Emerge: A High Fantasy Reverse Harem (The Blooming Courts Book 4) by Kendra Moreno & Poppy Woods

Author:Kendra Moreno & Poppy Woods [Moreno, Kendra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-05-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

My fingers curled around the goblet, my legs crossed beneath the small table where we lounged near the garden. If the Queen wouldn’t see me, then I would enjoy this time for what it was: a reprieve with my mates.

Torren’s fingers danced down one arm while Riley’s played across the leg on the other side of my body. When his hand slid around to the back of my hip, I flinched, drawing Kyrion’s gaze.

“Are you alright, Soft Louloudi?”

My throat went dry as Riley turned me toward him, searching my face for some sign of what he’d done wrong. I didn’t have an answer for him. I didn’t want to answer them with the truth, and I couldn’t lie, so I said nothing.

Feeling his fingers on that hip, where I knew Leuko’s mark lay . . .

My heart thudded in my ears for a moment as I let the grief wash through me. Mourning Cerulea and Leuko were vastly different tasks. I could feel his absence in the strangest moments. Though I tried to let go of the anger about his betrayal, I stood by my assessment of his actions. He’d hurt me.

I wasn’t entirely sure I could forgive him, but I also didn’t know if I could hold onto the grudge forever. I missed him. I missed the beastly calm that came over him, missed his flighting temperament, his jokes . . .

“Ila?” Torren asked behind me and my eyes snapped up to Riley’s. His own eyes softened, and I knew he recognized the sadness in mine. I hazarded a hand to his cheek, letting his scruffy beard brush against my palm as I collected my thoughts.

Yes, I missed Leuko.

Yes, his absence pained me.

But the reason for that absence wasn’t something I could simply ignore, no matter how much it pained me. He could have gotten the three of them killed, and while the anger that accompanied that thought was dwindling now that I’d seen how capable my humans truly were, it still bothered me, deeply, that Leuko didn’t confess his actions to me when we were mated.

“I will be,” I murmured in response finally. I wouldn’t tell them the source of my sadness. They could pick from the ever-growing list and decide which thing was weighing on me today, but I wouldn’t burden them with the knowledge that even now, surrounded by all of them, I was somehow still missing Leuko Veilios.

A soft but sturdy, leathery tail wound around my leg from the other side of the table as the other men made their way closer. Reese chewed on some Protean version of a sourbloom and Caelan tucked a pencil behind his ear as he strode to the table. Each of them leaned against the table with their eyes intent on me.

“Of course, you will, lass,” Reese muttered. “We can’t allow anything less.”

I smiled at him, then turned to brush my lips against Torren’s cheek. He tilted his head at the last second, pressing his lips to mine before I could make it to his cheek.

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