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With a brief glance back at Gemma, I stepped out into the hallway, going after my sister without another word.

“Kalia!”

But when I reached the entrance hall, she was already gone, the doors to the terrace outside thrown wide open.

I went out into the night to find her.

Chapter 18

Azur

Kalia was on the edge of the Silver Sea, one of her preferred quiet places to go when she wished to be alone. Mine was the roof of the keep. Kalia’s was here. Or in the northern forests.

She refused to look at me when I landed next to her, though her nose wrinkled.

“You smell like her.”

And I still taste her on my tongue, I couldn’t help but think.

I exhaled a sharp breath. “Kalia.”

“What?” she hissed.

I didn’t know what to say other than, “She’s my wife.”

“You don’t have to feed from her!” Kalia yelled, her voice rising, carrying over the lake.

“Raazos demands—”

“I don’t bend to Raazos!” Kalia argued, glaring at me in the moonlight. “I never wanted her here. Aina’s soul can be guided back to us without your foolish sense of vengeance! We should’ve been searching Pe’ji all this time for her body. We just need her soul gem. That’s why she’s lost. Kythel didn’t want this either. Neither did Lucen or Thaine. But you. You and Kaldur. You wanted her here. You brought her here. Now I can smell her all over the keep. In our family’s halls.”

“I never promised you that I wouldn’t feed from her,” I growled. “I was always going to strengthen myself on her blood. On Hara blood.”

She breathed out a disbelieving laugh. “And look at what you’ve done, Azur. Look at what you’ve done by strengthening yourself on her blood.”

“What I’ve done?” I asked, narrowing my eyes on her. “You think I had a choice in this?”

“You’re bonded now,” Kalia hissed, her silver tears welling in her eyes. “This can’t be undone!”

“You don’t think I know that?” I asked, gnashing my back teeth.

“Well, you got what you wanted,” she flung back. “The blood of our enemy in the Kaalium’s bloodline. Only now your sons and daughters will share Hara blood too.”

I stiffened. A growl of warning rose from my throat, violent and quick, making Kalia still. She was too loose with her tongue. Her temper often got the best of her, and I saw the flash of guilt on her face before she looked away from me.

“My plans haven’t changed,” I informed her gruffly. “This changes nothing.”

Kalia shook her head, disregarding my words. “Then you’re a fool. And I never thought you a fool before now, brother. This changes everything.”

Running a palm over my horn, I cursed low under my breath.

Kalia sniffed and said, “Maybe I will go to Salaire after all. To live with Lucen.”

My lips pressed.

“Maybe that would be for the best,” I told her, ignoring the twist of hurt on her face. “Her presence here obviously upsets you. Regardless of what you believe, Kalia, the last thing I want to do is hurt you.”

“Then send her away,” she pleaded softly, blinking up at me. “Send her away before the blood bond grows too strong.”

If Kalia could feel what I felt, she would know how laughable her words sounded to me. Which should’ve been my first hint that I was already in too deep.

“I can’t do that.”

Kalia nibbled on her bottom lip, her small fang poking out. When she’d been younger, she couldn’t quite learn how to retract them properly and now often forgot when they were out.

“Then I’d better get used to her being here,” Kalia finally said. Softly. Resigned.

The thing about my sister was that she had a big heart. Yes, she had a quick temper, like our father, but she had the ability to forgive and accept just as quickly. She was the kindest soul I knew too, though she could have a cutting tongue.

The side of Gemma I’d witnessed tonight—vulnerable and honest but proud—I had a feeling that Kalia and Gemma would get along just fine. More than fine. If she opened herself up to Gemma, they might even find themselves friends.

And that honestly worried me more than the blood bond.

“Have you even told our brothers yet? About what she is to you?” she asked quietly. “Have you told Kythel?”

Unease slid in my belly. “No. Not yet.”

Kalia shook her head slowly.

“I’m sure he can already feel it,” she said.

Chapter 19

Gemma

It was early afternoon, and I was plucking dead flowers from the underbrush of the rotting vines, tossing them haphazardly behind me.

The thought of being inside the keep that day—even returning to the records room—filled me with restlessness.

I needed to be outside. I needed to be doing something with my hands, my attentions diverted, the sunlight warming my skin.

And it was a beautiful day too. A cool breeze swept through the terrace where I was working, bringing with it the brininess of the sea. The sun was high overhead, and my dress was beginning to cling to my back from the sweat.

For today I’d chosen a loose, thin material.

Which was a lucky thing, I realized shortly after I’d begun cleaning the banisters.

Because with every small, minuscule movement, the smooth fabric would brush Azur’s bite across my breast.

It didn’t hurt, but the flesh surrounding the two fang marks was overly sensitive.

Every touch against it brought a spark. A memory of awareness, of arousal and frustration spiraling through me.

I was confused. Terribly, desperately confused.

Which was why I didn’t want to be cooped up within the keep, no matter how desperately I wanted to continue sorting through the old lore records.

I didn’t want to feel desire and pleasure whenever Azur drank from me. I didn’t want to feel anticipation. Yet last night, I’d been holding my breath, impatient, as he’d taunted me.

I’d sparked that feeding. I’d pushed the subject of it because it had been easier than having to talk about my father and the sisters that I loved and had left behind.

There was another strange emotion I’d discovered too.

Because in the aftermath of Azur nearly flying out of the room, chasing after Kalia once she’d discovered us, I had felt my throat tighten. I had felt my belly lurch.

And the pinch.

The terrible pinch of what I knew was jealousy had alarmed me almost as much as my eager submission for Azur’s bite.

The betrayal on Kalia’s face had haunted me late into the night. I should’ve been grateful that her interruption had propelled Azur from the room—leaving me to process what had happened between us—only I wasn’t.

I felt like a damn mistress.

Something dirty.

Something hidden away.

Grumbling under my breath, I tore at some blackened vines that were wrapped around the legs of the banister. They were brittle in my palms and nearly disintegrated into dust when I tugged.