“Well, when your friend damn near kills you, it tends to leave a sour taste in your mouth.”
He threw his hands into the air, now glowering as if I had lost my mind. “Do you know how long ago that was? Fuck, we hadn’t even reached double digits in years. And you’re still upset about that?”
“You. Almost. Killed. Me.”
“Dammit! My fangs had just come in. I didn’t realize how sharp they were!”
I pointed a finger at him. “You didn’t even go get help. You let me bleed on the damn grass.”
His chest heaved in aggravation. “I was a kid, Gwen. I was freaked out. I didn’t even know my saliva could save the day then.” Joshua crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze running over my rumpled form. “And, besides, help did arrive. You know that. You’re here today because some poor bastard found us.”
More finger waggling. “I’d blacked out by then!”
He shrugged a shoulder. “You’re here, you’re fine.”
I let my eyes flash once in warning and shooed in his direction with both of my hands—even the one that was quickly healing. I grumbled, “Just go.”
Joshua pulled his phone out of his back pocket and checked the time on it. “You’re right. I better since this conversation isn’t going anywhere. Your father will be in the office shortly.”
“Huh?” I stared.
“Your father.” He put his phone away. “I’m his personal assistant. I have been ever since he was king.”
My mouth bobbed in shock.
The vampire’s position in life had risen.
His smirk hadn’t changed since we were small. “Surprise!”
I turned on my heel and marched away. “Goodbye, Joshua.”
He laughed quietly as I retreated from him. “Don’t forget the Day of the Dead is tonight. You look like shit so might want to get some sleep before the party this evening.”
“Fuck off, Joshua!”
More snickering. “It’s good to see you too, Gwen.”
“You’re sure you’re fine?” Danai asked, flipping my hand over again.
“How many damn times are you going to ask her, Danai?” Dorian’s voice barked from the corner. “Of course, the girl is fine. I mean, look at that boy with her!”
Tymon crossed his legs and smirked. “What about the boy, Dorian? He glows? From a good, healthy sexual encounter.” Lifting his hand, Tymon studied it a moment. “Huh. Looks like I’m glowing a bit too.”
Danai leveled an angry look at him. “She can still be not all right and have had magnificent sex, Dorian. Stop whining or go get laid.”
I could hear his growl of disgust as he turned away.
Tymon was glowing, though, and I glanced over to Elex. He was also glowing.
Elex smirked at me. “It’s a side effect for the men when they are with their true or soul mate. Never seen it?”
I shook my head and said, “No.”
He grabbed my hand. “Druid males glow for about twelve hours. Not much.” He flashed his other hand, teasing the air with his glow. “But enough. It’s an ego boost for us.”
“You hardly need an ego boost, Elex.” I tried to admonish him, but it didn’t work because I was delighted he was glowing because of me.
“So, we’re all safe and unharmed?” Lunella asked.
Every one assented, and she sat at the table with us and the vast spread for breakfast.
“Is anyone going to explain what happened last night?” I asked, looking around the room. “We all split and went different ways after, but that was more for self-preservation than anything else. I still want to know what happened.”
“You were kidnapped, you daft—”
“Dorian!” Lunella snapped at him across the room. “She knows she was kidnapped. But with the way you act toward her, she’s clearly confused as to why you would risk your ass to save her out of a moving carriage since you’re always treating her like shit.”
“I do not.”
Tymon raised an eyebrow. “Yes, actually, you do, Dorian. You’re mostly an asshole to her. To a lot of people. So why would you risk your life to save someone you don’t like?”
“No one deserves to be taken against their will.”
“Yes,” Lunella agreed, “but Elex was already on his way. He was capable.”
Dorian huffed. “Sending a child after a child.”
“You see? You’re always being an asshole,” Tymon said.
He launched out of the chair and came at Elex and me. “Because those people are dangerous! They are deluded. They think—” His words cut off, and he snarled at me.
“I was swung off the dance floor and pulled out the door and stuffed into a carriage to be carted off into the night. I didn’t know what was going on. I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get back to the temple.”
I stood to face him. Dorian was taller than I was, by a lot, and his skin was a pale cream that reflected the morning light streaming through the windows. His hair was a white-blond halo above him. He tried to be intimidating, but he wasn’t. And I knew this after he rescued me.
“I don’t understand why you came after me. Of course, they’re dangerous. And they’re deluded. But Elex would have gotten me back.”
Realizing he couldn’t get far with his intimidation techniques, Dorian stepped back. His lip curled, and I watched him as he snatched a strip of bacon off the plate on the table. “Well, I guess, since you’ve all decided this needs to happen, I need to explain this.”
Glancing at Tymon, Dorian walked away, munching on his stolen strip of breakfast meat. His chewing was thoughtful, and it was clearly a stalling tactic, but he then continued. “The people who kidnapped you last night were a faction of dissenters. They don’t agree with the temple and how we do things here. We have protected the gate for years. We have held the mountain. We’ve nurtured and cared for the people of S’Kir.
“But there is a part of our population who do not believe that the temple is the best group of people for this job. They don’t trust us. The Lost God left us in charge, and they don’t believe we should have been entrusted.
“They, like you, are infants and don’t understand how old these plans are. How much time and planning went into setting up our society, to preserving peace and protecting the magic that flows through everything.
“To them, this is nearly a game. It doesn’t fit in the narrow world they know here. They grew here, within the protective plans of our world, and now they think they know better than me.”
I wrinkled my brow. “Than…you?”
Dorian waved me off. “Us. The temple.” He snatched another piece of bacon. “We have always kept them quiet and placated.”
“Last night was unprecedented,” Lunella continued. “We have never had these usurpers be quite so bold. We never dreamed they would try to kidnap you.”
“And they can’t have you.” Dorian’s voice was possessive and angry.
“Well, no.” A wave of confusion washed over me. “Of course, they can’t. I am an acolyte here, and Elex is part of the Education Guilds. We belong here.”
“They want you despite your alliances,” Tymon said. “It doesn’t matter. They are convinced that controlling you will control the Breaking.”