While Camille slept, everyone in the cave bided their time, with a lot of tension filling the room. And this time it wasn’t merely physical sparring.
Keen and Jas glared at each other from across the firepit Garrin had constructed. Only they weren’t saying anything. “What’s going on?” Lex asked. “Why do they look angry?”
Garrin had finished his escape strategizing with the others, which mostly involved survival skills for the Land of Ice, and now lay beside her next to the fire.
He hitched his weight on one elbow. “Keen is reading Jasper’s thoughts.”
“They can talk to each other?”
“Not exactly. Most telepaths cannot send messages. Keen doesn’t seem to like what Jasper is thinking.”
Lex blinked. “But they came together. Aren’t they friends?”
Garrin snorted. “Keen is from Old Kingdom and Jasper is from Dark Kingdom. There will be no friendship.”
She shook her head slowly. “That is ridiculous.”
“It is our way in Tirnan.”
“Elena and Keen are friends, and they rule different kingdoms,” Lex pointed out.
Garrin scratched his jaw. “That is peculiar. I assume Keen feels no competition with the Halven.”
“Excuse me,” Elena said from across the cave, where she was practicing roundhouse kicks. She put her hands on her hips and said, “I’m plenty powerful,” punctuating it with a lightning strike that scorched the cave wall.
Smoke filled the air, and Lex’s ears rang.
“That’s my girl,” Derek said, before returning to his conversation with Zirel.
Lex huddled closer to Garrin. “You better watch what you say.”
Garrin grinned, seemingly comfortable in the cave filled with magic and mayhem.
Across the fire, Em appeared only mildly surprised by the indoor lightning strike. Amund murmured something to her, and she turned her shoulder away, frowning.
“What about them? Em isn’t Halven and they’re both originally from Dark Kingdom. Why don’t they get along?”
Garrin waved his hand over the fire, causing the blaze to pulse. “That is simpler in nature. Amund wants my courtier.”
“You mean my courtier. Em is a part of my nonexistent noble court now.”
He chuckled. “I stand corrected.”
Em had been a part of Garrin’s harem… “Does it bother you that another man wants Em?”
Garrin frowned and blinked several times. “It does not bother me in the way you suggest. I’m not certain Em wishes to have Amund.”
Lex studied the two. “She’s ignoring him, but I don’t know; there’s something there. I’ve never seen Em angry, and Amund really brings it out in her.”
Garrin nodded. “I agree. There is lust involved.”
Lex laughed, and Em’s gaze shot to them. “I wouldn’t have put it that bluntly,” Lex said, “but yes, that’s my sense as well. It’s weird, though, right? To like someone, but to fight it?”
Garrin shrugged. “Fae women are strong. He might have offended her in some way, and now she won’t give in to the attraction. Who can say?”
Em crossed her arms. “Stop talking about me,” she said, seemingly forgetting she was speaking to her prince.
“If Amund offended her,” Lex said, “she shouldn’t be with him.” Lex winked at Em, who shook her head and glanced away.
A warm finger trailed up Lex’s back, setting off sparks down her spine. “Is that what you think, Lexandra? I once offended you too. Do you believe we should be apart?”
Her pulse raced and she drew in a breath. Damn him. “Of course not. Fine, I’m no good at understanding attraction.”
“You are new to lust. I will teach you.” He grinned enthusiastically.
She shoved him, but he barely budged. “Maybe I will teach you.”
His smile faded and his eyes sparked. “I would like that. Shall we begin?”
Before Lex could respond, Derek walked over. “You mind?” He looked at Garrin and gestured to one of the side caves. His girlfriend Elena was already inside, arranging their heavy coats on the ground.
Derek walked in behind Elena, and Garrin waved his hand at the entrance, sealing it off from the main corridor with a translucent ice wall that didn’t show shapes, but let in light.
“What happens if they need to escape quickly? Won’t they be trapped?”
Garrin stood and stretched his arms above his head, a peek of lightly tanned skin and toned abdomen showing beneath. “The ice is nothing the Halven couldn’t break through when he chooses.”
“Thank you,” Derek shouted.
Lex tried not to stare at Garrin as he pulsed embers in other parts of the cavern, heating the space while everyone slept, but his power was hot, literally and figuratively, and she couldn’t help admiring him.
“Come,” he said, holding out his hand. “We should rest.”
Lex gripped his warm palm. It was late, and Keen and Reese had already peeled off into one of the cavern’s other internal caves.
Garrin sealed off their small space too, and the faint sound of Reese laughing filtered out.
Lex blushed. “This is quite the love nest.”
