Page 24 of Bonded Chaos

“Brother, you look positively joyous,” Riordan murmured from the corner of his mouth. “Who pissed in your milk this morning?”

I cast a glance in his direction, and whatever he saw in my expression silenced him.

“Ryker,” my father called out in a sing-song tone. “How gracious of you to join us.”

The men on my father’s council snickered, but they quickly averted their eyes when I turned my lethal glare on them.

I wasn’t late by any stretch of the imagination, but that didn’t matter to my father. He took any opportunity he could to undermine me in the presence of those he deemed important.

“What is the urgency, Father?” I asked, not giving him the reaction he desired.

My father straightened on his throne. “There’s been another attack on a village outskirt, less than half a day’s ride away,” he said.

“The Crimson Enclave?” I asked, the challenge clear in my tone.

My father scoffed. “Don’t tell me you have fallen for this nonsense too, My Son.”

If my father thought belittling me in front of his sycophants would deter me, he had grossly overestimated the weight I attributed to their perception of me.

“It’s not nonsense if it’s true,” I said with a knowing smirk. “You may not know how a body looks after a Wraith Borne drains it, Father, since you took no active role in the Cleansing.”

Red stained my father’s cheeks. Had he possessed the power, I was certain he would have incinerated me on the spot.

“As you sentmeto disperse the uprising,” I continued, “I am very much acquainted with the signs, so believe me when I tell you that the Crimson Enclave is no fantasy. They are as real as you and me.”

Uncomfortable murmurs broke out among the council, and my father raised his hand to silence the room.

“Then I trust you to do what is necessary to ensure the safety of our kingdom, Ryker.”

“Always,” I grinned, but it wasn’t friendly.

Spinning on my heel, I marched from the throne room with Riordan and Malesh on my trail.

“This could be a trap,” Malesh muttered as soon as we rounded the corner.

“Brother,” Riordan said, his usual teasing tone noticeably absent. “Malesh has a point. Didn’t that Seelie Fae tell you the Crimson Enclave had set their sights on you?”

“I’m still going.”

Riordan made an irritated sound before he puffed out a breath. “I’m all for a dalliance with death, Ryker —”

“Actually,” I said, cutting him off. “I have another assignment for you.”

That piqued his interest.

“Oh,” Riordan said, his teasing tone returning with full force. “Please tell me it involves the little mate you have locked up in your quarters.”

I will not murder my brother, I chanted as I took a calming breath.

Malesh spluttered beside me, and he coughed as he choked on his surprise. “You don’t have her locked in your chamber, do you, Ryker?”

“He does,” Riordan said way too gleefully.

Malesh groaned. “She’s your mate. You can’t treat her like some kind of plaything. You have a lifetime together. Trust me when I tell you it’s best to start things off on the right foot.”

When Malesh had found his mate, he was nursing a bruised heart from the loss of a woman he thought he’d spend his life with. Then Melania crossed his path, and he was none too pleased to realize she was his mate. He made some poor decisions in the beginning, and Melania never let him forget it.

“I’m still uncertain how this will work, considering Celeste —” Riordan murmured.

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