Page 19 of Maiming
Their leader, Lord Carlin, sits to my left at the head of the table. And to my very unfortunate luck, his conniving daughter sits across from Kain. Luckily sitting next to Agatha seems to quiet the girl, and that’s the only up side of the evening.
My attention trails through the dark, past the torches lining our table to the man who’s lying back on the front porch, staring up at the stars. Sinister excused himself so quickly before we started eating.
The lucky asshole.
I wish I could sit with him. I wish more than anything that Iwashim during this moment.
And then I wouldn’t have to suffer the curious, calculating looks from Lord Carlin.
“Where do you descend from, Miss Winters?” I’ve never in my life heard anyone use my last name as much as he insists on doing. And wordy. This guy is wordy as hell. Who says descend like that? Who?
He cuts through a big chunk of his steak and chews slowly as he studies me.
He’s refined. Polite. But … fake. He’s fake as fuck.
“I’m from the village of Warf. It’s a small community along the shore.” A soft smile quirks my lips.
I’ve mastered the fake smile perfectly now. World domination is clearly the next major step in my future. Nothing can stop me now.
I blink away the sarcastic thought.
The man hums a response, cutting through his next bite as if my reply bored him to tears.
I shift in my seat. This dinner is a nightmare. I peer down the long table to Helen and her friends and family at the far end. The older man who spoke with Aggie earlier is trailing over the mage’s features.
I’d bet my soul that Aggie knows he’s watching her. But she doesn’t gift him her attention. She appears aloof and pleasant as she sips her wine.
At the far end of the table leans into the man at her side who’s been out hunting for the past few days. It’s Chaos’ father. I can tell it is. His eyes are a deep brown, but the smile beneath his graying beard is similar to his sons. I can also tell how much he loves Helen. The two of them look like they’re about to slip away from the dinner at any moment to go make another little arrogant shifter baby.
Alloex whispers something to Chaos and I faintly hear him tell his little brother to watch his mouth.
What I wouldn’t give to listen to Alloex’s awkward questions about my sex life right now.
A big palm pushes down my thigh, squeezing there enough to pull my attention up to the deepest green eyes. Kain’s head tilts until his lips graze the outer shell of my ear, just enough to make shiver against his warm breath.
“Relax. The very last person you should care about liking you is Carlin. Besides, Helen loves you more than she loves Chaos it looks like.” His smirk skims against my temple and I have to roll my eyes at his words.
“Helen seems to like everyone. I don’t think it was a hard task to gain her approval, Kain.”
His lips press to my cheek.
“I like you.”
My stupid heart does that reckless pitter patter like it can’t remember how to beat just because Kainlikes me.
“Thanks.” I tilt my head at him with a sarcastic look pulling at my features.
“My mom likes you.”
“Mmm, I’m not so sure.”
His hand squeezes, slipping lower to fully cup my thigh.
“She was worried, not because of you but because of my past.” His whispered words halt and I peer up in time to see Brylee quickly look away from us. She saws diligently into her steak, keeping her focus there and there alone. “She was just worried,” Kain repeats before pressing his lips against my temple so slowly I can almost feel every emotion in him.
My heart settles and I believe him; I believe Myla likes me. Not that it would stop me from being with her son, but I like having her approval.
The moment Kain pulls away from me a clattering sound of metal against fine china rips my attention up to the woman across from us. A sharp gasp pulls through her trembling lips as her wide eyes look down on the thin slice her steak knife has slit across her knuckles. Everyone looks to her abruptly.
