Page 183 of The Robin on the Oak Throne

“Yeah, you can tell him to go fuck himself!”

Kierse narrowed her eyes. Lorcan. That was Lorcan.

And if he was arguing with someone…that meant…

“Graves,” she whispered.

She was halfway across the room when the door creaked open again and Lorcan padded forward on silent feet. He froze at the sight of her standing in the middle of the room in nothing but an oversize button-up.

“You’re awake,” he said, his eyes traveling down her legs.

“Is he here?”

He huffed. “No. Even he isn’t that stupid.” Kierse took a step toward the door and then stumbled. Lorcan was there an instant later, catching her. “You should be in bed.”

“I’m fine.”

“You just fell walking.”

Her head felt fuzzy all over again at the feel of his hands. She wanted him to stop, but at the same time it did steady her.

“How did I end up in here?”

“After you collapsed, I carried you up here.”

“How long was I out?”

“A few hours. It’s just past dawn,” Lorcan said, guiding her back to the bed.

She took a seat if for no other reason than to get away from his distracting hands. But now he was standing over her while she was in his shirt, the hem dragging up her thighs. His eyes gleamed with devotion and desire.

“How are you really feeling?” he asked, concern sweeping away everything else.

She cleared her throat. “Like I hit magic burn by way of a trainwreck.”

“Been there.” Then as if he couldn’t help himself, he pushed her hair back behind her ear and said, “You know if we were bound, I could replenish you.”

“I can replenish myself,” she told him, brushing his hand aside.

He heaved a long breath and stepped back. “All right. I can have some soup and bread brought in.” He walked to aside table and poured her a glass of water. She took it from him. “How do you recharge?”

“Stealing.”

He chuckled. “That sounds right. Well, once you can walk on your own, have at it.”

“Can’t I reabsorb what Ethan took?”

He frowned at the question. “Well, for one, you can’t relink without the full moon. Two, you don’t have any magic to link with at this point.”

“Oh. Right.”

“I didn’t know you could absorb consciously. I thought it was still a passive power for you.”

“I’ve been practicing. Turn it on, turn it off like a switch,” she told him in between sips of water.

He tilted his head. “Why would you need to turn it off?”

“Because sometimes I’m going to hit magic burn and people are going to be able to use their magic against me,” she reminded him, gesturing to herself. “Like right now. So it’s best to be prepared.”

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