Reese stood helplessly as Portia’s personal guards divested Keen of his weapons and he knelt at the bottom of the steps to the throne.
The red gemstones of the gold circlet on Portia’s head winked in the ballroom candlelight. She peered out as though ensuring she held everyone’s attention. “Keen Albrecht, last of the Albrecht line, do you swear loyalty to me, your lady and mistress, to protect above all others?”
Keen was the decisive sort, but he seemed to hesitate.
Portia’s gaze dropped to the top of his head, anger, thick and ropy like sap, stretching off her. But there was no need for such emotion, because in the next moment, Keen’s beautiful, deep voice rang out.
He said the words Reese had begged him not to. The words that sealed his fate…
“I do.”
For a moment, it seemed the floor had dropped from beneath Reese’s feet. Bad enough she found herself irritated watching Keen dance with a beautiful woman—her sister. But this? Pledging himself to someone Reese could only describe as pure evil? So wrong. How could it be the only way? She couldn’t stand by and watch.
Everyone in the room stared, fixated on the proceedings. Reese quietly and very slowly slipped toward the back of the room. Not even Ulric noticed her leave his side. Like many, he seemed distracted, a storm of emotions whirling through him—banked frustration and anger, mixed with resignation.
Reese watched as Portia touched a golden sword to Keen’s head, her own frustration rising. Finally at the back, she spun around and exited, alone for the first time since she’d arrived. The guards at the door gave her a passing glance, but they didn’t stop her. And why would they? She was one Halven among hundreds of Fae nearly twice her size. And Reese’s special power?
Fireball creator? Nope.
Massive, inhuman strength? Not that either.
She was an empath.
Awesome. Just great. She could read emotions. What good was that?
Reese walked without knowing where she was going. Anywhere but her room, where she’d been kept under lock and key. Trying to escape the palace, castle—whatever they called this place—was foolish. She didn’t know Tirnan, or how to return home, so she wandered aimlessly, attempting to make sense of what she’d learned.
Keen was engaged. Maybe. He didn’t admit to it, but the woman had been pretty adamant. And not just any woman, but Reese’s own sister.
Her entire life, Reese had wanted a sibling. She’d even gone so far as to negotiate with her parents for one at the tender age of eight. She’d offered up her prized possession—her first-place martial arts crystal trophy. Having a sister would have been the ultimate coup, but Reese would have settled for a brother.
Her parents had stared at her blankly, then gone back to what they were doing. Her father packing for a trip that would take him to another continent for the shooting of a film he’d written, and her mother discussing the next evening’s dinner party with the housekeeper.
But Reese hadn’t needed to get through to her absent parents. Turned out she’d already had a sister, and a brother—one Fae sister and a Halven brother who was the psychopath behind the disease created to murder Fae. Both of her siblings were decades, if not centuries, older than she was, though her sister looked Reese’s age.
Illa was beautiful, her features far more refined and polished than Reese’s dimpled chin and thick, dark blond hair that had a tendency to fall in her face. When Illa had called Keen her fiancé, Reese’s heart had constricted. It made no sense for Keen to pledge himself to Portia, but his having a beautiful fiancée made sense. He was powerful, and as handsome as a prince. They made a stunning couple. And Reese was incredibly jealous. Which was ridiculous.
Reese shouldn’t care whom Keen married. They were nothing to each other. He was arrogant and prejudiced toward humans and Halven, and a total prig when it came to women’s fashion. If Reese could have captured his expression when he saw her in the red gown, she would have framed it. He’d been utterly appalled. It was a beautiful moment.
So why was she bothered by this supposed engagement?
Her heart was being stupid.
She swatted at the sound of a fly buzzing near her head.
Were there flies in Tirnan? She stopped in the middle of the hallway.
That was no insect. The strange buzzing grew louder.
And then a voice spoke near Reese’s ear and she nearly jumped out of her skin.
Reese, this is Elena’s mother, Theda. We are taking back New Kingdom and returning you home. Prepare for a battle—hide if you must—but tell no one. We will find you.
Reese grabbed her head.
No way—just, no way.
The corridor was empty with everyone at the ball, but Reese had heard the voice, no question about it.
Keen had said something about hearing another’s thoughts, though he wouldn’t clarify what he’d meant at the time. And he’d confirmed it was possible for Reese to sense emotion. Either she had more than one ability, or this was Theda’s ability and Elena’s way of calling out to Reese in the Fae realm.
Prepare for a battle?
Reese loved a good physical fight, but the ones she participated in back home had been scored, with an audience cheering her on—and they didn’t involve death. Fae couldn’t be killed, but humans could.
This was bad. Reese grabbed the skirts of her dress and rushed back in the direction of the ballroom.
Keen was right about the weapons training. If some Fae shitstorm was brewing, she needed to learn how to use a sword. Maiming a few of the Vikings in order to help Elena and her mother, and to get the heck out of this gilded prison, didn’t sound so bad anymore. Maybe the training with Keen would come in handy after all.
She had to tell him right away… But Keen had pledged himself to Portia.
She stopped abruptly. What if she told Keen about the message…and he turned around and notified the queen?
It could get Elena killed.
Elena had become one of Reese’s closest friends, calling Reese out on her crap and never blowing smoke up her ass the way her LA friends did. They were complete opposites, from two different worlds. Reese dressed on the sexy side, while Elena considered hoodies fashionable going-out wear. Elena’s nose was always in a book that had more chemical symbols than it did text, while Reese would rather spend time at a party and socialize. They were night and day, but Reese trusted Elena. It was the trust and genuine affection she felt from her friend that made the relationship more special than any she’d had in her life.
