Page 60 of Dark Fire Kiss

“We’re newly bonded.” He glanced at the bed. “It’s only been a few hours. I just…” He sagged a little, like he bore the weight of the world on his shoulders. “I’ll feel better if we wait a bit. Let our connection sink in.” He nodded, as if that settled it.

I stared. “This isn’t the kind of information you withhold from someone.”

“I’m trying to protect our mate bond,” he huffed, the and you’re not hovering in the air unsaid.

“No.” I shook my head, my exasperation slipping closer to anger. Since when were he and I not on the same page? “That’s not at all what you’re doing. What you’re doing is putting everything at risk. Dammit, Bram, if you won’t tell Halina, I will.”

“Tell me what?”

Bram and I swiveled toward the bathroom, where Halina stood in the doorway, confusion on her face. Her hair was wet, and she was wrapped in a white bath sheet—one of several I’d bought Bram since regular towels were too small to fit around him.

He’d tensed when she spoke, and now he frowned, all that weight back on his shoulders.

I crossed the suite and pulled her to the sitting area in front of the hearth. “Sit, lass. There’s something you need to know.”

“Wh-What is it?” She perched on the edge of a sofa, her worried gaze moving between Bram and me. “Is something wrong?”

I sat on the opposite sofa. There was no point tiptoeing around things. Better to just rip the bandage off. “The messenger we sent to Krovnosta should have returned by now, but he hasn’t. There’s been no word from Krovnosta, either. We don’t know if your father is alive or dead.”

Her lips parted. For a moment, she appeared at a loss for words. Then her brow furrowed. “I think I would have felt it if he died…”

Bram moved to stand in front of the hearth. “What do you mean?”

“The Blood chooses the prince. Aleksander is next in line, although my uncle has always wanted the throne for himself. He couldn’t kill Aleks outright—not if the Blood has already chosen my brother—but Grigory is smart. If there’s any possibility of bypassing the Blood, he’ll find it and act on it.” She stood, one hand clutching the bath sheet to her chest. “Do you think I should go back?”

“Absolutely not,” Bram said. “You’re not going anywhere near there.”

My nape tingled, my brain registering the incoming oh shit moment before it landed.

She looked at him, obviously startled. “I never said I was going alone. You could—”

He cut her off. “You’re not going at all. Your place is here.”

I stood and stepped between them, doing my best to project an aura of authority while wearing a bed sheet. “Bram, be reasonable. This is her family we’re talking about.”

“What’s unreasonable is allowing her to put herself in danger.”

Halina stiffened. “Allow?”

Alarm bells clanged in my head. I stared him down, trying to warn him away from the extreme peril he was hurtling toward, but he ignored me.

“You can’t return to Krovnosta. It’s out of the question.”

Oh no. The alarm bells turned to sirens. I let my gaze bore into him, silently communicating my ardent desire for him to shut the fuck up.

Instead, he delivered the coup de grace—and I could have sworn it unfolded in slow motion, like those videos of car manufacturers testing crash test dummies.

“I’ll lock you in a tower before I let you get near those leeches.”

I groaned.

Halina’s eyes widened. “Leeches? You mean like me?”

“You know what I meant.”

Anger flowed off her like lava. “I’m starting to think I don’t know you at all. Because if you think you’re going to lock me up anywhere, you are out of your sick, Scottish mind.”

Fire leapt in his eyes. “I’m out of my mind? I’m not the one who was nearly thrust into the sun by a bunch of abusive psychopaths. Gods, Halina, you can’t be serious about going back there. They’ll kill you. You’re so weak.”

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