Читать книгу Trio of Seduction - Cassie Ryan - Страница 9

K iera slammed the front door of her house behind her and turned the deadbolt so hard, she was surprised the doorframe didn’t crack.

Emotions swirled through her in a rush that made her head swim. “Months of careful planning wasted!” She leaned back against the door and allowed herself a few deep breaths to calm the coursing adrenaline.

The entire Cunt council would think she was a traitor by now, which meant she wasn’t safe here. The days of them tolerating her for her medical skills were long gone if they thought she tried to hand over a council member to the Klatch.

Not that they would waste magical resources to terminate her. They would send their half-breed or outright human contingents to do their dirty work. But at least those two groups were susceptible to human weapons.

“Damn him!” The dark eyes of the Klatch prince burned through her mind’s eye, bringing with it each sensual memory of how his hard body had felt on top of hers. Angry with herself for noticing, she shrugged the sensation away. “Why did he have to show up?”

She glanced around the living room still decorated as her father had left it—an eclectic mix of United States Marine Corps military medals, sports memorabilia and old west collectibles.

Her heart ached at the thought of leaving this all behind.

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, she had held out hope that some day she would come home and find her father sitting in his favorite ratty recliner, laughing and joking like he used to. But it had been five long years since she had found him unconscious on the floor with all the indications of multiple energy-beam hits to the chest.

Which meant witches of one race or the other.

Of course, the military doctors didn’t recognize the symptoms, and she couldn’t very well enlighten them. She knew better than most that humans didn’t like what they didn’t understand. In her small clinic, she had treated many Cunts, as well as Klatch and Cunt half-breeds, who had been injured at the hands of humans. Then again, there were also many cases where they had injured each other.

A heavy weariness threatened to settle over her as it always did when she thought about the past. She shoved it aside and banged her head back against the door a few times, hoping to break herself away from the emotions those memories brought.

She had never found out who or why her father had been attacked, and he hadn’t woken since.

However, she was enough her father’s daughter to know he would want her to put her own life above sentimentality. He was as safe as he could be in the Phoenix VA hospital; now she just had to get herself to safety.

Kiera closed her eyes and carefully walled off her emotions, just as she had so many other times over the years. She pictured pouring all her pain and fear into a large shoebox and then closing the lid before stacking it on top of the growing pile of closed boxes inside her mind.

Her eyes snapped open, and the familiar calm of knowing what to do and carrying it out enveloped her. “Get your butt in gear, woman!” She smiled as she said the words aloud, since she could almost hear her father’s deep voice booming those same words.

She jogged down the hallway and into the kitchen until she came to the pantry just under the stairs. The door swung open at her touch, and rather than stepping in, she reached inside and up above the doorframe. Her fingers traced the seam of the wall where it met the ceiling until she found the latch, which to anyone else would feel like a rough spot on the sloping ceiling of the pantry. She pressed the latch for exactly four seconds and then let go and stepped back.

A large cubby as wide as the pantry door slid open from the ceiling to reveal a black backpack full of everything she would need to get away or even start a new life, if it came to that. She hefted the backpack over one shoulder and then dug a quarter out of her pocket and tossed it inside the cubby, where it landed with a quiet thunk .

The quarter was a signal between her and her father, which would let him know which safe house she planned to go to first.

Kiera swallowed hard as she realized her dad would probably never see it, and she was totally and completely on her own. She clenched her jaw and closed the cubby with the quarter still inside. After she closed the pantry door, she walked down the short hallway to the garage.

Her father’s Humvee sat next to her purple PT Cruiser, and she huffed out a breath as she realized she would have to leave her car behind, too. That was the price of having such a distinctive car in a closed community—not to mention the “WTCHDR” license plate. It had been somewhat of a joke at the time, but over the years since she had opened her clinic, it had made her easy for her target clientele to find.

Her gaze swept the inside of the garage to make sure nothing had been disturbed.

Floor-to-ceiling cabinets ran along each side of the garage, and at the back, where normal people would put a washer and dryer, her father had installed a heavy-duty fireproof gun safe, which ran the width of the space and stood six feet high. Her father had it specially made and equipped with state-of-the-art security measures.

Marine colonel’s liked their firearms and other goodies protected.

Kiera pressed her thumb to the entry pad of the gun safe. After scanning her thumbprint and matching it to the approved users—only she and her father—a small black panel popped open to reveal the combination lock.

Her fingers reached for the dial.

