Page 61 of The Shattered Kingdom
Mason’s health is not my concern. Do not contact me regarding this issue again.
I check the date, sinking to the floor. I was a child when I was sent here, and my immune system wasn’t yet developed. I fell sick about four months after arriving, and the faeries didn’t have the means to treat me.
Queen Gitta promised to write to my father and ask him to send the pack doctor, but nothing ever came of it. I got better on my own after a few weeks.
I chew at my bottom lip, rereading those two sentences. This doesn’t change anything. We’ve secured a meeting with Alpha Theon, and I intend to go. If not for myself, then for Kie. Callie and Lillian betrayed the faeries and murdered his parents. He deserves answers.
Footfalls near, both with gaits I’m familiar with. I turn toward the broken door just as Abby and Kie walk inside. I don’t appreciate them following me.
Abby glances at the letter resting on my thighs, and she lingers by the door before slowly approaching. I remain seated, hating the pitying look in her eye as she reads my father’s calloused words.
I don’t want her pity.
Still, I don’t reject her comfort as she sets the letter aside and lowers herself onto my lap, straddling me. She never openly touches me, and I’m just desperate enough to let it happen.
She brushes her fingers down the side of my jaw. “I’m sorry, Mace.”
Abby rarely uses my nickname, but I like it when she does. I especially like it when she follows it up by kissing my jaw. Her lips are soft, and my eyelids slip shut as her warm breath fans over my neck.
“Let Kie go.” My eyes fly open. Abby continues. “Stay here with me.”
“No.” I pull my face away from her lips, not appreciating her using kisses to mollify me. “There’s no magic. Kie will be weak and vulnerable.”
Abby trails her fingers down the side of my neck, her touch distracting. “What if both of you go? Kie opens the portals, and you keep him safe.”
“And what about you?” I ask. “We can’t leave you here. It’s not an option.”
Abby shrugs. “I can come, too.”
That’s never going to happen. Not in a million years.
Chapter Twenty-Three
ABBY
KIE AND MASON are upset. It’s evident in the way Mason stomps around the room and Kie barks orders. Kie’s usually polite, but not today. He’s taking a page out of Mason’s book.
Kie grunts. “Let me know when it’s done.”
He slams the front door shut and turns back to the room. We’re leaving for the forest early tomorrow morning, and Kie is losing it. Mason isn’t far behind. I’m nervous, but I’m also secretly pleased to be getting my way.
We’re going to the meeting together.
Kie and Mason hate this plan. It’s obvious they hate it with every fiber of their beings, but there are no other options. Mason can’t meet Alpha Theon alone, and Mason insists his father won’t speak to Kie. Both men insist I can’t be left alone here.
The only solution is for all three of us to go.
It’s dangerous, but I suspect there’s just as much danger here. Somebody already tried to kill me, a fact I’m doing my best to forget. I look down, fiddling with the plastic tiara I stole from Kie’s office.
Mason paces the living room, then disappears down the hallway. His bedroom door slams shut a second later. He’s beenunnervingly quiet since finding that letter. He must be devastated.
Kie shifts, placing himself in front of me. The bond has my fingers twitching with the urge to touch him, to feel his bare skin against mine. I run my thumbs over the fake stones on the tiara instead, distracting myself with it.
“I don’t know what to say to you.” Kie lets out a dry laugh. “I don’t know how to have a relationship with you after everything. I thought I was doing right by my people, but at what cost?” He stares at the tiara, refusing to make eye contact with me. “And now we’re bonded. I can see how you’re fighting the pull to Mason. You’re going to fall in love with us. You have no choice, and I’d do anything to stop it.” Kie’s voice cracks. “I wish I could kill our bond.”
I step back. What am I supposed to say to that?
Kie continues. “I’d rather spend the rest of my life alone than with a woman who’s forced to love me.”
