No doubt I was, but his being here wasn’t helping either. “Why don’t you leave then? No matter what Faith said, I can figure out the girls’ problem without any help. We don’t have to put ourselves through this turmoil.”
“She was insistent, and I can’t let her or Hope down. I gave my allegiance to my king and country. They’re my princesses.” Slowly, he reached out and touched his mother’s ring swinging freely over my top. He pushed his little finger through the hole and slid it halfway on. “Mum had the tiniest fingers.”
I slid my pinky finger around his, knuckle to knuckle with the gold band warm between us. “If you want the ring back, you only have to ask.”
“No, it’s yours.” He stared into my eyes, and I wanted to drown in the soulful depths. “I’ll never forget the moment she gave it to me. She was so sick toward the end. The healers said there was nothing they could do about her sickness. It had come too fast.”
“I promise I’ll keep it safe.”
“Thank you.” With a groan, he slipped his finger free.
“You don’t have to stick around. It’s probably best you don’t.”
“I know.” He pointed at Zayn. “You need to ditch him. I’d feel more comfortable.”
“Nope. I need to ditch you.” Making the first move, I backed away, headed toward Zayn and waved.
He swam in and jogged over. “Who’s that?”
“Guy Moyer.”
“Ahh, I see.” He shook his shirt free of sand then yanked it over his head and plopped his sunnies on.
“He just wanted to make sure I was okay after we ended things. I said I was.” Best not to spill on Faith’s problem. Zayn was too close to Davio and Silas and might say something.
“Right, and since he’s not leaving, how about you introduce us?” He took my elbow. “And preferably before he comes over here and knocks my head off. That’s one dark scowl he has.”
Guy shoved his long sleeves to his elbows and met us half way. Double daggers sheathed at his wrists glinted in the sunshine. “Take your hands off her.”
“You ended things.” Zayn flexed his hand then smoothed it down his thigh, right where his sword normally lay. “But nice of you to check on her, not that it was necessary. You can be assured we protectors look after our own.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a good fight. Silas was the last protector I had some fun with.”
I edged between them. “Just stop this now. I have enough to deal with, and I don’t need you two coming head to head.”
“We hadn’t finished speaking. Excuse us.” Guy glared at Zayn as he backed away and took me with him.
Good grief. Talk about an overabundance of male bonded drive. “What are you doing?”
“I have no idea, except I need to control these impulses you’ve fired in me. We’ll begin working on the girls’ problem this evening. You okay with that?”
“I can’t do it this evening.”
“Tomorrow night then?”
“Yes.” I forced a step back then shooed him away. “Off you go.”
“You’re not to date another while we work together, and that’s final.” He shimmered and disappeared.
Argh, us working together wasn’t Faith’s best idea, but since we had to, we’d simply keep it to a minimum. Only, drat, I wished him right back again.
Zayn joined me. “Are you all right?”
“I will be. Thanks for asking.” I squeezed his arm.
He jumped back and gawked at where I’d touched him. “You just—” My fingerprints were burnt into his skin. “Unbelievable.”
“Did I do that?” I had to be seeing things, only the evidence was clear. My handprint branded his arm.
“You just burnt me.” He traced the marks, although they slowly faded as his fast-healing kicked in. He shot me a look. “We have to try that again.”
I backed away but he advanced and gripped my arm before I could stop him.
“Shoot. Hot. Hot. Hot.” Blisters, red and angry, bloomed on his fingertips.
“No more trying. I’m clearly burning you.” His festered skin meant I’d come into a skill. “My Carver ancestors had the fire skill.”
“It’s been a couple of months since your eighteenth, but you and Silas were born prematurely.”
“By seven weeks, but Silas still came into his skills the week of his eighteenth.” Yeah, except Silas had been born healthy and strong, and me so tiny. It had taken months for me to catch up.
“Well, you definitely have a skill, and now there’s a wicked amount of heat pulsing off you.”
“There is?” Of course there would be. I’d just burnt him. “Stay there then. I don’t want to burn you any more than I have.” In awe, I grazed my fingers over my arm. “I have the fire skill. Wow.”
“A skill with a high temperature. You’re gonna have to get that down.”