“I’m not used to having my sex life discussed as a public point of order.”
She leaned forward. “You think we enjoy this? Badgering you about getting some dick? We are not used to having a sex life on display. You know damn well that we prefer to keep our relations behind closed doors.”
“I am afraid they are going to hurt him.”
Her hand hit the table with a hard slap that made the dishes jump. “They should! We don’t flaunt our sex! Yes, we’re horny! Yes, we enjoy it! And yes, we fuck a lot. But this… flagrant display of disregard for a basic tenet of our magic is inexcusable.”
There were tears in my eyes. Again.
Lunella leaned back. “Since you’re someone I would consider a friend, we should be talking about the mystery couple in the yard. Smirks on our faces, knowing just how far our partners drilled our pussies last night. Shit eating grins because we know it will happen again. I should not be sitting here, telling you Elex is not the right partner for you. That should, at this point, be completely and utterly obvious.”
My jaw worked, but no sound came out.
Lunella rolled her eyes and tossed her napkin on the table. “You hadn’t even considered that.”
“No.” The word hurt.
“Then you need to consider it.”
Pushing back from the table, she grabbed her plate. “If you’ll excuse me, I feel that my appetite would be better served elsewhere.”
I watched as my only real friend in the temple walked away from the table.
What had Elex done to us?
Now, I feared I was going to be ejected from the temple, have my robes stripped, and exiled to another province.
My heart squeezed in my chest.
I was so frightened.
I picked up a piece of cheese from the plate and studied it. I had no appetite. I hadn’t for days at this point. Not since that breakfast.
I couldn’t get kicked out.
I had nothing else. I didn’t even have my little apartment anymore. My position at the school had been filled by another, younger teacher, a new acolyte.
There was nothing else but here for me now.
Vitas sat across from me, looking grim but determined.
“I’m sorry, Master Vitas, but I’m not good company right now.”
Nodding, he folded his hands. “I’m not really here for company, Kimber. I’m here to talk to you.”
“More talking.”
Shrugging, he settled forward. “Then, you don’t have to talk. Please listen.
“You are the Breaker of the Spine. There’s no doubt about that. And as the Breaker, you need power. Power we magic wielders gain from sex, sexual contact, and climax. We normally pair off because it is far easier to learn to please one person than it is to keep asking a random partner if they are coming the entire time you’re buried in each other. That said, we do make exceptions. Kind of often, really. We’re horny. And we need the power. And in that light, I spoke with my partner, and she and I would like to invite you to join us. Just one night, just to insure you have the power you need to keep S’Kir safe.”
My jaw was on the floor.
I had just been invited to have sex with two other people.
And I was sorely tempted to say yes.
“Master Vitas.” The voice boomed from behind me.
Master Dorian had arrived, and I was about a minute from breaking into full-on sobs again.
“Master Dorian,” he answered and stood.
“Will you excuse us a moment, please?”
“Of course,” Vitas nodded.
Reaching over, he laid his hand on mine. “It’s an honest offer, Kimber. Think about it.”
Pursing my lips, I nodded. “Thank you. I will.”
Vitas left the table and walked back to the food service area to pick up a few pieces of bread.
The looming druid behind me didn’t move. He made me nervous as he stood out of my view.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Please, have a seat, Master Dorian.”
“I am not here to make pleasant conversation, girl.”
I hated when he called me ‘girl.’
“Could you at least not stand behind me, master?”
There was a pause, and he moved around to the side where I could see him. He was grim, grimmer than I had seen him yet.
The silence that filled the air was awful. I had no idea how to break it. Or even if I should break it.
“Tomorrow evening, you will come with me.”
Wait. Did he mean…
“There is something you need to know, and you must see it for yourself to believe it. Tomorrow evening. Wear dark riding clothes. And if you have a sword, bring it.”
Blinking a few times, I finally nodded. “Yes, master.”
With a smart turn on his heel, he started to walk away. I was about to let my guard down when he was suddenly next to me again.
Hot breath caressed my ear. “While Master Vitas’s offer is kind, you will not take it. If there is anyone who is going to fuck you and fix this, it will be me.”
While Master Dorian was gone in the next moment, the air still crackled with his sexual threat.
Gods and goddesses, what had I gotten into?
Chapter Sixteen
Kimber
Standing in my darkest riding outfit, I waited in the empty main dining room.
I had spent the night hoping Elex might show up, but the only thing I received was a note from him, saying he was sorry and the last tremor had opened tremendous possibilities.
I’d been crushed.
But maybe Lunella was right. Maybe Elex wasn’t the one for me.
I fidgeted with the pommel of the sword on my hip. My father’s sword. I had all three of his—the fencing foil, the demonstration rapier, and the fighting sword.
Since I’d moved in, I’d wanted to hang the foil and the rapier. I hadn’t imagined I would be digging out the fighting sword first.
It was beautiful, with black and silver steel swirled on the blade. Folded thousands of times, for millions of layers, the straight blade had been honed to an edge on both sides and polished to a gleam.
The handle was wrapped in supple leather, and a single blood ruby was framed in the pommel at the end. The quillons on the cross guard also had small rubies in them.
From my father, from his father, and from his mother before that, the sword was nearly a thousand years old. Still as strong as the day it came out of the forge. A work of art—art I could kill with.
Rilen and Roran appeared from the shadows and moved toward me, each dressed in black from head to toe.
They stood on either side of me as Master Dorian entered through the door of the dining room.
Twisting his lip, he shook his head at the twins.
“Always have to be dramatic?”
“We’re protecting her from you,” Roran said. “Your temper has been off the charts, dear mate. She has no power.”
“So forgive us if we’re being dramatic, but she’s the Breaker of the Spine, and she needs to be protected.” Rilen nodded at his brother.
“Noble but useless. Let’s go. We need to see this if what you say is true.” Master Dorian motioned to the exit.
Rilen headed out but stopped right next to Dorian. “Keep your temper in check. We will defend her.”
Snorting, Master Dorian pointed him out of the room and motioned for me to follow at the same time.
With a deep sigh, I headed for the door behind Rilen. Roran and Master Dorian followed immediately behind us.
Four horses were waiting for us in the stables, and we quietly mounted up. We turned in a direction I didn’t expect. Out of the city, out toward the farms and forests surrounding the city.
We rode for nearly two hours at a not-quite-a-trot pace, and I figured we had covered two and a half leagues. It was all in silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.
Finally, Rilen pointed us off to the right, to a small road with a sign that said Dumorae. I knew it was a small town where the keeper for the nearby forest lived.
But we didn’t go all the way to the village.
Rilen turned left and pushed through a small thicket of what looked like blackberry bushes. It wasn’t when one brushed my hand.
They were silk. False leaves. Fake cover.
This was a secret trail.