jada runs her hand up and down Killian’s arm.
She says more stuff, but I’m not really listening.
Not really breathing either. I’m struggling with a deep clawing desire to crash-tackle Jada away from a guy who isn’t technically mine. Who doesn’t even want to be mine.
Killian isn’t mine.
Much.
Killian belongs to Killian – but Jada can still get her hands off him.
Beautifully-manicured hands, like the woman arrived here in a royal carriage. The kind of hands I will happily pour a pot of boiling water over.
This has to be some weird leftover effect from Pax’s power? Or Rose’s power? Or maybe whatever happened with Seth’s power. Because plotting to actually hurt someone is not something I usually do.
Killian looks down at Jada’s grip as if she’s reached the limit of his patience.
Jada’s hand slips from his arm, and I let out a shaky breath. Which makes everyone else move their attention to me. My hands are shaking, so I stuff them into my pockets, where the cool glass egg provides all of thirty seconds worth of distraction. Why does this woman get under my skin so hard? I can be rubbed the wrong way, but this is on a level a million times worse.
“Adrenaline and Saber power,” Jada says, nodding at me like she knows shit. “It was one of the things that caused the Mortal Wars to begin in the first place. Our two species cannot coexist. Mortal anatomy is just not up for the challenge.”
A fresh wave of not-being-able-to-breathe-properly rolls over me.
“What do we do?” Pax asks.
Jada shrugs. “Wait it out, I guess. In the meantime, you boys can get me up to speed on your deciphering of Aunt Raefiya’s secret letter. I’m assuming the mortal has given it to you by now? And it’s no small prophecy. I’m also assuming she can’t read.”
Oh, bralls no.
“The mortal needs to be watered first,” Killian says before I can react. “And sleep.”
“And food,” Seth adds.
“Jada, can you go help Teegan and Roarke? Then we’ll talk,” Pax says, not looking back at the woman.
She scowls at him, then glares at me, but turns and damn sashays down the hill. Only, she makes having a tantrum look freaking sexy. All graceful hips and long legs.
“What are you looking for?” I ask Killian, whose gaze has shifted to the ground.
“Apples,” he mutters, before meeting my gaze out of the corner of his eye.
His sneaky smile is gone in a blink when the guy shifts all of his energy into advancing on Seth. But damn, that smile could knock the wind out of a girl. Deep. Dark. And a glimpse into his soul.
Seth has just enough time to curse before Killian grabs his shirt and yanks him out of the tree. Seth almost lands on his head, which doesn’t slow Killian down one bit.
“We’re training,” Killian says.
Seth pops up, bouncing on the balls of his feet a few times like he’s ready to dodge a fist. But Killian doesn’t throw one.
“Okay, I deserve that,” Seth says.
For a long moment, Killian just stands in front of Seth. A slow smile fills Seth’s expression – from lips to eyes – before Killian extends his arm and Seth grabs it in the kind of handshake that has them gripping each other at the elbows, then pulling each other in for a hug and back slap.
“Your Seed will be the death of us, one day.” The guy still doesn’t look impressed, and the whole scene feels kind of scary but also not.
“But not today,” Seth says, both of them turning towards the cottage.
“Take me too,” I announce, slipping from the rock and standing on slightly shaky legs – when did my legs get shaky?
Pax crowds in on me instantly, his hand resting on the small of my back. The sensation is calming, but not enough to ease the shaking.
“Shadow, I need to smash something, and I can’t hit you,” Killian says.
“Damn right, you can’t – but maybe I need to hit something too,” I say. Though instead of something I really should have said Jada. I need to hit Jada.
And every other woman down there.
Except Rose. I kinda like Rose now.
Killian looks like the air around here is intense, like he’s breathing the same bitter-metallic tang that I am.
Then he looks to Pax for permission. Which would piss me off except Pax instantly nods.
“But he goes first,” Pax says, pointing at Seth, and nudging me towards the cottage.
“Priorities. Spring. Food. Training. Repeat,” Killian says.
