Chapter 18

Quentin had cleaned up,taken a piss, and gone back to bed for another couple of hours. It wasn’t a restful sleep, and he wasn’t sure if it was because he was worried or because he could feel Kaine’s busyness and the way he was doing a hundred different things at once. At least, that was how it felt. He had no actual idea what Kaine was doing.

When he got up, he had a shower and then took his time opening drawers and cupboards. Not sure if he was snooping or looking for something to wear. The clothes in the wardrobe were clearly Kaine’s. The clothes in the dressing table drawers were all black and didn’t seem worn and there was everything from socks and briefs to track pants and long-sleeved T-shirts.

He went downstairs, wearing only a bathrobe, and made coffee. Next to the machine was a note informing him to grab something out of the dresser to wear.

While swanning about in a bathrobe was fine before breakfast—Orion had messaged to say he would bring some, along with his laptop and books—he wanted to put on clothes for the rest of the day.

Dressed from socks to top like he was about to commit a crime, he padded back downstairs to wait for Orion and finish his coffee.

Someone knocked on the door and his stomach gurgled, anticipating food, because aside from coffee and tea and a few frozen meals, there wasn’t anything else to eat. Probably because Kaine called the castle staff, and they brought him whatever he wanted.

He opened the door and stopped, frozen. “You’re not Orion.”

The man in the doorway looked far too much like Kaine. It was the sharp features, dark hair and dangerous eyes. He’d never seen Prince Everest in person, yet there he was in ripped jeans and a dark blue sweater.

“I’m not. And you’re not Kaine.” Everest smiled and then walked through the doorway into Kaine’s private apartments without waiting for an invitation.

Did he need an invitation?

Quentin was one hundred percent sure Kaine was not going to like this. No one was supposed to know he was here. “Um…Kaine won’t be back till much later.”

“I know. He’s got an operation on.” Everest flicked his fingers. “I don’t know the details, and I’m sure you don’t either, so let’s not worry about that.” He dropped onto the sofa and leaned back.

Quentin realized he was still holding the door open. He shut it softly and tried to come up with a plan. He couldn’t ask the prince, the acting king, to leave, could he?

Where was Orion?

Sure, they weren’t friends, but Orion knew what he was doing, and Quentin trusted him, mostly because Kaine trusted him, and Orion was assigned to protect him. Not that he should need protection in the castle.

Instead of ignoring the edge forming in his gut or telling himself not to overreact, he listened to the warning vibe.

Really listened—though not enough to read any of the prince’s thoughts because again, it seemed like a bad idea to let the prince find out he was a witch.

“Would you like a coffee?”

“I’ve had breakfast, thank you. Sit down, and tell me who you are, aside from the stranger in Kaine’s quarters.”

Quentin sat in the armchair, although that was a generous description when he was kind of perched on the edge, ready to take flight. “I’m Quentin, his…er… lover?”

He hated the way he sounded so uncertain. They hadn’t talked about any of this. They hadn’t had a chance.

“Yes, I can smell that.”

“You can what?” He thought it was better eyesight and quicker healing. He didn’t realize Kaine could smell everything better too.

Everest grinned as if this was fun. Maybe for him, it was.

What had Kaine said? Everest was smart, reckless, and liked to seduce bodyguards. Everything else he knew about the man in front of him was rather dry and official. None of it helped him now. He kept the wall solid between his thoughts and Everest’s. But he watched.

“Kaine doesn’t usually bring lovers here. He likes to keep his work and private life very separate. Yet here you are.” His eyes narrowed.

Quentin sensed the beating wings of a curious, razor-sharp butterfly. It was beautiful and glittery and deadly. Could he skim Everest’s thoughts without cutting himself? He hadn’t got that part of his training, but it was just instinct, right?

If he knew how to keep people out of his head, it couldn’t be that hard to let them in.

He understood now why the butterfly house didn’t quite work. He couldn’t contain everyone, but he could be inside the enclosure and let one or two in.

Kaine was in, a fiery butterfly that perched on his shoulder and sometimes whispered in his ear.

He didn’t think Everest would hurt him, but he couldn’t lie as smoothly as Kaine did. He took a chance and let that sharp butterfly in.

There were a dozen different competing thoughts, all of them trying to figure out who he was, and why he was there and what it meant.

What is Kaine up to? What does he know?Did he send you to befriend me?

Everest’s eyes narrowed as if he sensed a change.

“What are you?”

