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The dwarf simply chuckles, a rough, unpracticed noise that sounds remarkably like the beginnings of a rockslide. “It’s good to keep our prince guessing,” she tells Val. “Now sit before I get a stiff neck from staring up at you.”
With Montejanus moving to her lap, my mate sits at the round table hand-carved by the dwarf from a solid piece of stone. Its smooth surface reflects the warm glow of the flickering chandeliers. At its heart, Ora chiseled a large cutout, creating a perfect space for her cauldrons, mineral powders, astral remnants, and the rest of her magical mess. Even I don’t trespass on the dwarf’s workspace.
Ora selects a copper pot from her collection. “Let me guess. You haven’t been introduced to anyone except those who work here?”
Val nods.
The dwarf pulls her lips back in a grimace that might be a grin, but it’s hard to tell between the giant nose and the beard she’s rocking. “As if Theodopolis would let you meet anyone else.”
“Theodopolis?” Val drags out the last few syllables. “That’s your real name?”
“Valentina,” I drawl.
“That’s not?—”
Ora waves for my mate’s attention. “As I was saying, the prince has kept the paying guests far from you.”
“Why?” Val asks me. “Are you embarrassed to be seen with a powerless human?”
“Who called you that?” She wouldn’t have come up with such a specific and negative description for herself. Not my mate who didn’t know the supernatural existed until I met her.
She lifts her chin, refusing to answer.
I lean so close that my nose brushes against her hair, her scent taunting me, and whisper into her ear, “If it’s one of my people, I’ll have their tongue.”
Her flinch tells me I guessed right. Someone in my realm has called her that. “No one,” she lies. “But you’re obviously ashamed of me if you want to control who sees you with me.”
“Or I refuse to let anyone who isn’t bound to me by oath near you. It’s for your safety, no other reason.”
She snorts an incredulous sound. “As if someone would attack me in your dad’s magical castle.”
Ora bangs the pot. “You going to tell her who owns the castle or shall I?"
“Shadowvale is mine, actually,” I admit. “As much as a sentient creature can belong to anyone.” I hadn’t wanted to make today’s tour about me.
Not after I woke this morning with her body wrapped around mine, her curves plastered against me, and even her drool on my bare chest. It’d been hard not to offer her anything short of my future kingdom to get her to agree to completing the mating bond. I hadn’t even minded Montejanus remaining curled on her pillow since she used me as hers.
“You own a castle with a casino?” Val asks. She doesn’t give me time to remind her Shadowvale owns herself. “Does everyone who lives here work in the castle?” she asks Ora.
“No, some of us are still too messed up.” The dwarf doesn’t look up from her potion crafting. “We get the help we need—therapy, education, reminding we deserve respect and love. Then most of us find a way to earn our keep. Running a magical castle isn’t cheap. Right, boss?”
“Worth it,” I tell her, remembering a much less healthy and sane Ora who arrived at Shadowvale. Talking about this makes me uncomfortable. I offer sanctuary but that doesn’t make me some kind of hero. I’m still the monster Val sees when she looks at me, regardless of my human glamour.
Val must sense the tension there since she waves a hand to the sign on a shelf behind the bottles of Ora’s shop. “A potion perfumery sounds wonderful. What gave you the inspiration to add magic?”
“Everything in Shadowvale has magic,” Ora says with wisdom worthy of an actor playing the greatest sage. “And everyone.”
“What’s your special power?” Val asks me. “Other than teleporting.”
I trail a finger along her arm, savoring the touch, but I can’t help myself when she’s so easy to taunt. “Manifesting the most troublesome mate.”
Val frowns and shoves lightly at me, a far cry from jabbing pointy weapons my way. “No, really.”
“He can create brimstone fire,” Ora answers.
My mate stares at me as if seeing an entirely new side of me, and I hope it’s not a reminder of my fuck up when Montejanus first appeared. I’ve never lost control of my temper like that. And with my mate? Guilt piles on me just thinking about it.
It’ll never happen again.
