Page 28 of Her Silent Knight

Appreciate some clothes. We must leave here and take our female with us. We have to figure out what to do about The Deciders.

His dragon was right. He couldn’t stand here staring at her all day. He had to plot and plan. For what was to come, he’d need the help of his team. Kaede couldn’t resist leaning down to kiss her forehead one more time before going in search of his clothes.

He already knew the layout of the cabin. He’d broken in twice when the previous owner lived here. Kaede had been hired to steal back items that had been stolen from people who lived in the village near his compound.

The previous owner was a diabolical bastard who hadn’t deserved to live. However, someone had beat Kaede to killing him. The horrendous things the creature did to others when he was alive was known throughout the plane.

He’d been an elusive bastard. Black magic had flowed through his veins. The Deciders sent numerous people after him. Many of those creatures ended up dead. No one could get close enough to him to finish him off.

Kaede had gotten close a few times, only to have the male threaten to kill a child or some elderly person who was nearby, forcing Kaede to let him go. Kaede was no Saint. But he didn’t harm children and the elderly.

Well, not normal children and the elderly. Those fucking cannibals were a different story. Those little monster kids ate whole people. He’d kill one of those bastards if he had to. Just thinking it made him feel sadistic.

Maybe he wouldn’t kill the vicious brats. But he’d shake one of them until their teeth fell out. Women used to be on the list of beings he’d never hurt. He was ashamed to admit that changed over the years after more than a dozen of them had tried to kill him and rob him. The women here were nothing like the sweet demure women back home.

They’d smile prettily and with that same mouth, they’d try to rip your throat out. You couldn’t underestimate the females here. He’d messed up in doing so with his mate. Good thing she belonged to him or he’d be missing a finger or worse.

Kaede strode over to the flame tree and placed his hand near the fire his mate had created. Hot. He liked it. He inched his hand closer to the flame. Closer. Closer. The flames engulfed his hand.

Kaede smiled. Now that his dragon was back, he was impervious to fire. And his mate’s fire felt similar to his. Normal fire caused by others, whether they were other dragons or fire pits, always felt intrusive.

They didn’t hurt him. They also didn’t feel comforting. Kaede turned his engulfed hand over and stared at his palm. His mate’s fire was comforting. He stared behind him to where she was resting on the couch.

Because of the back of the couch, he couldn’t see her. He’d just check on her one more time before going in search of his clothes. Removing his hand from the flames, he stepped away from the Christmas tree.

When he reached the back of the couch, he peered over it. His mate was still how he’d left her. Why was it that every time his eyes landed on her, his heart started to race? He wasn’t some kid experiencing his first love.

Wait... the kid part was wrong. He wasn’t a child. He was a grown-ass man. However, this was his first love. Twenty-seven and falling in love for the first time? That had to be some sort of world record.

We’re not twenty-seven.

“I feel twenty-seven,”Kaede countered.

We’re wiser than our twenty-seven-year-old self. We know we can’t trust everyone. Especially those closest to us.

Onaku!

He was our uncle.

“Don’t compare our mate to that bastard.”

I would never. I’m comparing the situations.

“Don’t do that either.”

Just listen. We can’t trust her until we show her that she’s ours and we’re hers. If she wakes up right now, she’ll resume using her magic on us. She’s not a shifter. She won’t sense the mating pull as we do. We have to convince her to be with us.

“Convince her? But she’s already mine. She belongs to me. I belong to her. End of story. I won’t accept anything else.”

Neither will I. That doesn’t mean we won’t have to woo her.

“Fuck that,” Kaede argued staring down at his mate. “We will tell her she’s our mate. Every creature of the lore knows what that means. When she learns that, she’ll accept it. She’ll accept our protection. And she’ll also tell us who’s been protecting her all this time. Because that person must die.”

I agree. That person must die. But I don’t think she’s going to fall for us so easily.

“I’ve seen it happen to other couples who’ve found their mates here. It will happen for us also.”

I don’t think...