Page 60 of Taken By Shadows

I tugged his arm to urge him to lower his voice.

“Someone reported the incident as a fae male, with wings and darkness pouring from them, attacking and taking a female. And three men, three human men, have shown up nearly dead.” Celeste’s voice was weighted with an ominous umbra. She let the last words sink in.

“But not dead. I think that’s worth something,” he shot.

“How can they say that?” He hadn’t taken me. Not like that. Well, not this time at least.

“I do stand out in a crowd.” He tried to shuck the severity of the situation with swagger, but it fell like a loadstone. Kaed smoothed his brow. “They won’t make a move against me. Or my father.”

The statement felt oppressive.

“I’m only letting you know as a courtesy, Kaedian. This will not be going away any time soon. I don’t know who reported it, but Councillor Varris is ready to believe anything said against you and your family. I did what I could to assuage their concerns and said you’d been to my residence that night. But as Huxley also saw Imogen, there was little else I could say as to her condition. Without further details, they weren’t happy to hear my side.”

Kaed’s jaw flexed painfully tight again, and he seemed to look around at nothing in particular.

I looked at everything. Why did I care if Kaed was in trouble? Maybe I was too willing to play my role as his bride-to-be for my own benefit.

“Is your father some sort of despot?” My bewilderment plain across my lined brow.

Celeste went rigid beside me at the question.

A shared look with Celeste had Kaed pausing before answering me. “My father is powerful.” He chose the word with deliberate slowness. “And he’s perhaps not the warmest of males, nor is he the most liked. In these parts. Or any parts.”

Celeste shifted as she cleared her throat.

“Celeste can attest to it that he probably worsened after my mother’s passing. She had …” He paused, his throat bobbing and constricting. “A way of tempering his mood.”

I looked from Kaed, who had only given me more questions, and then to Celeste, who looked uneasy at the topic of choice.

“Well, what do we do now? If they do think it was you attacking me.” I tried instead.

“For now, try to act civil. Without violence,” Celeste explained without needing to, as she turned to leave, vanishing into the party of people.

“Who do you think it was?” I turned to whisper to Kaed.

“We already know who it was. Celeste might not have said. Her wretch of a son is usually to blame.”

I fiddled with the gold cuffs at my wrist, spinning them around and around.

Kaed placed a steadying hand on my back, and we rejoined the swell of people that had grown at the centre of the garden.

Chapter nineteen

Amale with devastating cheekbones and rich ebony skin that almost shone like dark moonstone approached us with three flute glasses balanced in one hand.

Kaed leaned in until I felt his lips brush off my hair. “You can trust him,” he whispered.

“Tymon,” Kaed exalted and embraced the male.

I didn’t think he knew how to express affection like that, and it endeared him to me beyond base gratitude for saving me.

Tymon’s eyes were gentle, his hair cropped short. He wore a burgundy velvet jacket and looked every bit the respectable male to Kaed’s rakish looks. “My lady, a pleasure.” He took my hand with his free one and graced it with a kiss before offering Kaed a long and pointed look.

“Imogen, please,” I replied. “Is this how fae usually treat females?” I jabbed at Kaed as I was handed a glass and took a long draught without hesitation. I needed something to blunt the edge of my nerves.

“No, he’s just trying harder because he knows it makes me look bad.”

Delicate petals of silvery flowers caught my eye on Tymon’s breast. “From home,” he supplied as my gaze clearly had asked the question without my mouth needing to.