Valerian called. “Your turn has arrived.”
“That one.” Joachim, as it turned out, was the man with hate in his eyes. “The pale one in your arms.”
Valerian cursed, and Shaye gasped. She’d been so sure she’d scared everyone away. Now ice chilled every inch of her.
“What did you say?” Valerian wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tightly, his fingers digging into her skin, probably bruising.
The shocking thing? She didn’t want him to let go.
Joachim braced his legs apart, his expression stern and smug. He wasn’t a man besotted or even consumed by lust. No, he looked ready for a fight. “Give her to me. She is mine.”
“VALERIAN,” SHAYE SAID, her voice shaky. As shaky as her limbs. “I’m unwilling. I don’t want him. If he tries to lead me away—”
“He won’t. I’ll take care of him. Worry not.” All at once, Valerian was infuriated that someone would dare try to take Shaye from him, overjoyed that she felt safest with him and frightened that he might actually lose her.
And to his cousin, no less. The man would break her beautiful spirit.
He and Joachim had never enjoyed an easy camaraderie. Through no fault of his own. Over the years, Joachim’s thirst for power had transformed him into a rebellious fool. He’d become far too wild to control.
How Valerian would change his mind, he didn’t yet know.
The only question that mattered, he supposed, was how far was he willing to go.
Easy. To the death.
“There are two other females in line. They want you. This one doesn’t.”
Joachim never once glanced at the others. “Don’t care. I’ve already chosen the pale one.”
“Well, I haven’t chosen you.” Shaye pressed her soft body more firmly against Valerian. Her frosty scent enveloped him, fueling his determination.
“Challenge me.” Valerian pinned his cousin with a hard stare. “I’ll accept.”
“And turn me into a prize?” she gasped. “No. Absolutely not.”
Valerian ignored her. He had to. He knew the way of the nymphs; she didn’t.
Joachim had issued challenges in the past. He longed to prove his strength. Valerian had always turned him down. Not because he’d feared losing. On the contrary. He’d known beyond any doubt that he would win, and his cousin would die.
Despite their acrimony, he had no desire to kill the male.
For a moment, an all-too-short flash of time, Joachim considered the offer. He even began to nod. Then he stopped himself. “Unacceptable. You had sex yesterday. You’re strong. I’ve been neglected for weeks. We aren’t on equal ground.”
A muscle jumped in Valerian’s jaw. Did his cousin hope for a night with Shaye, then a fight with the king? “I’ll bargain with you as I bargained with Shivawn. If one of the humans in my chamber desires you, you may spend the night with her and rebuild your strength. On the morrow, we will fight for Shaye.”
Shaye...who uttered another round of protests.
Joachim’s black brows arched, and something—an unreadable emotion—brightened his blue eyes. “You said you wouldn’t claim another surface woman, yet there you stand, attempting to do just that.”
“Do you accept my offer or not?”
Lips curling in a cold smile, Joachim pointed to Shaye. “I do not. I want that one. As is my right.”
“You have zero right to me.” Shaye shook a fist in his direction. “Cart me away. Go ahead. I dare you. While you sleep, I’ll cut off your balls and use them for earrings.”
Inventive. At least she’d only wanted to cut out Valerian’s eyes.
“Females are precious to us, necessary for our survival,” he told his cousin. “We do them no harm. Ever. You would have to hurt her to have her.”
Joachim swallowed. “I’ll woo her.”
So confident—for no reason!
Am I this foolish, thinking I can win the moonbeam?
“Joachim—” he began.
“No!” the male shouted. “I’ll take what’s owed to me.”
“So you’ll accept your ball-less life, then?” Shaye asked, her tone casual. “Because that is all you’re owed from me.”
Valerian admired her spirit even as frustration and fury flooded him. His cousin wouldn’t relent, and Valerian wouldn’t go back on his word.
Would he? For Shaye...
He’d taken over the army as a young lad, after his father had died in battle. Over and over again, he’d had to prove himself worthy of the honor.
Esteem your men, and they’ll esteem you. His father’s dying words.
If Valerian took Shaye, no one would naysay him—but no one would respect him, either.
And how could he expect her to fall in love with such a dishonorable man?
“I said I wouldn’t claim the female, and I won’t.” The announcement pained him. “Yet.”
Shaye closed her hands over his arms—arms still wrapped around her—and dug her fingernails into his skin to hold him in place or punish him, he wasn’t sure.
He switched to his native tongue and added, “Not without reaching amicable terms. Allow me to buy her from you.”
Once more, Joachim shook his head. “No.”
“What can I do, cousin? The woman—” he stopped, pressed his lips together “—she is my mate.”
Joachim’s grin returned, colder than before. “She doesn’t agree. She clearly hasn’t accepted you as such.”
“She will.” Believing otherwise would destroy him. “If you take her, she’ll hate you.” They both knew the ways of nymphs and their mates. The bond was inescapable. “You might seduce her, but you’ll never win her. She’ll wish she were with me. Can your pride withstand such a horror?”
His cousin clenched and unclenched his fists.
“What did you say to him?” Shaye looked between them. “Tell me.”
Joachim’s gaze remained narrowed on Valerian. “I must think on what you’ve said. Let us both stay away from her this night and discuss her ownership in the morning.”
