I was just so happy to have her in my arms that when her eyes went vacant, it took a few seconds to realize where she was. Of course, I dove right into the Shadow Realm but for her, it had been hours within another reality. When her eyes had flung open and panic had hit her in the maze, guilt surged through me. Fuck. Maybe Oliver was right. Maybe I wasn’t able to keep her safe.
I inhaled sharply. No. He was just a jealous bastard because all he was to Ophelia was a guard. Somehow though I didn’t think that was true. I narrowed my eyes at the silver glitter on her skin and shook my head. That made me furious.
If this was him. If he was the one yanking her in and out of reality, then not only were we fucked, but we were playing a game that was far more dangerous than I realized. I swallowed and shook my head looking over the stunning woman across from me, her foggy grey eyes scanning across something she was reading through as we waited for the others.
Her thick dark hair was damp, freshly washed of mud, and she’d changed into jeans and an oversized sweater, hiding her body, which should have made it easier for me to not want to pin her down on the floor just to have her against me. But it didn’t. Even her sweet scent turned me on and I wanted to trace the tattoos I’d only seen small peeks of with my tongue.
I tried to avoid the Shadow Realm. My magic, though, was practically euphoric off that shit right now and I tried to pull it back, not wanting to scare her with my intensity. I didn’t think it was working. But I wasn’t positive she was even paying attention to me.
Something had her changing her mindset on all of this. After her small panic attack, a cool, calm energy seemed to cover her as she tried to start picking this apart logically. The issue with that was that you could only use logic if you understood the rules of the universe you were playing in. She needed more information.
Voices quieted as they neared us in the maze and I narrowed my eyes at Oliver. There was a lot of history between us and none of it was good. The asshole represented everything I hated about Underside and its pointless wars.
Not that he wanted war, but the animosity between the Autumn/Spring Court and Winter/Summer Court was still burning. It was why Ophelia should have bothered me, but instead, I found myself wanting to protect her from the bullshit that her kingdom had started. Even when I had met her when we were younger, it had been that way.
“Why the hell are you here?” Bard asked, and I thought he was talking to me until my eyes flickered over to Kirin. The panther offered an amused smirk but continued to run a hand over her shoulder, Ophelia not even noticing the tension and jealousy there. I didn’t understand Kirin and Ophelia, but I needed to if she was going to be part of my life. Despite the huge tension between Merrick and Kirin, I really didn’t mind the latter. Although I would side with Merrick because he was my 2nd in command and best friend. Brother, if we were being honest.
Besides, I had a feeling their tension wasn’t very difficult to solve. I would assume if they both got into a room with Ophelia, the three of them together, and fucked, everything would resolve itself. It wasn’t like my annoyance with Oliver.
It didn’t help that Oliver and I were both competitive. My eyes narrowed on him because I think he regarded himself as royalty but he wasn’t. Technically, because the Spring Heir had only one child, he is the next in line in the case of emergency. But no. He was not a prince nor a king. But I felt like half the time I was competing with someone who thought he was both. Right now, their frustration was aimed at Kirin and I was fine with that.
Merrick, who sat by my side, had an unlit cigarette hanging from his mouth as he looked over our little Spring Heir.
“I did,” Ophelia stated softly, “I need all the help I can get.”
Before any of them could say anything, she snapped the book closed that she’d brought out from the house and made her point, “Listen, I