Page 59 of The Poison of the Earth
“Oh, no, I get it, she’s gorgeous. A masterpiece.” I try for flippant but sound wounded even to my own ears.
“No, Lo,” Kai starts again, hand raising towards me, “Ollie is–”
“I get it, Kai. I’m not mad. Just. Make sure I’m here next time, okay?” I try to smile but am afraid it’s pained.
“Oh for fucks’ sake,” Ollie curses soundly and both our heads turn to her. “You’re both emotionally constipated idiots. We’re mates.”
“What?” Kai and I ask at the same time.
“All of us, you bunch of...men.” She makes a derisive noise and turns to me. “Kai is my spirit mate.”
My eyes widen as I turn to my heart mate.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Lo,” he starts, eyebrows pinched together, regret on his face.
Ollie makes a rude noise, touching his chest, “And Kai, Lonan and I are spirit mates as well.”
He looks back to me, shocked.
“What...” he struggles for words and, honestly, I’m feeling rather lost too. “What does that mean?”
She shrugs, tossing her white hair back, “That I have two men to lead around by the nose?”
I grab her and kiss her deeply. “Two men to satisfy you, little Queen.”
She turns to Kai, a tentative smile on her face and he takes her gently from me and kisses her softly. “Two men to keep you safe, princess.”
She softens and smiles, putting hand on each of our faces. Her tiny smile spreads into a grin and Kai and I beam back.
She shakes her head slowly. “This is going to be an utter disaster.”
Chapter Nineteen
Oleander
“We are going to seek the alliance with Larkstead as opposed to Guivre,” Lonan announces the next morning at breakfast.
“Why?” Lilac asks, frowning.
I bite my lip. We’d, and by that I mean the three of us, argued into the night about this, but they are insistent that I not contact Vale.Idiots.
I might just send him a letter anyway. If I can figure out what to say. ‘Hi, love, I’m spirit bound to the two most dangerous men in the lands of Faery and they’re going to kill my brother for me so I can take the throne; any chance we could form an alliance with your family?’Yeah,no, that’s going to work out.
“We need Larkstead’s army more than we need Guivre’s money,” Kai says.
Korben blinks pursing his lips comically. “We needdragonsmore than anything.”
Lonan snorts, “They’ve never once in a thousand years involved themselves in any of the squabbles of the nobles of Faery. They sat in their halls, with their gold, while Alder’s soldiers burned Gaeba, and most of the water Fae in our world, into the ground.” His anger is obvious. “We’ll just be wasting our time, seeking their support. Larkstead is the better option.”
“You’re the boss,” Korben smiles, trying to ease the mood.
Lilac leans back. “So... Kai’s gonna take one for the team?”
“Pardon?” I ask, acerbically.
She looks at me and raises her purple eyebrows. “They only will align with marriage.Someoneis going to have to marry one of them.”
Lonan makes an indeterminate noise. “Kai, send word we want to meet.”
