for that lost honor.”
Fin met Rogue’s bemused gaze, and the other just shrugged. Unfortunately for Maddox, neither Fin nor Rogue shared his honor system.
Nor had they made her any promises. Well, Fin had more or less suggested his word in getting her out.
“You fed her?” he checked with Rogue. The blond nodded once, then motioned to his throat. There was a fading wound there, likely inflicted by himself. Breaking his skin was damn hard and many had tried.
Crouching, Fin used careful fingers to tilt her head to look at her throat. No other bite marks marred her skin saved for the one faded scar that would likely always remain. The mark of her maker. Lashes lifting, she stared up at him with ruby colored eyes, though they weren’t as blood-red as they’d been when he found her and Maddox in the hall. The barest hint of green surrounded them.
“Hmm, getting better at that astral projection,” she murmured.
He chuckled. “Rest, Beautiful.” He punched just a bit of compulsion into the command, and she let out a sigh, head tipped back and throat vulnerable as she sank under again. Yeah, that wouldn’t hold.
Maddox growled at him. “Don’t take advantage.”
“Actually, I’m just making sure she’s in one piece and doesn’t try to escape on us before I’ve had a bath. Just because you need to chain women up to get them to stick around, doesn’t mean I have to.”
Rogue snorted, but the weight of Maddox’s cold stare was even more impressive than his growls. Tossing a glance toward him, Fin gave him a little chin dip. Some lines weren’t worth crossing.
Hardly mollified, the dragon went back to his bath, and Fin finally stepped down to shed his own blood-marked and shredded clothing. The fight had been impressive. They’d mustered their defenses, but it was hard to take on a druid and a dragon individually, much less together. Throw in a warrior, and they were really outmatched.
When the king awoke…
Fin paused, eyes closing for a moment as he searched the keep mentally. Alfred hadn’t stirred yet. There was no mistaking his influence once he left his sleep. It was a crackle of energy in the air, a weight that draped everything, his power and his protection. The absence of it was just as keen.
They had so much to show him when he did rouse. The world would fascinate him. At least it had gotten interesting since the last time he was awake, anyway.
The water stung Fin’s skin as he slid into it. The temperature higher than the air around them, Maddox had already moved up to sit in the soaking pool. Fin ducked himself into the water, then scrubbed the last flakes of blood and debris off. Having spent hours tucked under a stone floor, he could use the scrub.
Finished, he ascended and settled into the hotter water. Rogue turned a bland eye on him, then nodded toward Fiona.
Her closed eyes and serene expression were not something Fin wanted to disturb. “It can wait,” he said quietly.
Maddox scowled.
“She’s exhausted. All of our intelligence says she was dumped there within hours of her first waking. I can’t imagine transitioning in there was very easy.”
“No,” Maddox admitted as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against his side. She let out a little sound that Fin swore was a purr. Her lashes moved faintly, and then she seemed to recognize Maddox and curled right up against him.
Jealousy painted bloody stripes through him, especially when Maddox’s expression turned smug. Yeah, she was probably sleeping with Maddox again that night.
Fine.
Fin would lure her away the next day.
“Don’t fight,” Rogue ordered, and Fin wasn’t the only one who jerked a look to the silent sentinel. The fact that he’d spoken at all when he took Fiona from the prison had been a collection of more words than they’d heard from him in a long time. At his quizzical look, Rogue shrugged. “If you fight over her, I’ll end her.”
Fin blinked and Maddox scowled, his arms closing around her, and between one blink and the next, it was the dragon staring at Rogue. If he worried about the dragon’s rage, the other didn’t show it.
“We didn’t wait all these years for her for you to just throw that out there,” Fin argued, choosing his words carefully. “We’re not fighting.”
“You’re jealous, and he’s possessive.” Rogue didn’t sound like he cared, but it would be a mistake to believe he was cavalier. If he truly didn’t give a damn, he