He wasted no time after they had landed. “Why did you say such a thing?”
“Why would I not? She asked a question and I answered it honest. Why are you upset she knows you are promised to another?”
“Part of protection is having her comfortable with me. I do not wish her to feel uncomfortable.”
Valry studied him, a hard look in her eyes. “Why would she care about our customs?”
She would not bate him. “It matters not. You have defied my wishes, the wishes of your Mennak.”
Her claws ripped through the air in fury, her mouth in a snarl. “I am talking to my future mate! Why is she allowed more liberty with you than the female who will bear your young?”
“I am your Lord first, you mate second, always.”
“And would you say the same to your human, Terak?” Her tone was disgusted, filled with her contempt of anything that was not gargoyle.
…which of these goals is your priority?
My priority will forever be her.
A human who his Clan would never accept.
He must bring the Clan together. They were too fractured now, stresses from both within and without crushing them.
To be a leader meant sacrifice. His sacrifice was staring at him with hard eyes.
No, his sacrifice lay on soft blue sheets within blue walls with a halo of gold always surrounding her.
The anger left him. Weariness, bone-deep and aging, settled in. He looked at Valry, and whatever she saw had her reeling back. “We will be mated, Valry. You will bear my young and stand by my side. But never forget this – I mate you only out of duty. You knew this from the first as I never hid my motives, and you accepted them. So do not now or ever pretend to be an injured party, and never ask again which has the most importance to me. The answer will always be the Clan. Now, do you wish to be released from our Intention?”
She shook her head, mute before him.
“Return to the keep. Never come here again.”
She left without a word, and once she was out of sight Terak flew to his usual spot. As he watched over his little human he allowed himself one brief moment never to be repeated, a moment to imagine a life without sacrifice.
Why was she so shocked that Terak was engaged?
Larissa rolled over onto her side. Though only moments before she willed her eyes not to look at the time, the little buggers betrayed her. 2:43.
Terak was going to be married.
Larissa flung the covers aside and sat up. Screw this. If she was going to be up, she was going to watch a movie and eat some ice cream.
She strode into the living room and picked up the remote.
Click.
And then she remembered her television was on the fritz.
The remote fell from her hand and she collapsed back in the couch with a heavy sigh. With all the commotion the last few weeks, getting a wizard out here to recalibrate it had been nowhere on her list of priorities.
Now she had no television and no ice cream. Sure, she could go to the refrigerator and eat the ice cream, but then she wouldn’t be a woman who was eating ice cream because she wanted a snack with her late time viewing.
No, she would then be a woman who was eating ice cream after hearing a guy she knew had a girlfriend.
No, make that an Intended.
Larissa rubbed the back of her neck, trying to ease the tense muscles she found there.
Why the hell would she be upset over this?
She took a deep breath, a slow and forceful inhalation to expand her lungs and clear out the cobwebs.
Okay, she had gotten used to having Terak around and had some proprietary feelings where he was concerned. He’d saved her several times over, so understandable and natural. Anybody would react the same.
And tonight, he had stood between her and an army, a warrior who demons bowed before, and said mine.
The shiver raced up her spine at the memory. It was said on a harsh growl, claws and blood entwined in his promise. Only death awaited anyone who challenged him.
Mine.
She owed him her life. She owed him so much.
Mine.
That was it. It was gratitude mixed with shock and the closeness you can only feel with someone when you have faced death with them.
There was nothing else to this insomnia.
She’d feel better tomorrow.
And she’d call the repairman.
Chapter Twenty
The ringing phone awoke Larissa. Even as she reached for the phone she looked at the time. 4:59. If someone wasn’t dead, they were going to be. “Hello?”
“Sweetie,” Olivia’s voice was soft on the other end. “You have to wake up.”
“Says who? What’s going on Olivia?”
“The person who I said might help? He wants to see you, and he wants to do it now. I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes.”
Olivia’s words wound through Larissa’s mind three times before she realized the implication. “I’ll be ready – wait, Olivia,” she said before the other woman could hang up.