A blur of dark orange fell from above, knocking her arm away.

Kiera whirled to face her attacker, and a loud “mrowwr” sounded near her feet.

“Damn it, Shiloh!”

Her father’s orange tabby cat swiveled his head, and she found herself on the receiving end of an unblinking orange-eyed glare. The effect was made more intense by the fact that a perfect line of white ringed both eyes like fur eyeliner. The rest of Shiloh was alternating stripes of dark and lighter orange, with white only around his eyes, on his toes and at the tip of his tail.

“Sorry, Shi,” she mumbled as she reached for the safe’s dial again. “It’s been a rough day.”

In one fluid motion, the cat jumped up on top of the gun safe, curled his paws over the top edge and rested his chin lightly between them.

Kiera sighed. She had forgotten all about Shiloh. Her escape plan hadn’t included a cat. However, since Shiloh and her father had basically adopted each other a few months before he was attacked, she couldn’t very well leave Shiloh here to fend for himself.

Though she would pity the person who broke in here with the moody tabby on the loose.

Kiera and Shiloh had developed somewhat of an uneasy coexistence since her father had gone to the hospital. Kiera didn’t particularly like cats, and Shiloh loved to annoy her. She’d actually grown used to having the feisty feline around and even held an odd fondness for him—something she would never admit openly.

The combination dial slid toward the last number, and the safe made a loud click as bars disengaged and allowed her to pull the heavy door open.

The strong scent of chocolate-covered cherries filled her senses, and the familiar sting of unshed tears burned the backs of her eyes. Her father never smoked his signature cigars inside the house, but whenever he cleaned his weapons or rearranged items in his safe, there was always a fat stogie clamped between his teeth.

Damn, I miss him .

She mentally shook herself and steeled her resolve. After all, her father would kick her ass if he found out sentimentality had gotten her captured.

Inside the safe, she found all her father’s weapons just as he had left them, along with extra ammunition and enough knives and other tools of combat to supply a small rebel army.

She pulled a large black gun duffel from the bottom cabinet and loaded an assortment of guns, ammunition, knives and other goodies into the bag. Guns weren’t always very effective against either race of witches, but there were enough humans and even half-breeds who were sympathetic with the Cunt Council that the assorted hardware would probably come in very handy.

The Humvee opened when she pressed in the code just under the door handle, and she tossed the gun duffel into the hidden panel under the back hatch and then set her backpack on the backseat.

A quick trip to the kitchen provided a bag full of cat food, basic nonperishable human food and medicinal supplies, which she placed next to her backpack.

“Shiloh,” she called to the cat still perched on top of the gun safe.

The cat stretched and then yawned before he jumped down and ambled forward as if he had all the time in the world.

“I wish Dad had gotten you used to a cat carrier. Then I could just toss your kitty ass in and get moving!”

Shiloh ignored her angry words and finally made his way to the Humvee, where he jumped in and curled into the front passenger seat where he had always ridden when her dad had taken him on trips.

Kiera slammed the door to the Humvee and walked back through the house, arming security sensors and testing locks. She knew nowhere was impenetrable, especially for the Cunts, but she refused to make it easy for them.

Finally, she slipped inside her room and pulled a large shoebox from under her bed. It held the last remnants she had of her mother, and she couldn’t bear the thought of them being taken or destroyed. Her mother had risked her life and her place in Cunt society to marry her father and try to give Kiera a normal life—and she had paid for it, dearly.

Kiera would always respect that, even though the decision had taken her mother from her.

With a last look around at the top floor of the house, she took the stairs two at a time, and almost as an afterthought, grabbed her father’s framed military medals off the wall and tucked them under her other arm.

She pulled the garage door shut behind her and set the house perimeter alarms before she turned back to the gun safe. The shoebox and the framed military medals fit snugly in the bottom drawer after she rearranged the Japanese throwing stars and the nunchucks. The drawer slid easily closed, which allowed her to close the heavy safe door and click the entry pad back in place over the combination dial.

With a last wistful look at her PT Cruiser, she slid into the Humvee and fastened her seatbelt. “Hold on tight, Shiloh. This may be a bumpy ride.”

Kiera drove until her eyes stung with fatigue. Shiloh purred softly on the passenger seat beside her, where he had curled, dozing through four changes of license plates, three stops for gas and one indulgent stop at a drive-through Starbucks for an iced venti caffe latte with a quad shot of espresso.

