was a flurry of the other fae beginning to do the same, but Caden stopped them with a slice of his hand through the air. “Is he in there?” He nodded at another nondescript door.
Stepping forward, Tanner cleared his throat. He looked shaken, and seeing Caden and I together had to be a part of it. He was likely seeing the crumbling of his entire Court, right in front of him. I wanted to tell him that it was okay, but now truly wasn’t the time.
And time always seemed strange like that, because minutes kept ticking by, and they were never the right ones.
“Yes.” Tanner sent a quick glance at me. “He’s restrained.”
“How is he?” Caden asked.
It was the man with Faye who spoke. “He is… He is not well.” His voice cracked. “My King, he is not well at all.”
Caden’s hand slipped from mine as he stepped forward, placing his hand on the man’s shoulder. “How is your wife, Balour?”
“Luce believes she will heal, but…” Balour looked away, lips pressed in a thin line. “I don’t know who is in that room. He looks like my son. Sounds like him. But it is not Benji.”
“I am sorry,” Caden spoke, his voice low. “We will find who is responsible. They will pay.”
“Thank you.” The poor man struggled to take a breath as he looked at the closed door. “Is there any hope for him?
“If there is, we will find it,” Caden said. I hoped there was something to be optimistic about, but I doubted there was.
Tanner had inched closer, his voice low. “I…I didn’t expect to see you here, Brighton.”
“I didn’t expect to be here either,” I admitted, having no idea what else I could say other than, “We need to talk later.”
“Yes, we do.” He nodded, watching Caden as Benji’s father turned, slowly walking away. My heart hurt for Balour.
Before I could respond to Tanner, Caden turned. “I want to speak with him.”
“Of course.” Tanner moved to open the door. “Do you want Kalen or Faye to join you? Or Prince Fabian?”
“Brighton will join me.”
It took everything in me not to smile because doing so seemed wildly inappropriate given the circumstances.
Tanner looked as if he’d swallowed something that made him ill. “Of course.”
“I would like to be a part of this,” Faye said, lifting her chin. “He is my cousin.”
Caden studied her for a moment and then nodded. Relief didn’t flicker across her face. Steely determination lined her features.
Across from me, Ren pushed off the wall. “Be careful, he’s a biter.”
“Noted.” Caden strode forward, stopping in front of me. “Ready?”
“I am.”
“Okay.” Then he lowered his head, and his lips met mine.
Caden kissed me, right there in front of everyone, hammering home the point that we were together.
The shock of Caden kissing me in front of everyone gave way to the all-too-brief burst of warmth and pleasure, of rightness.
He was mine.
And I was his.
Chapter 13
Benji was young.
He couldn’t even be old enough to drink if he were human, and he looked so much like Faye. His hair was the same soft black, his skin a deeper, pewter shade, but those eyes were like Elliot’s, the youngling Benji had gone in search of. They were pitch-black, so dark that the pupils weren’t even visible.
The moment he saw the three of us, he pulled against the chains bolted to the wall. His hands were secured behind his back, and the length of the chain that connected to his ankles couldn’t be more than a foot long, so he didn’t make it very far.
He hissed though, the sound so eerily feline that the tiny hairs all along my body rose. His attention was focused on Caden.
“Hello, Benji,” Caden said.
The youngling growled, his lips peeling back. “You’re going to die.”
“Is that so?” Caden replied flatly.
“You’re all going to die.” Benji looked at Faye and then to where I stood. He sniffed the air. “Especially you, human.”
I rolled my eyes but remained quiet. This wasn’t my interrogation. Although Caden hadn’t said that, I knew I was here to listen. Not to engage. I wouldn’t get anything out of Benji.
“And yet you’re the one chained to the wall,” Caden pointed out.
“For now.”
Caden chuckled, the sound dark and cold. My gaze darted to him. “Do you really think you can escape me? Your King?”
Benji snapped at the air. “You’re no longer my King.”
“So, who do you answer to?”
“The one who gave us this world to rule, who will return humans to their rightful place as cattle,” he