Page 157 of The Robin on the Oak Throne

The contact went straight through her. Her head felt fuzzy. Her body yearned. It would be so easy to give in to this feeling, to the need that shot through her body and burned her nerve endings and made her question everything she had done to get her to this moment.

“What would it have been like if you had found me first?” she whispered.

“Bliss.”

She believed him. It would have been everything.

And then he released her.

His fingers brushed her chin upward, and he pressed the softest of kisses into her forehead. His hand shook slightly.

“You can take Ethan tonight for your party,” Lorcan promised. He’d known all along. “Have him back before morning meditation.”

Kierse broke free from him, feeling shaky and uncertain. “Okay.”

“And Kierse,” he said softly, “come back to me.”

Chapter Forty-Six

Kierse met Ethan and Gen at the subway station. Ethan had changed into khakis and a green polo with the Druid acorn on the breast. She would have rolled her eyes at him if they weren’t in a fight.

“We’re all good.”

Ethan looked skeptical. “Lorcan just let you leave?”

“He told us to have a good time.” She ruffled his hair. “Just have to get Cinderella back before morning meditation.”

“Heknows?” Ethan looked horrified.

“Yeah, I don’t know how, but he was fine with it.”

“Anything for you,” Gen teased as they trotted onto the M line train.

“Niamh decided to stay?” Kierse asked.

Gen purposely looked out the window. “She said it probably was for the best. Pupils and students shouldn’t fraternize or something.”

“Never stopped me,” Kierse muttered.

Gen shrugged with a half smile. “If only we all had your audacity.”

“Personally, I don’t want to hear about your fraternizations,” Ethan said.

“Why not?” Kierse asked, bristling at the implication.

“Don’t pick a fight with her.” Gen poked a finger intohis stomach. “This is a happy night.”

Ethan leaned back in the empty subway car. “Can we talk about how the fuck you and Lorcan are soulmates, then?”

“No,” Kierse said automatically.

“It’s new,” Gen warned him. “She only recently found out.”

“How’s that possible?”

“It’s always been there,” Kierse said, her gaze wandering back out the window as they passed over the East River. “At least, I think it’s always been there. It was muffled by the spell, but even when I was around him last winter, I was drawn to him. I kept feeling like…he wasn’t a bad guy. Despite all the harm he was causing me and you, I still felt something there that didn’t make any sense to me, because I was so angry with him all the time.”

Gen leaned her head onto Kierse’s shoulder. “You still are.”

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