“Damn cat. A lot of help you are.” She scowled at the peaceful feline, who seemed to only purr louder at her words.

Her headlights cut a dim path through the darkened haze of predawn, and she almost missed the slightly obscured gravel driveway to the safe house she and her father had set up in case of emergency. There were actually seven of them in different locales, but she chose this one since it was the closest to home.

The Humvee barely fit down the small gravel road to the cabin, and the screech of low hanging branches brushing the side of the vehicle made her jump until her tired brain made sense of the noise. After a few winding curves, the headlights shone on a small log cabin with a tiny attached garage.

Adrenaline surged back into Kiera’s veins as her gaze swept the perimeter for any sign of something out of place. When nothing jumped out of the shadows at her, she stopped the Humvee and slid out of the driver’s side with the Ruger her father had given her cradled in her palm. She disengaged the safety and started forward with the muzzle of the gun pointed down and to the side.

The strong scent of pine and rich earth filled each breath, and she breathed deep since the smell brought back cherished memories of time spent camping with her father.

Something brushed her right ankle and she bit back a scream.

Then her mind processed the identity of the orange streak that raced toward the front door of the cabin.

Shiloh.

“Fucking cat,” she muttered under her breath. My own fault for not shutting the car door . He would have to fend for himself if he wasn’t careful.

Her gaze swept over everything, cataloging distances, possible hiding places and escape routes as she went.

The attached garage was manually operated with a handle that had a keyhole in it. It marred the rustic simplicity of the log cabin next to it, but since a garage would make it easier to conceal the Humvee, she really couldn’t complain. The windows of the two-story cabin were dark, and large thick trees and foliage enclosed the sides of the structure, casting it in further shadow, since only slivers of moonlight peeked through the thick cloud cover.

With the Ruger a comforting weight in her hand, she carefully made her way around the side of the cabin where Shiloh had disappeared. She slid in between the side of the cabin and close-growing trees, thankful for the generous cover the forest provided.

Her tennis shoes crunched softly against the pine needles that padded the forest floor, but she detected nothing out of place.

When she reached the back corner of the house, she approached the porch that ran the full length of the cabin and overlooked the lake.

Soft sounds of the water lapping against the shore blended with the crickets and the lone hoot of an owl in the distance. She peered across the lake, but even in the weak moonlight, she could see there were no boats breaking the glossy surface.

Kiera turned her attention back toward the porch, which was supported by large round beams of thick wood since the ground veered sharply down toward the lake. This would be a great place to watch the sunrise and sunset—after she made sure there was no one here who wanted to kill her.

Details…

She crouched, her gaze sweeping under the porch to make sure nothing hid between the large wood supports. She found nothing but overgrown vegetation and rocks.

The hair on the back of Kiera’s neck prickled along with a strong sense of being watched.

She straightened, her Ruger coming up to firing position.

Two wide orange eyes stared back at her from the porch, over the barrel of her gun.

“Mrowwr.”

Kiera’s hands shook as she slowly lowered her arm and briefly considered strangling the cat. “I should fucking shoot you,” she whispered to Shiloh through clenched teeth.

The cat stretched and padded to the back door, where he promptly sat and began to clean his paws.

A few deep breaths calmed her heart enough to allow her to finish her perimeter check. When she found nothing out of place, she unlocked the front door and systematically checked each room of the small cabin.

Only a few dust bunnies greeted her, so she pulled the Humvee into the garage, unloaded half her cache of weapons and closed and locked the door behind her before venturing back inside the cabin. After a last quick look around, she set the alarms and stumbled upstairs to the master bedroom.

Her eyes burned and her limbs felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds each. She collapsed on the bed, not even bothering to kick off her shoes. Shiloh jumped up beside her, curling against her stomach, and she closed her eyes, sighing as the soft purrs soothed her to sleep.

Ryan stepped through the portal back onto his home planet of Tador and winced as bright sunlight surrounded him. Gooseflesh marched down his arms at the sudden temperature change, and he stepped off to the side to leave room for the Klatch guards who followed him. It took a few minutes for his eyes to adjust to the bright clear day after the inky blackness of the between .

For some reason, he always forgot Phoenix and Tador were on opposite schedules. Most likely because the bone-chilling cold of the between —the portal between the two worlds—took all his energy and attention just to traverse.

