Page 45 of Severed Heir

The look Antonia shot him could’ve cracked ice. Fraser’s laugh only made it worse.

I coughed, tugging Kian’s jacket tighter around me. “Thanks… for saving me.”

She rolled her eyes and walked off silently, like admitting she cared would cost her blood.

Cully stood off to the side, eyes wide and uncertain, like he couldn’t decide whether to write this down as a rescue, a rebirth, or a catastrophe.

“Do you want another beast to attack?” Antonia snapped at him. “Keep up, journalist. And while you’re at it, go ahead and start writing the article about how I saved your sister’s sorry ass.”

Chapter Eight

“You’re shivering, Sev,” Myla said as she wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

I leaned into her, like I had during my first night at the academy. “I forgot how cold it was here,” I said.

We had made it halfway across the lake, the townhomes and cabins near the decayed dock coming into view. White hills rolled on for miles, until at last I saw the red brick estate I had grown up in, half-hidden behind the trees.

And expectantly, Archer pounded on our bond.“Naraic told Ciaran what happened. Hell, Sev. You scared me.”

“I’m fine. Care to explain why Kian and Antonia feel indebted to protect me?”

“You almost drowned.”

“Answer the damn question.”

“Any Night civilian will unknowingly feel the need to protect you. It’s an unconscious gesture. Consider it a ward, consider it a deterrent against treason and killing the leaders or heirs.”

I glanced at Kian. He’d seen my serpent mark, yet his first instinct was to offer me his jacket.“Well, that’s nice of them,”I said through the bond.

“Why didn’t you tell me what they were doing to you in Malvoria? Rok put his hands on you.”

“I don’t plan on returning. But once I know my father is safe, who knows where I’ll go.”

He groaned.“You will come back here, and we will announce your titling. But I’ve already explained the reality of that, Severyn.”

“Ah, you make me seem like some untamed beast desperate to mount you at any given time. I can control myself. We can be friends, Archer,”I hissed.“That’s what you wanted all along, isn’t it?”

“You know damn well how I feel about you, Blanche.”

I slammed the bond shut, knowing full well he could tear through the cindered shield I threw up if he wanted to.

Naraic shot me a side-eye, his massive white tail sweeping a curtain of ice dust across my boots.

“You know, I really hate it when you listen in,”I muttered.

He huffed, steam curling from his nostrils.“Your heart is as cold as the ice beneath me. He means well. He’s at a puzzle fork.”

“A what?”

“A puzzle fork.”

I blinked.“You mean a crossroads?”

“Yes. A fork. A puzzle. Human dramatics. Same thing.”

I shook my head.“I’m only here because his father stole back his sunlight.”

Naraic’s eyes narrowed.“And if he hadn’t offered it… where would North Colindale be now? North Colindale would have fallen years before, and you would be a barren civilian.”

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