“I’m a student, studying dead languages, something he’s interested in.” He gave a one shouldered shrug, as if it meant nothing but failed to hold the prince’s stare.

If anything, Everest’s curiosity only sharpened as he fluttered closer, the blades of his wings gleaming in the light. “No. That doesn’t explain why you’re here. Which secrets has Kaine told you?”

Ah, this was the paranormal version of the ‘are you gay?’ dance where no one wanted to blink first. And Everest didn’t want to be the first one to say it in case Quentin didn’t know.

“I’m not discussing his secrets with you…Your Majesty.” He remembered to tack that on at the last moment. And remembered that he had failed to do it until now.

Everest was still grinning. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

In Quentin’s mind, he heard the whispered questions. What are you, and who are you to my brother? You don’t smell like a shifter. But I don’t think you’re human, which means you’re a witch. You’re a witch…

Everest sat up straight, the smile gone from his face.

Quentin needed to cover and get him out of there. “I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m kind of shocked to see the prince here.” It was the only thing he could think of saying, even though his lack of manners wasn’t why Everest was suddenly on guard.

“I don’t care about that right now. Though he should’ve told you what to do in case our paths crossed.”

Quentin wanted to point out they wouldn’t have crossed if Everest hadn’t knocked on the door, but he kept his mouth shut.

“You’re a witch.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because if you weren’t, you would not have asked me that.” His lips twitched. “So Kaine snuck a witch into the castle and left him here smelling like this morning’s predawn activities. That is not like him.”

“He likes my brain as well as my body.” They were both true, but that wasn’t whatever Everest was fishing for.

The prince shook his head. “No. He always likes his lover’s brains, possibly before he even tastes their body.”

“You make him sound like a zombie.”

Everest laughed. “Well, they do rise from the dead.”

Was that meant to be a phoenix joke? Should he laugh and show that he got it? The moment passed while he was thinking about it, and then it was too late to do anything.

“There is only one reason he would sneak a witch into the castle, and that was if he was your familiar.”

“My what now?”

Everest kept staring at him, and his unspoken questions swirled around him. You’re fated mates. When did he find the time to find you? What other secrets has my brother been keeping?

“You know, fated mates. A shifter becomes the witch’s familiar… Did he not tell you that?” Everest leaned back as though happy the mystery was solved.

Fuck. Quentin stared at the carpet for a couple of heartbeats. There was no point in denying it. “We are mates. He didn’t want to say anything until this Shadow Board business is over.”

“So you know about them, too. Interesting.” The way he said it suggested it was more troubling than interesting. His thoughts were sharp and bright, as though he could cut away the meagre protections Quentin had managed to put up, to find the truth.

“Only in the vaguest sense, in that they are the bad guys who want to upend the world as we know it.” He was saying too much. He needed to shut up. Where the hell was Orion? “How did you find out I’m here?”

“Yesterday, I saw his driver leave the grounds, and since Kaine rarely uses his driver, I knew something was up, so I waited to see what was going on.” Everest gave him that smile again. The one that was far too cunning. He was the kind of guy who was super fun and exciting until he was exhausting. Then he would be trouble. He’d key the car, break into your house, and create drama with your family—but they’d love him and wonder why you’d ended it.

He hadn’t stayed up alone, though. Everest’s thoughts of last night were a little too clear, and Quentin didn’t want to know which bodyguard had been fucking him while he watched the window for the car to return.

“What kind of witch are you?” Everest asked, as though that was perfectly normal to drop into a conversation with a stranger.

“Why does it matter?” As soon as the words left his lips, Quentin realized he’d said the wrong thing, from the small change in the way Everest sat to the twisting of the butterfly in the air.

“Because I asked, and I am the acting king, and you’re in my Chief of Security’s private quarters. Being his mate is something I need to be aware of. He told you of the risks?”

“He has, Your Majesty.” Quentin eased back into the armchair as though he were at ease talking to Everest. They weren’t that far apart in age, a couple of years. But in life experiences and expectations, they couldn’t be more different. “Which is why he thought it best that I remain here, away from the trouble.”

“You didn’t answer my question. But congratulations on trying to evade.”

“I am a mind reader.”

Everest’s eyes widened, and the butterfly drew back as if afraid. The movement was so small and so fast that if Quentin hadn’t been using his magic, he’d have been sure that he’d imagined it. The prince was very good at schooling his features, though.

“The Chief of Security and Secrets has a mind reader for a mate. He must be thrilled about that.”