Fatigue weighted his limbs, and he briefly considered stopping by his rooms for food and sexual sustenance. As a Klatch witch, he needed sexual energy to survive and thrive just as much as he needed food and rest. However, whereas before tonight his fantasies had always been filled with soft willing women with dark hair and lavender eyes, they now featured a hellion with blond hair, deep blue eyes and sensual full lips.

“Here.” Gavin handed Ryan a small leather bag. “There’s some cheese, bread, fruit and a small skin of wine. That should hold you until you return from your discussion with the Seer. She is out at the waterfall looking for the hidden alcove mentioned in her childhood journals.”

No one had been more surprised than Ryan to find out the imaginary friend he had played with as a child had actually grown into a flesh and blood Earth woman—not to mention a powerful seer. Before the Seer and Prince Grayson were married a few weeks ago, Katelyn had found mention in her childhood journals of a hidden alcove with a statue that related to the Triangle that could save Tador.

Apparently, the Seer was finally getting around to searching for it.

Everyone hoped whatever lay in that alcove would help them unravel some of the mystery behind the Triangle and all it entailed.

Queen Alyssandra had taken a big chance reinstituting the Triangle she had only read about in some of the ancient queen’s journals. But the planet of Tador was too far gone for her to fully heal it on her own. She knew she needed Ryan and Grayson’s help to institute the Triangle and heal Tador.

And it couldn’t happen soon enough, if Ryan had finally found the Healer.

A sensual memory filled his mind of how the Healer’s lithe body had felt under him while her defiant gaze blazed into his. His cock surged to life inside his already tight jeans, and he widened his stance, trying in vain for a more comfortable position—especially since his balls were still tender from their earlier mistreatment.

Gavin cleared his throat, startling him from his musings. Ryan glanced around and realized the remaining guards had gone on their way, leaving just him, Gavin and the portal sentry. “Sorry, I was just taking a moment to—”

“Don’t bother to make up an excuse.” Amusement danced in Gavin’s lavender eyes. “I know you well enough to know you were thinking about your Healer—even though you should be replenishing your energy between some willing Klatch maid’s thighs.” The guard shook his head. “I must report to the king and queen. I’ll catch up with you later to see if the alcove has been found. I want to get out of these uncomfortable Earth clothes as soon as possible.” Without waiting for an answer, Gavin walked down the path toward the castle.

Ryan watched Gavin as he disappeared down the path without a backward glance. He had to admit Gavin had a point. A pair of breeches was much less restricting than the pair of tight jeans he wore—especially when even the smallest thought of the fiery blond made his cock hard. He shook his head and laughed at himself.

A gentle breeze tousled Ryan’s hair and brought the rich scents of roses, jasmine, gardenias and fertile soil. He inhaled, enjoying the lush clean air after the thick stench of car exhaust and heat-baked asphalt in Phoenix.

Phoenix was one of the cleaner cities he had visited on Earth, but it couldn’t compare with the paradise that was his home world. At least for now…

His thoughts turned dark as he started down the opposite path that would take him to the waterfall.

The destruction of Tador edged closer and closer to the populated areas with each passing day. If the Triangle wasn’t instituted soon, the utopian landscape before him would end up as nothing but a desolate wasteland like the outlying areas.

His chest tightened at the thought of such a fate, and he shoved it away. He and the rest of the royal family would fight until their last breath to save Tador and their way of life. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to save the planet.

Leaves and twigs crunched softly under his boots, and the sound of rushing water grew louder as he neared the waterfall. As always, the rhythmic music of the falls mellowed his mood and filled him with hope.

He skirted around the maze, which was made of thick green vines and shrubs meticulously groomed to keep the inner paths clear. The faint sound of female giggling reached him from just beyond the nearest maze wall, and he smiled.

Apparently there were some Klatch currently enjoying one of the many intimate dead ends within the maze. He hoped someday soon to show the Healer—

“Ryan!” The Seer’s voice reached him a moment before she jogged into view. Her long red hair streamed behind her, and her green eyes flashed with agitation. “Hurry, the Healer needs you.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him forward toward the waterfall.

Urgency sliced through him as he followed her. His guards had told him no one followed the Healer as she left. What if they were wrong and he had left her in danger?

Katelyn pulled him down to sit across from her on the sandy shore of the pool at the base of the waterfall. Her normally pale cheeks were flushed with color, making her freckles stand out, and a small crease furrowed between her red brows.

“Katie-cat,” he said, using a nickname he’d given her when they were children and he thought her nothing more than an imaginary friend. “Calm down and tell me what’s going on.”