Before she could decide what to do, one of the Fae she’d spoken to earlier, until Keen had scared him off, exited a door in the hallway. His eyes had a mischievous glint that sent a zing of warning down her spine.
She glanced behind her and saw no one.
Not good. But Reese had never been the wilting type. The men she spoke with at the ball were flirty, but nothing she couldn’t handle.
“You are unescorted?” he said in a saccharine voice. “Please, allow me to take you wherever you wish to go.”
“No need.” She smiled sweetly. “I was just heading back to the celebration.” She’d left the party because she couldn’t handle watching Keen promise himself to that evil woman—and because she couldn’t handle watching Keen with Illa. But as soon as Keen figured out she’d left, he’d have a Fae coronary—if he hadn’t already. He was as uptight as the corset cinching off Reese’s air supply.
“It is no hardship.” The man stepped closer. “I enjoy your company.”
He grabbed her hand, slipping it through the crook of his elbow and bringing their bodies close until her side touched his.
Too close. She enjoyed the attention the Fae men showered on her, but this didn’t feel right.
She tried to pull her arm free, but the Fae held her still.
“You need to let go of me. Now.”
“Do I?” he said, leaning down. “I don’t think so.” He grinned and wrapped his hand around her waist, pulling her flush against him.
Bastard. He was holding her in a vise grip.
Attempting to pull away wasn’t going to get her anywhere; he was as solid as a bear. A very tall bear.
Reese ran through her options, because 1) this jackass needed to be taught a lesson, and 2) she was at a disadvantage in a ball gown with a built-in bustier cutting off her mobility along with her oxygen.
Point one to Keen. Fashion could be a bitch.
The one advantage she had, coincidentally, was that this jerk had brought her in so close he was within easy striking distance.
She dropped the elbow of the arm he wasn’t holding, and struck him in the nose with the heel of her hand.
He loosened his grip slightly and she twisted away from him, twitching her gown to the side before delivering a side kick to his knee with her pointy heel.
A pop sounded, like that of a bone breaking, and her unwanted suitor stumbled and cursed.
Reese kicked off her shoes to run—and felt a breeze as something dark sped past her.
Keen barreled into the Fae, taking both of them down. And then he was punching the living crap out of the guy.
“Stop!” Reese yelled.
He didn’t stop, not even when the man beneath him ceased moving.
She rushed over and tried to speak calmly. “Keen, you have to stop.” She placed her hand on his shoulder.
He finally stilled and looked at her, his chest rising and falling. He sprang to his feet, scanning her body. “Did he hurt you?”
“Are you kidding?” She sniffed. “I totally had that under control.”
An angry groan erupted from his chest and he ran stiff fingers through his hair. “You were in a physical fight with one of my kind. You did not have it under control.”
“What part of my asskicking did you miss?”
He looked past her. “Take him to the dungeon.”
Ulric ran toward them and grabbed the Fae Keen had beaten to a pulp, but who was now stumbling to his feet, blood no longer streaming from his nose and mouth.
How did the man heal so fast?
“She slipped out of the ball,” Ulric said, panting, partly from the speed at which he’d raced over, and partly from the panic Reese sensed rising within. He wrenched the Fae’s arms behind his back and began moving his prisoner down the hall, still looking at Keen. “I turned and she was gone.”
Keen grumbled something that sounded like incompetent, and paced the hallway as Ulric dragged the Fae away.
“This was totally unnecessary,” she said. “I was about to ditch that guy. You didn’t need to beat him. I’m pretty sure I broke his leg.”
Keen paused and pinned her with his gaze. “And you see how little that does when a Fae heals from such wounds within seconds?”
True. Fae healing was incredibly fast. Faster than she’d ever imagined.
“All you managed was to create another enemy within the palace.”
She narrowed her eyes. “He was out of line. I had to do something.”
Keen stalked forward and wrapped his arm around her waist. Air whooshed from her already constricted lungs as he picked her up and pushed her against the wall, her feet dangling. His arm dropped beneath her rear, holding her up and allowing air back into her chest. “You are no match for my kind. When will you get that through your thick skull, little one?”
Her heart pounded, but not in fear. Keen’s body pressed flush against hers and his beautiful eyes were filled with such worry. Worry for her. Not because he was ordered to protect her, or because he was doing it out of some sense of obligation to Elena. This was different. Reese couldn’t sense Keen’s emotions magically, but she felt them just the same.
What had she done? Was he right?
She’d only meant to take a walk and clear her head after learning of Keen’s maybe-sort-of engagement to her half-sister. She’d told herself that it didn’t matter if he married another. But it mattered. It mattered a lot. Because she liked the arrogant Fae with his body pressed to hers.
“They could grab you and do unspeakable things without anyone knowing,” he continued, his emerald eyes bright with heat. “Fae are brutal and ruthless.”
“And what are you?”
“I am the same.”
No, he wasn’t. He’d done something no man had before—not even her father. He’d made her feel valued and protected.
At first, she thought it was for duty. Keen certainly wasn’t doing things for her in order to get laid like every other man she’d encountered. He’d made it clear how foolish he thought it was for Fae and humans to couple, as he’d called it. He’d even gone so far as to tell her not to touch him. But he had a hard time following his own rules. Case in point, as he held her against the wall with his body pressed to hers.
Before he could say another word, she dropped her head and bit his lip, tugging it and lightly licking the edge. Not hard, just enough to show him she knew why he was here, holding her so close. And it wasn’t to display how quick and strong Fae were, or how much danger she was in. Oh, it might have been for those reasons, but there were other reasons as well.
Important chemical reasons that involved sparks and energy—and the electricity that had simmered between them since the moment they’d met.
