Page 32 of Shadowing Bright
“What?”
“You don’t have djinn magic; you have wildfire.”He turned toward Azreen.“Can you keep Vaia safe?”
“Yes.Of course.”
“Good.I will keep Hura safe.Come with me, little dancer.”He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against him.
Hura yelped in surprise, but then she was gone.So were the three assassins with the empty carts.Kremoryn was effective when he chose to be.
Vaia looked at the spot they had been.“Should we have kept Hura?”
Min started laughing.“She can’t be kept.She is interested in things, though, and if he is interesting enough, she will remain with him until he isn’t.”
Vaia sighed.“So, do we know who is sending the killers?”
Min paused, and her eyes went milk-white.“The lords of shadows are coming for the woman who would be queen.”
“Oh, shit,” Vaia muttered.“What’s she like?”
“She’s the kind of woman who would pull a friend out of a volcano and did it.”Min nodded.“She’s an amazing dancer and wrote half the choreographies that you learned when you took it up as a means to get what you needed.She also is an amazing designer, and the first costume designs that you used were hers, but she told me to say they were mine.”
Vaia blinked.“You are joking.”
“I am not.She’s been feeding you designs to make sure you were successful and not relaxed about where the next idea would come from.”
“Why?I am grateful, but why?”
“She said your life was hard enough without the added pressure, and she loves researching historical costumes and incorporating those designs into gowns and dresses, and capes and gloves.”
“Wow.I have to get her something nice.”
A soft knock on the door made all three of them look to it.Azreen was taking a step toward it when Rolf and two servers walked in.
He took a look at the room service carts.“The king is going to kick my ass.”
Vaia sighed.“Don’t worry.It was handled.Your ass is not currently on his mind.Is that dinner?”
The butler kicked into high gear, a spare place setting was found for Min, and they sat at the dining table to have the delayed meal, complete with dessert.
They discussed the likelihood of what had spurred the lords of shadows into action, and Min blushed.“I think it was that they knew he was single, and if there were a partner on the horizon, he would get even more powerful.”
Vaia blinked.
Azreen nodded.“Right.His breed of monsters builds their power from those they consume.The more powerful the prey, the more powerful the king.That is how he became king to begin with.”
Vaia blinked.“Does Hura look like the type to be consumed?”
Min chuckled.“Depends on the day of the week.In jeans and sweats, probably not.”
They were making inroads on the cake, but Vaia couldn’t imagine what was going on with her bio father and the woman who had supported her behind the scenes.
* * * *
Hura stood in the betweenwith Kremoryn’s gaze glittering red in the darkness.“So, you have me here.What do you intend to do with me?”
Shadows stroked her cheeks, and she felt tendrils trying to get under her sweatshirt.
“I will protect you.Cherish you.Care for you.”