She sat cross-legged across from him, adjusting her flowing skirt around her legs before taking the bag Gavin had given Ryan and setting it aside to take both of his hands in hers. “I had a vision about the Healer, and I think she’s in danger.”

Anger and a sudden urge to protect the Healer rushed through him. He started to push to his feet, but Katelyn tightened her grip on his hands.

“Sit,” she ordered. “I need to see if I can induce a vision, and I need you to help me focus it since I assume you saw the Healer.” Katelyn’s intense gaze burned into his as the question hung in the air between them.

Ryan knew Katelyn didn’t often try to induce visions. Visions usually came when she least expected them, and those she tried to force cost her dearly. She must be truly concerned to attempt this.

“Yes,” he answered before her impatient glare burned straight through his skull. He remembered the hard knee to the groin the Healer had left him with and winced.

Katelyn’s laugh startled him. “From the look on your face, I’d say I like her already.”

He opened his mouth to retort, but she didn’t give him a chance.

“Close your eyes. Picture her as clearly as you can—eyes, hair, expressions, smell—everything you can think of will help.”

Resigned, he closed his eyes and focused all his energy on picturing the Healer as he had last seen her.

When the Healer had neatly reversed their positions right before all her weight had settled squarely on his bollocks, he’d been surprised and more than a little impressed. Not only did he outweigh her, but she’d caught him by surprise since he had been too intent on her innocent blue gaze.

He smiled to himself; he would have to remember not to be fooled in the future. Innocent in some ways she may be, but he’d seen her fight, and she definitely knew how to take care of herself. The scene where she fought off the two Cunt guards replayed inside his mind and then dissolved like mist on the wind. Ryan stiffened as he fought to retain control, but then Katelyn’s gentle pressure against his hands reminded him why they were there.

In his mind’s eye, the scene reformed, and he saw a small log cabin with a dirty off-white attached garage. His senses expanded and refocused until he saw four humans dressed in black. They slipped silently through the woods, and he knew instinctively they were after the Healer.

“No!”

Katelyn’s tight grip on his hands reminded him to stay focused, and he let her lead the way as their line of sight slipped easily through the front wall of the cabin and into each room until they found the Healer.

She lay face down, fully clothed, on top of a small twin bed with a large orange cat curled beside her. Some of her golden blond hair had come loose from her ponytail and wisped around her face in silky tendrils. Her left hand was curled under her chin, while her right was hidden from view under the pillow.

Lavender smudges sat just under her closed eyes, nearly eclipsed by the thick fringe of golden lashes that rested lightly against her cheek. Her full lips were parted slightly in sleep.

The cat’s head snapped up as if he sensed their scrutiny. He blinked large orange eyes and stared straight at them in accusation.

His fuzzy head swiveled toward the window over the bed, and he stood and hissed, his tail bottle-brushing as his back arched.

The Healer bolted to a sitting position, and her right hand emerged from under the pillow gripping a gun that looked almost too large for her hand. She scanned her surroundings, and when she seemed to find nothing amiss, she stood and ran from the room.

The sting of a hard slap across Ryan’s jaw pulled him from the vision, and he opened his eyes to see Katie-cat’s face nearly nose to nose with his.

It took a few minutes for the rushing sounds of the waterfall nearby and the smell of the plants to fill his senses again. Once they finally did, he noticed the strain etched across Katelyn’s face and the dullness of her eyes.

“Are you all right?” Her voice was raspy and weak, and he blinked to clear the remaining lethargy left from the vision.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

Ryan nodded and immediately dug into the bag Gavin had given him to find the bread. Carbs would help Katelyn recover faster. “Here. Eat this and then you can tell me if that’s future, past or present we saw.” He bit back all the other questions that flowed through his mind. Adrenaline still raced through his veins, and he had to concentrate on calming his galloping pulse. Ryan struggled against the urge to run off in search of the Healer.

Katelyn broke off a piece of bread and took a bite.

He didn’t rush her, even though his mind screamed at him that action was needed now. Silence flowed between them as she ate half the bread and drank some of the wine. Color slowly seeped back into her cheeks, and her green eyes sparked once more with intelligence. She broke off a small piece of cheese and then sighed.

“You look like you’re feeling better,” he observed. “Are you ready to talk, or do you need another minute?”

She cocked her head to one side and considered him—a familiar gesture she’d done even as a child. “I’m well enough to answer you intelligently before you explode from practicing too much patience.”