Quentin bit the inside of his lip to hide the smile that the memories of this morning’s events and conversation caused, the way Kaine had felt not only on him or grinding against him but within him. His thoughts. “He seems to be.”

Everest stood and brushed an imagined piece of lint off his jeans. “I’m guessing that’s why he didn’t make you break the bond.”

Break the bond?

But he didn’t need to ask because Everest used Quentin’s magic against him to reveal how to break the bond.

All the witch had to do was give up their magic.

“Enjoy your stay, Quentin, the mind reader. I’m sure I’ll be running into you again if you are going to be living here, locked away from the dangers of the outside world.”

Quentin didn’t have time to respond as Everest showed himself out. There was a murmuring of voices, and then Orion stepped in and shut the door.

“Are you okay?” Orion dropped two bags of food, warm pastries in one and fruit in the other, on the coffee table.

Quentin blinked and shook his head. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because the Prince…he’s a handful.” And Quentin didn’t need to dig deep to know Orion had firsthand experience in how much of a handful Everest was. “It was before Jacob and I became mates. He wouldn’t come between mates, and you’re not his type.”

Quentin frowned. That wasn’t the problem. Kaine had lied by omission again. “Is it true the bond can be broken if the witch gives up their magic?”

Orion snarled, and his eyes flashed red as his shifter rose to the surface. “One day he’s going to interfere, and get his fingers bitten off.”

“So it is, and Kaine either forgot or flat-out lied when he said it couldn’t be broken.”

“You want to give up magic? I thought you were delighted to have found yourself.”

“I don’t want to give up magic, but I had a right to know.” Didn’t he?

“When you’re messing around with people who run a country, one that most of the world forgot about for centuries, what you think you have a right to know is often very different from what it is safe to know.” Orion slid the backpack off and dropped it on the floor at Quentin’s feet. He squatted down in front of him. “You give up magic and choose to break the bond. How do you think that is going to affect Lenoir? Not just as a man, but also his magic? The wound needs time to heal, and right now, there is no time to do anything but survive.”

Orion stood. “The distance between the life you had and where you are now is like someone falling asleep two hundred years ago and waking up today. It’s not just a different level. It’s a different game, and the rules are written in a different language. Even Everest doesn’t know what he’s playing with. He’s too fucking cocky.”

“Should I be worried that he knows about me?” He wasn’t about to tell Kaine. He didn’t need the distractions. It could wait.

Orion blew out a breath. “He won’t use it against you, but the next time he and Lenoir clash?—”

“Kaine said they got on.”

“And they do, the way only brothers who have known each other for centuries, who know each other’s flaws and strengths, and know exactly which buttons to push, do.”

Quentin’s stomach grumbled. He pulled a paper bag containing a pastry out and took a bite of the chocolate croissant. Orion remembered how much he liked them.

“I’m going to make coffee. Do you want a fresh one?”

Quentin glanced at his half-drunk coffee, forgotten on the end of the coffee table. It would be cold now. “Thank you.”

“Do your assignment or whatever, and when Jacob gets here, we’ll take you to the library. The main library.”

Quentin smiled. “Can I ask why Kaine never gave Everest a female bodyguard? That seems like the obvious solution.”

Orion laughed; it was the kind that suggested Quentin had missed the point. “That would change the rules of the game.”

“And what is the game?”

“You would have to ask them, and I suspect it has been going on for so long and through so many lives that neither of them could tell you exactly, only that they enjoy trying to outsmart each other. They are both exhausting. So good luck if you get caught between them.” And by ‘caught between them’, Orion thought that Quentin physically wanted to be between the two phoenix shifters.

Quentin shook his head. As soon as he thought he knew Kaine and they were connecting, and everything was good, some other secret proved how little he knew. How much did he want to keep digging, and if he kept digging, what would he find? “I’m not sure I can even handle one.”

Orion turned. “Then you’d better learn. Because he might need you and your magic. That the fates brought you together now, at this point in time…” He paused. “This is one of those moments, the kind you read about in history books and wonder what would’ve happened if things had gone the other way. If you can’t sense that?—”

“I can.” And he understood what was at stake. “But I’m a no one.”

“Everyone is a no one until there’s someone. Even these guys were once no ones. They didn’t become rich and powerful overnight.”

“They had centuries. Millennia, even.”

“Yeah. Welcome to the big league. There are no safety instructions and no exits. So hang the fuck on.”