“What? I just want to –” I cut myself off before, distract myself from my jealousy. “We’re not planning my life here.” Killian grunt-chuckles, so I add, “No, honey, no life planning. Just let me hit something …” Other than her.
I don’t get a chance to say the other than her part because, before I can chuckin’ scream, Killian grabs me by the hips and slings me over his shoulder.
“Hey!” I exclaim, and get ignored.
“Did she just call you honey?” Seth asks, rushing to catch up as Killian basically strides down the boulders like the things aren’t even there.
“Again,” Killian says.
“She’s called you honey before? Why didn’t I know about this? What does she call me?” Absently, like there’s no thought involved, and without a hitch in his conversation, Seth cartwheel-flip-somersaults down the boulders.
“A pain-in-my-ass,” I mutter too low for Seth to hear.
Killian laughs. His chest rumbles right through to mine – and oh, does it make the air smell so sweet.
“What’s wrong with Sethy?” I ask.
“If I’m Sethy, then his name is Killy,” Seth says. He’s sulking, lips drawn down as he tumbles like a crazy person over three boulders at once and lands like the ground itself has offended him.
“Killian,” I say, rather loudly given I’m being carried down the grassy hill by him. “Honey, do you mind if I call you Killy?”
“Yes,” he growls.
“Do you mind if I call you honey?”
“Yes.”
Seth laughs at me, way too hard, then detours off towards the cottage while Killian keeps carrying me – as if I weigh nothing – towards the stream. I could call him Lilian – but I’d prefer he were unconscious again before I do that.
“What can I call you then?”
“Killian.”
“You call me Shadow.”
“The All-Mighty All-Deadly All-Inspiring All-Feared All-Empowered Killian.”
“Killian the Omniscient,” I poke, using Roarke’s new word, hopefully in the right way.
“You’ve been spending too much time with Roarke,” he mutters. “I insist on The All-Mighty All-Deadly All-Inspiring All-Feared All-Empowered Killian.”
I laugh so hard that I think maybe I should have asked for a toilet break. That’s it. That’s all I have.
Killian’s hard chest
and shoulder press in against my aching stomach, which is exactly the moment I realize he’s chuckling too.
I watch Seth and Kitten clamber over the boulders and into the trees. Pax is talking, and after a while the warriors around us kneel. But I can’t move my eyes from those trees; allowing myself to watch is the small concession that keeps the floodgates from opening. Even though I can’t actually see them from down here.
“Roarke,” Pax snaps.
All of the information that I wasn’t listening to here floods in.
Rose is leaving to hunt. Rynn and her sister are riding into town for supplies. If they split up, the townsfolk will likely amalgamate stories, and if anything gets retold, it will be that one lone Saber came through the area. Lone Sabers are a common enough sight. The blessing of twins. Those are our only keys, three all up because of course Jada has one.
That leaves Teegan, her StormSeed, and Rose’s FaunaSeed – Aria.
And I need to work on the spring.
“I’m on it,” I grumble, but only because my whole body is still so bloody tense that my throat muscles won’t relax enough to let my voice out.
Pax and Killian stalk off, tugging just lightly at my speed in their own struggle not to race after Shade.
Teegan points down the stream to the spot where the water widens and slips through Eydis’ barrier.
“Follow the perimeter,” she begins giving her team orders, but stops to check over her shoulder in the direction of my family in the trees. “But not that way,” she adds.
The women nod respectfully, then meet my gaze for confirmation.
My brothers and I have always been treated in two ways, respect or power play. Since Lithael came into power, the third option, fear, has become prominent. So I’m not surprised that the women look to me for confirmation. I am surprised that they feel eager for it, that they desire my reaction.
Not because of what my Seed is tugging to the surface of their consciousnesses, but because of what Kitten just did. Because we have a damn crazy mortal in our possession.
The strongest power play – played out by the weakest among us, and she didn’t even know she was doing it.
Shadows and Shade Box Set Page 96
