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The way they looked at each other simultaneously melted and broke my heart. I wanted that so badly for myself, and yet Endre would always side with Kazimir, and I would side with Izidora.
Why couldn’t he see the truth?
“I’ll miss you,” she whispered back, a soft smile spreading across her face. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the purity of the moment. He released her, crawling out of bed and striding to the dresser where he searched for clothes. Reaching for a pillow, I slammed it into my face moments before I heard the robe hit the floor, and Izidora roared with laughter.
“Shut up, you wouldn’t want me to see him naked, Izidora.” My voice was muffled by the pillow.
“Definitely not. You’re already lusting after Zuriel. Can’t have you salivating over anyone else in my family,” she laughed. “It’s safe for you to come out now.”
I dropped the pillow from my face, revealing a dressed Ruslan standing at the end of the bed, watching us like the prey we were compared to him. “Zuriel is the only male in the IronRealm who isn’t interested in you, Liliana.” The corner of his mouth twitched up as he teased.
My mouth popped open in mock protest. “Do I hear a challenge?”
He huffed and made to leave. “I’ve known Zuriel for forty-three years. He doesn’t talk about his past much, but he’s never looked twice at a female in all the time he’s been in the Iron Realm. Or male for that matter. Anton and Slavian, on the other hand.” He shrugged, and with that last jab, he disappeared into the living space beyond.
Izidora snickered before knocking my shoulder with hers. “Anton and Slavian would crawl on their hands and knees to you if you asked.”
I rolled my eyes. “I know. Why can’t I find a male who will actually make me submit? I want to be challenged, not the other way around.”
“So that’s why you’re growing bored of Endre? Because you already have him?” she asked, weaving her way around me and rolling out of the bed and onto the floor.
I followed her into the bathroom, the large windows filled with the dying sunlight. “Not that. We’ve been fighting a lot. Mostly about you and Kazimir. He is siding with his best friend like I am siding with you. We’re trying, it’s just,” I searched for the right words, “hard? Awkward? He knows there are things that I’m not telling him, just like I know there are things he isn’t telling me. It’s hard to have a relationship with so many walls between us.”
Izidora had twisted locks of hair in her fingers and was using her magic to dry and shape them. “I get that. I couldn’t have a relationship with Kazimir until I started tearing down the walls I built to protect myself while I was chained in the cave. Maybe when this is all over?”
I lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. “Maybe. Or maybe he’s not the one for me and Zuriel is.”
She smacked my shoulder playfully. “He’s my cousin!”
“Yeah, but then we’d really be family,” I laughed, turning my attention to my own damp hair. “So tell me, how’d you like the herbs?”
Izidora blushed a deep shade of crimson. “I want to do it again. Maybe in a few months when this crazy mating bond has had time to cool off.” She chewed her lip as her eyes went glassy and a faraway expression crossed her face.
“Two dicks at the same time? Sign me up,” I giggled, belly heating at the thought of fucking Endre and Slavian at the same time.
“Isn’t it great to be utterly worshiped like that?” Izidora grinned into the mirror, examining a spot on her cheek.
“Fuck yeah.” I paused for a moment, concentrating on the pieces at the back of my head. “Maybe that’s my problem. I need two guys to handle me instead of just one.”
We fell apart laughing, tears blurring my vision as I clutched my stomach.
“I think you might be right, Lil,” she teased.
“What are you wearing tonight?” I asked her, and she shrugged.
“Ruslan got it for me. It’s in that bag.” She gestured over her shoulder to a black bag hanging on a hook on the wall. “I haven’t looked at it yet.”
“Let’s see what the king has picked out for you this time,” I grinned, unfastening it and reaching for the fabric.
The dress was all intricate black lace, with an off-shoulder design that immediately had my stomach clenching. The skirt was silky and flowing, and as I flipped it over, I saw what I feared. The back was low enough that Izidora’s mate mark would be visible. The mask tumbled from the bag, and I barely caught itbefore it reached the ground. The lace matched the dress, while the feathers on either side of it were soft and shiny like the skirt.
“Oh, it’s so pretty,” Izidora said, lifting it from my hands and turning it over in hers. “What’s the dress like?”
She stepped around me to examine it, and her breath immediately caught in her chest. “I can’t wear this.” Her voice sounded so pained that it nearly gutted me.
“I have an idea,” I said, racing into the closet in the bathroom. Row after row of dresses hung there, most only worn once and only during the last few days. Finding the dress she had worn the previous night, I pulled it from the rack. “How attached are you to this?”
“Not particularly,” she said, cocking her head to the side. “Why?”