“So much for subtlety,” he snapped then instantly regretted lashing out. Katie-cat was tying to help, and at great physical cost to herself. There was no reason to take out his frustration on her.

He tipped his chin toward his chest and allowed his hair to slip forward and hide the scar he carried since the day he’d turned twenty. At night, he still relived the searing pain of the metal cutting his flesh, along with the deep sense of betrayal and anger that inevitably went with such dreams. He resisted the urge to trace with his thumb the lower edge of the puckered skin where it met the side of his mouth, and he opened his mouth to apologize to Katelyn.

“No need to apologize or to cover your scar around me. Although, one of these days when you feel comfortable, I hope you’ll trust me with the story of how you got it.”

He glanced up into her intense green gaze, which held only fond affection, and knew he couldn’t tell her. Even as much as he cared for her, the memories were too raw and painful.

“You forget. I know you too well.” She grinned and handed him a piece of cheese. “You always were a moody bastard. The Healer will have her hands full.” She nodded toward the cheese he held in his hand. “Your turn to eat while I talk. And, anyway, I think that scar makes you look dark and dashing, like a pirate.”

Ryan bristled against her description of him and then nearly laughed as he realized Katelyn probably knew him better than anyone besides his two boyhood friends—Grayson and Stone.

Both of his male friends were now happily married to women Ryan adored. He hoped he was as lucky when his time came. His Healer had captured his lust and intrigue already, but he hoped she would also capture his mind and his heart. As a full-blooded prince of Klatch, he had always known it was his responsibility to carry on the line, which meant he would marry most likely for duty rather than love. Seeing his two friends so lucky in their matches had made him afraid to hope that lightning would strike a third time.

He took a bite of cheese then washed it down with some wine. The fruity flavor of the wine burst over his tongue and then spread warmth down his throat as he swallowed.

The gentle breeze tousled her unruly mane of red hair, and Katelyn brushed a few strands out of her eyes, tucking them behind her ear. “That vision felt like the future, but I can’t be sure. You know I’m not as accurate with visions I try to call, rather than those that just come to me.”

A tightness in Ryan’s chest that he couldn’t quite name made him long for more action and less discussion. “Is there any way to know where to find her or how much time we’ve got?”

“You don’t think she can take care of herself?” Katelyn pierced him with her questioning green gaze. “I don’t know anything about guns, but I would think sleeping with one under her pillow would tell me she knows enough about them not to blow off her own head.”

“I know she can take care of herself,” he said, remembering her fight with the two Cunt guards. “But—”

“But, you would feel better in all your maleness to go rushing in and kick some ass even if she doesn’t need it, and even if it makes the situation worse.”

Irritation at Katelyn’s sharp tongue snapped through him, and he clenched his fists as he searched for a suitable reply. When he found none, he bit back a sigh. “Damn,” he finally muttered under his breath. He raised his gaze to hers, careful to keep his scar covered with his hair. “Okay, yes. I would feel much better being able to do something rather than sit around here and wait.”

Her expression turned to one of tender pity. “Do you want some advice you’re going to hate but probably need?”

“No, but I have a feeling you’re going to offer it anyway.”

Katelyn shrugged, and a small smile played at the corners of her lips. “I think it’s going to be quite a challenge to bring a woman of half Cunt heritage to Tador. But no matter what, you need to remember that she is a woman first and a Cunt second. She has survived perfectly well without you this long, and probably won’t welcome the Klatch male tendency toward being overbearing.”

She took one of Ryan’s hands in hers, and despite himself, he enjoyed the cool comfort her gentle touch gave. “Regardless of the Triangle or anything else, you need to treat her like a person with her own strengths and personality rather than just as a warm body who will help us with the Triangle ceremony.” A small crease formed between her brows, and her voice lowered with intensity. “Everyone wants to feel special in their own right. Remember that.”

Ryan’s brow furrowed. He had the distinct impression that Katelyn offered something from personal experience, but he would be surprised if Grayson had been that daft in courting her. However, if that had been the case, his Katie-cat wouldn’t have let anyone get away with mistreating her, and Grayson had probably paid dearly. He smiled grimly. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.”

“Make sure you do,” she said, her voice full of playful challenge. “Or I’ll help her kick your ass, and I’m sure the queen would help, too.”

He gave into his habit and traced his thumb over the roughened skin at the bottom of his scar where it met the right side of his mouth. “Don’t worry, I have no desire to go up against you three. Any man who does, deserves all the pain and humiliation he gets.”