Garrin squeezed her hand, studying her eyes. “Shall we adjourn to our own? We’ll find one that is more private.”
Jas and Zirel were passed out near the large fire, while Amund stood guard. But Isle was awake and watching them from across the firepit.
“Give me a moment,” Lex said.
She crossed the cavern to her mother and sat beside the fire, the embers dancing in magic-filled shades of blue. Devoid of wood and kindling, this fire was silent. “Please don’t be mad at me.”
Isle’s lips pursed. “I am not upset with you, Lexandra. Merely frustrated. I had no choice but to modify your memory and leave you with Jasper. It was either that or allow Casone to get his hands on you. The angels only know what that fool would have done. I dare not imagine. I couldn’t reach your father, and I did what I had to.”
Lex bit the inside of her lip, treading carefully. “I understand you did what you had to when I was younger, but I’m a grown woman now.”
Isle studied her. “Jasper said you are a splendid student, though you keep to yourself.” Her amber eyes grew shadowed. “I’m sorry for what the magic and memory loss did. I had no idea you’d suffer from a human mental disorder.”
“Anxiety. And it was partly from memories I had of you dying by avalanche. But Jas’s presence helped. If it makes you feel any better, I no longer suffer from anxiety. Not since I came here and, well, changed.”
Isle’s throat bobbed, and she nodded. “You didn’t suffer from it before you left. I wouldn’t expect you to have it now that you’ve returned.”
Lex touched her mother’s shoulder. “Whatever suffering I’ve experienced, it’s brought me to you. It brought me Garrin too. And as much as I appreciate what you’ve done for me, it’s time to let me spread my wings.” That sounded like a bad angel pun. “Figuratively speaking.”
A sad smile crossed her mother’s face. “You’re like your father in more ways than you think. You’re a peacekeeper, and you are incredibly stubborn.”
“I think I get some of that stubbornness from you.”
Her mother sent her look that said she was not amused. Her eyes grew watery. “I realize you’re no longer a child, but that doesn’t mean I wish to lose you again.” Her eyes narrowed on Garrin.
“I’m not going anywhere, Mom. But I am with Garrin.”
Isle’s mouth pursed as though she tasted something sour. “Why the Dark Prince? Jasper is perfectly suitable. And not really your uncle, if you hadn’t figured it out.”
Lex winced. “Jasper is like a brother to me, and the thought of being with him is truly disturbing.”
A snorting sound came from Jasper several feet away. He held a fist to his mouth and seemed to be holding back laughter.
Apparently, he was no longer dozing.
Lex sighed. “What made you fall in love with my dad?”
“Your father is, well…your father.”
Lex rolled her eyes. “Helpful, Mom, thanks. So, what you’re saying is it was nothing you can put your finger on. That’s partly how it is for me and Garrin too. More importantly, he has believed in me more than I believed in myself from the moment we met.”
Isle eyed her skeptically. “You like the prince because he is dangerously handsome. But his father—”
“Is not Garrin. And yes, Garrin isn’t hard on the eyes, but he’s more than a pretty face. He—” Lex would have said he loved her and challenged her and protected her. But she didn’t know Garrin loved her. He’d never said as much. She only felt it.
Isle’s eyes softened. “Are you sure you can trust the Dark Prince?”
“Yes. Now can you please trust me?”
Isle hesitated a moment, then reluctantly nodded.
It was a huge concession, and Lex wasn’t about to take it for granted. She’d do what she felt was right in the end, but she preferred to have her mother’s support. She hugged her mom, the gesture more comfortable the more time they spent together. “Thank you. Sleep well, Mom.”
Lex stood and walked to Garrin, careful to tiptoe around the others.
He reached for her hand and led her to the small alcove in the far reaches of the cavern where they’d rested earlier.
They entered, and Garrin put an ice wall in place for privacy. He walked to his coat still left on the ground. “Is everything okay with your mother?”
Lex followed him blindly, tired after her conversation with Isle. “She’s still uncertain about you.”
He took her arms and drew her close. “I don’t want to come between you and your mother.”
“You won’t.” Lex reached up and kissed him, trailing her hand down his broad chest, a surge of renewed energy filling her.
He closed his eyes. “Lex, you don’t know what you do when you touch me.”
The corner of her mouth turned up. “I may never have done this before, but I’m not entirely naïve.”
“Aren’t you?” He trailed his fingers between her breasts, his hand flattening on her stomach the way she’d touched him.
Lex’s belly clenched. When her heart calmed, she looked into his bright eyes. “Maybe I am naïve. I’ll need more demonstration.”
