why you visited a whorehouse,” she added, unable to let that bit go.
“Eros was beginning to sober so I may have accidentally guided him into a very classy establishment that just so happens to offer those services, yes.”
The bitter tang of disappointment coated her mouth. “I didn’t think Eros was the type.”
“Oh, he’s not. He remained faithful to Neri despite the many offers to service him for free. It seems being a king has its perks.” She opened her mouth to question him, but he added, “I needed him drinking because I needed his lips to loosen, and any male, even a king, has trouble saying no to a shot of brandy when it’s presented between a female’s breasts.”
Her brows flicked up as a hot ribbon of jealousy unfurled inside her.
The king might have restrained himself, but did you?
The words hung between them unspoken, even though she had no right to ask such a question. If he had tried soulreading her, he would have realized the true emotion on her face as she held his stare.
Instead, he mistook her pained expression as disgust.
“You disapprove?” He watched as her hand skimmed her throat, that razor-sharp gaze taking in her every movement. “I’ve never hidden what I am. I’ve never claimed to be good or decent, and I’m certainly not a gentleman. What I am is yours, a dangerous creature wholly devoted to one task: keeping you safe. And if that means frequenting brothels, debauching kings, or opening someone’s throat, I will do it without hesitation.”
You’re mine in every way but the one I desire.
More words that she would never say aloud. She sucked in a lungful of salty air as she forced herself to admit the truth. She was being unfair, cruel, even. Everything he did was in service of her. And even if he had slept with one of the women who undoubtedly tempted him, so what?
It was his heart she wanted to claim, not his body.
Liar. She let her gaze dart over his chest again, imagining the hard lines of his stomach beneath. The way those rigid muscles would feel beneath her palms and . . .
All of him. She wanted all of him, and the idea of another female catching his eye, touching him—
“You’re on fire.”
“What?” She blinked as a flare of light drew her focus to the sleeve of her tunic. Her flaming tunic.
With a jerk of his fingers the flame snuffed out. “Who knew your disapproval would be so strong that you would catch fire?”
Shadeling’s Shadow, this had to stop. She cleared her throat. “What did you learn during your time with the king?”
He tilted his head for a moment as if listening to ensure they were alone. “Eros is a clever man, and even intoxicated he gave up very little. But I was able to piece together the small details he did admit to weave together a working theory.”
“Go on.”
“Apparently little Renk has been busy enacting laws regarding magick. One such law stipulates that common mortals who possess forbidden magick will not be put to death if they declare themselves to House Boteler.”
Her hands curled over the lip of the railing. “What? Why would Renk offer them a reprieve?”
“Not from the kindness of his heart, Shadeling knows. He claims the Curse completely depleted the Nine Houses of magick and that the exception to the Goddess’s law is for the greater good.”
Haven snorted. “Anyone who believes that is a fool. What does Eros think?”
“The king became cagey when pressed directly, despite having drank enough rye to stun a small dragon, but I managed to infer his suspicions.” Stolas plucked a honeysuckle flower from a vine along the wall and twirled the tangerine petals between his deft fingers. “It seems recently there have been quite a few common mortals who develop magick, some well before they are of runeday age. No one knows why. Eros himself sent several common lightcasters to Penryth, a few as young as nine mortal years.”
“And?”
“And the lightcasters from Veserack handed over to Renk all mysteriously vanish. Renk has excuses. One escaped, another didn’t have magick after all, not that Renk needs explanations because most kingdoms never bother to check up on their citizens after they’re handed over. They’re simply glad to be rid of the problem.”
The problem. A shiver skittered down her spine. Any common child not from a royal house found with magick was executed. That was the law. In times such as these, of course the kingdoms would give up