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