Page 114 of I Summon the Sea

For shame.It hasn’t been even twenty heartbeats since he vanished in the crowd. He may be wrestling Phaethon back in his box. Or drinking and flirting with other women. What is it to me?

But although he’s probably doing the former, I can’t imagine him doing the latter, the mere thought leaving me breathless. I’d rather he be fighting himself than being interested in some other man or lady, and doesn’t this make me a hypocrite?

Or an idiot. Because none of it should matter to me. And I shouldn’t miss his gaze on me, that bright smile on his face when he called down the darakin, or the way my body responds to him.

As the sky darkens more, two fires are lit in huge bronze braziers on either side of a raised dais. The flames are pale and tinged with blue, rising like blades.

Magic.

Then I see who is controlling them. It’s the fae king. He climbs the dais, his arms raised, wearing a tall golden crown and white robes, the color matching that of my gown.

I shove that little fact back to focus on the way he demonstrates his control of the fire, raising the flames by lifting his hands, then pushing the flames down by lowering his arms.

People are whispering around me, apparently also shocked that the king can control fire. It looks like I wasn’t the only one in the dark about it, quite literally.

Fire and shadows.

Like Jai.

“He’s getting the hang of it,” someone says from behind me, and the familiar rumble of that male voice has me turning around.

I fight to keep the relief off my face when I find Jai standing there, the darakin on his shoulder, but a weight lifts off me to see that he’s okay.

“He’s learning to land softly when he wants to perch and take off again without running first,” Jai goes on, a soft smile on his face. “Look.”

Oh.He’s talking about Remi, not the king, as I initially thought.

And Jai demonstrates, shrugging those mighty shoulders, and the darakin takes flight once more, flapping his leathery wings as he rises and flying between the pillars and beyond, into the gathering night.

But I barely pay any attention, giving Jai a quick—and unnecessary, I know—once-over.

It doesn’t reveal any injury. When did I think he might be injured? I know it makes no sense.

I don’t know what exactly I feared, and it shouldn’t concern a man I have only met. I barely know him, and already my body wants him, and my mind is in knots about him.

And they sayheis insane.

The insanity intensifies when he reaches for my hand, lacing our fingers together, and I let him.

“When I don’t sound like myself… ignore it,” he says quietly as the king causes the blue flames to arc over him and the dais, making his crown shine so bright it seems to catch fire.

I throw him a disbelieving look. How can I just ignore it?

“I’m working on fixing this,” he says, “trust me, please.”

I shrug. Yes, of course. It’s that simple, is it? But his hand around mine is so warm and solid, his body a protective wall, his scent reaching me through that of the night flowers decorating the terrace and the perfumed oils the fae are wearing, taking over my traitorous body.

I had thought I was past those needs and instincts. The need to be protected, cherished, held. The lust and warmth and the worry.

“Just live in the now,” he whispers, answering my thoughts, and the warm cadence of his voice is like a hug. “Take what you need.”

What if he’s right? If I can’t kill the king, where does that leave me? One last day, one last night before the second trial that is likely to mean my end.

Be human tonight.

The magical flames fall until they barely glow in the bronze braziers, blue dawns in the making. The king stands before us, still as a statue, gold and white, his hair glinting the same gold as his crown, as the embroidery on his robes.

“Three hundred years,” the king says, his deep voice rushing over us. “We have inhabited this world for three hundred years by the grace of the all-giving Pillar that pierces the Nine Worlds, that gives light and magic, and transforms the universe. In this closed, hollow world, we persevered, founding a new home, finding new allies, and preparing for new battles.”

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