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.”
3
“W e just retrieved Danen from the human hospital, my lord.” The barrel-chested guard dipped his chin in an approximation of a bow and then winced and gingerly touched his fingers to his broken nose.
“Fine. Keep him comfortable and away from any of the other council members for a few days.” Until I can decide what to do with him . Marco, head of the Cunt Council, waved the guard away. Danen was an arrogant fool, and Marco was sorry the man hadn’t been left for dead. That would’ve been one less ego-inflated councilman to deal with.
Marco sighed as he turned the situation over inside his mind. He used to believe the Cunt cause was just, and that purely coexisting with the Klatch as they always had wasn’t enough. They had convinced themselves they were the superior race and should hold the throne and the symbiosis of their home world.
It hadn’t taken long after the failed civil war to see that Sela, the self-named Queen of the Cunts, was after power only for herself and not any advancement for the Cunts in general. But by then, it was too late. Marco had continued on, rising through the ranks of the council in hopes he could once again bring true meaning back to their cause.
A short, bitter laugh escaped him. Even that self-delusion wasn’t enough to salve his regrets anymore. And now his inaction had hit very close to home.
Why the hell did Kiera meet with Danen and not me?
Even as the words trailed off inside his mind, he knew the answer. She knew Marco agreed with her cause so, therefore, had arranged a meeting in an attempt to sway others to her way of thinking.
Foolish woman.
He had known Kiera Matthews all her life, and had, in fact, been in love with her mother, Cecily, in his much-younger days. However, it hadn’t lasted, and they had parted as friends, although Marco admitted his pride had smarted when she had fallen in love first with a Klatch and then with a human.
It had nearly killed him to watch Kiera as she grew up, knowing she could have been his child had circumstances been different. But his position on the council and his loyalties to Sela’s increasing demands wouldn’t have left much room for a wife and a daughter—something he sorely missed now that he was older and wiser. Not to mention, they could’ve been used as pawns against him at any given moment.
He sighed and turned to look out the second-story office window into the nearly surreal predawn.
Hints of a rainbow of colors peeked over the horizon along with the first rays of sunlight. Phoenix had both beautiful sunrises and sunsets due to all the different minerals in the mountains and rocks, and each one was more amazing than the last.
Almost as breathtaking as on his home world of Tador.
His chest tightened with longing. It had been nearly a quarter of a century since he’d seen the magnificent waterfalls and the densely grown maze near the gardens, not to mention the hot baths where he used to go with his friends.
The same hot baths where he’d met Cecily.
Weariness and old memories weighted his limbs, and he scrubbed his hands over his face in a vain attempt to chase away both. Rough stubble on his jaw reminded him that he hadn’t shaved in the last two days.
“My lord?”
He nearly jumped at the guard’s voice, and then he chided himself for not being more careful. Being a Cunt became more and more dangerous with each passing day. If he showed any weakness, he would find himself knifed in the back and bleeding to death on the
