Page 77 of Ashborne Forged

‘I know. Thank you.’

‘The mates… they will not leave either.’

Tears pricked my eyes, and I swallowed them. ‘I know.’

Then Bren weaved between the men to appear at my shoulder. I gave her a grateful look and she nodded, her expression serious, but calm.

“He’ll handle it,” she said, her eyes cutting to Donavyn off to our right and slightly ahead. And the joy and admiration that shone in her gaze then made me swallow again. “Just stay calm. He’ll beseech the queen personally. He has that access.”

“Thank you,” I whispered.

Donavyn glanced at us—he must have felt her approval and confidence—but then his eyes cut to something over my shoulder.

He stopped walking, sending the men ahead, and Bren and I both turned to watch him walk back to where Voski prowled, like a chained wolf, between Gil and Ronen, his eyes locked on me.

My heart flipped and I pushed love and fear and gratitude and caution through the bond.

But then Donavyn stepped between us, with a hand up. And the three men stopped.

“No,” I breathed.

Bren squeezed my hand. “Trust him. You’re one of us now. He’ll fix it.”

We continued walking, but I looked over my shoulder every few paces, my heart sinking as I watched Voski, clearly arguing with Donavyn and Ronen, and being blocked by Gil, who stood at his side, but held onto his arm.

Then Donavyn leaned in and said something, and Voski froze.

His head snapped toward me, and our eyes locked once more, his expression horrified.

What were they saying?

I reached for him in the bond. ‘I love you. I won’t go.’

I felt his heart rise, but no words as his attention was shifted back to the men. Had he heard me? Or only sent me love because our eyes met?

I wished I could speak to him as easily as I did with Koa, but that foggy haze between us made it difficult over distance, so I was forced to send feelings. It seemed as if my chest stretched toward him—and to my shock, found him.

Light blazed in my heart and for a moment, I heard him as clearly as if he stood in front of me.

‘—coming, don’t worry. He won’t take you. I won’t allow it, Grace. I love you. He can’t change that—’

I stumbled, then gasped as Breckon jerked me upright and pain sang through my arm. My heart thudded against my ribs when I turned back to look at Voski once more, to find him intent, and dark, staring at where Breckon gripped me.

And though he wasn’t as clear, I could hear him, as if he whispered in my ear.

‘You’re mine. You have nothing to fear. I won’t let him take you. No matter what, Grace. Do you hear me? No. Matter. What.’

26. The Contract

~ GRACE ~

Breckon was forced to release me when we were presented to the queen. My hand was so numb, I was glad there were no skirts to grasp. My fingers felt thick and unwieldy. My grip shaky.

Diaan ‘en del Rea, the Queen and Protector of Vosgaarde, was a handsome woman. Brunette, but scattered with gray. She would have been beautiful in her youth. What age had stolen was replaced with a refined strength and a confidence that couldn’t be faked. Dressed for formal audience, yet, she sat in a gilded chair, rather than a throne, because she had received us in the parlor of her personal chambers—an intimacy that shocked me. But Bren and Donavyn seemed unperturbed.

Regardless of the chamber, she was an impressive woman. Bren had told me she’d taken an interest in the women arriving in a steady trickle to the Keep, in the hope of working with dragons, and I prayed she was as invested in my success as Bren believed. I needed her to keep me here. She was the only one with the power to do so.

We’d been announced formally as we were ushered into the room, so, in a panic, I’d followed the forms I knew, though my queen would never have received me in the residential wing, let alone her personal chambers. Even if it was a parlor.