"Wake up, little moon."

I stirred on the horse and blinked until the world came into focus. The Summer Court palace towered over us, its towers backlist by the pink glow of sunrise. Unimpressed, I snuggled back into the prince's warm body.

"Five more minutes."

He chuckled—I'd lost count of how many times he'd laughed since our conversation in the village, but it was a sound I could become addicted to. "You can have five more hours if you'd like. Once we get you into bed."

"Can't you just, you know?" I wiggled my fingers in front of my face and then flexed them outward.

Calix nuzzled against my neck, his teeth nipping at the tender skin, before he asked, "Is that human sign language?"

"I don't know what to call what you do. Mist. Teleport. Dematerialize."

"I don't know that I've ever called it anything. It's just something I do."

"Well, do it now. I don't want to walk up all those flights of stairs."

"Already practicing being a bossy queen?"

"My father used to tell me I was born bossy. No practice required."

Leather creaked as Calix slid out of the saddle. His hands were warm and firm against my waist as he pulled me down. Hours in the saddle made my legs weak, and I leaned into him for support.

"Sounds like you're where you're meant to be, then."

I looked up and swallowed at the intensity I found in his gaze. There were so many ways to interpret what he said, but I knew which one felt right. The one that was wrong and would hurt those closest to us.

"Calix," I whispered. "I—"

"Calix," Lorcan roared.

He marched down the palace's golden stairs, his long blonde hair whipping behind him. Lacking his usual long robes, his muscular arms were on full display in a sleeveless tunic, and they flexed as he clenched his hands into fists. Gone was the gentle ruler I'd come to know, and in his place was an avenging angel who had his sight set on us.

"Brother," Calix said, adopting an apathetic tone as he slid me behind him.

Lorcan growled and reached around his younger sibling, yanking me to him. I squealed in shock, my cheekbone smarting where it crashed into his solid chest. Calix's eyes flashed with fury, and tendrils of black and silver mist curled at the edges of his body.

"Where have you been?"

"Where you sent me," Calix seethed. "Getting rid of the fierig."

"And you took Luna with you?"

"She asked." The prince smirked. "So nicely I couldn't say no."

"You are her protector!" Lorcan trembled against me. I reached up to touch his face, hoping it would calm him, but he flinched under my hand. "You took her directly into harm's way."

Calix drew himself to his full height, and for the first time, I saw how much bigger he was than his older brother. It was as if, until now, he made himself small on purpose. "I took her with me, because every time I leave her behind, she gets into trouble because no one here can manage the simple task of looking after her."

"Hey—"

He cut off my protest. "I also took her with me because I've learned to treat her like a fragile piece of glass is far more dangerous than anything else. She's not a creature to be kept in a gilded cage. That woman has the heart of a warrior, and I swear to the Ancient Ones right now, if you smother that out of her..."

Lorcan tensed, and when he spoke, there was a deadly edge to his words. "You'll do what? Go on, brother. Tell me."

"As you said, I'm her protector. You charged me with putting her safety above all else. Above even you. I think you can read between the lines."

The king breathed deeply, inhaling through his nose and exhaling through his mouth. His arm snaked around me, and he lifted my feet off the ground, carrying me the way human men carried brides across thresholds. I looped my arms around his neck and stared at Calix, hoping he saw the apology in my expression, but he wouldn't look me in the eye. With a snort of disgust, he turned to vapor and was carried away by the wind.

***********************************************************************************************

"Going with Calix was dangerous. Reckless. Thoughtless. Careless."

"Brash. Foolhardy. Irresponsible."

Lorcan stopped pacing. "Are you mocking me?"

Lying on my stomach with my chin propped on my hand, I shrugged. "Just offering you better synonyms. When they all started ending in -less, it grew boring."

"Luna, this isn't something to make light of. They could have killed you."

I snarled, surprising him, and sat up on my knees. Hands on my thighs, I leaned forward and said in a loud voice, "I could fall down the stairs and break my neck. Drown in the tub. Die of a heart attack. Catch an illness. I'm human, Lorcan. I can't change that, and if your answer for dealing with my fragile nature is putting me in a cage, then I will be going back at the end of my thirty days."

The tips of his ears turned red, and he opened and shut his mouth three times before inhaling deeply through his nose and approaching the bed slowly. Déjà vu struck me. Two weeks ago, he'd come to me similarly, pinning me to the bed and driving me wild with lust. Now, I thought if he tried that again, I would strangle him.

"Luna, if you stay here, you won't remain fragile. Binding yourself to Faerie will make you strong. Maybe even gift you with power. After that happens, I will be glad to let you travel and meet your subjects. It will make me proud. But now, it only drives me mad with worry."

His words sank in. Another detail no one had bothered to mention, but it didn't surprise me. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and shook my head. None of that mattered. He wasn't listening to me.

"No."

"No?" Lorcan's head snapped back as if I'd struck him. Perhaps it felt like it. I doubted anyone ever told the king no.

"I will not sit and twiddle my thumbs for the next two weeks."

"Lu—"

I held up my hand. The fight with the fierig had happened hours ago, but I must have still been riding the adrenaline rush. That was the only explanation for my brazen behavior.

"I will no longer only be allowed to leave my room with an escort. In the palace, I want complete access, with or without someone at my side. I'll agree to not leaving the grounds unless I have an escort, but if I give reasonable notice, then there is no reason to deny my request."

Faster than my eyes could track, he moved around the bed and stopped in front of me. Hands on my thighs, he pushed my legs wide and moved between them, his intent clear in his gold eyes. I shoved him away, but only because I didn't think I could actually pull off strangling him.

"You can't use sex to distract me."

He pressed his canines into his bottom lip. "It's the best sort of distraction."

"And the problem will still exist after."

Lorcan resumed his place between my legs, pushing me against the bed with such iron strength I had no hope of fighting against him. "But you'll be much more amenable if you're sated, my love. And maybe then you'll understand that what I'm asking is not too much."

I shook my head—as much as I could with his grip around my throat—and a single tear leaked down my cheek. Lorcan's eyes followed it all the way down my face until it dripped off my chin, but his expression gave nothing away.

"You're asking me to choose my future without any knowledge. Like a game show. You're stuck with whatever is behind a closed door, and you're hoping you choose well without any clues. Only here, I'll be condemned to centuries in this life."

The light in his eyes pulsed, and finally, I saw a flicker of something behind his emotionless mask. Indecision and frustration. But neither was what I craved to see. Understanding. I'd had to fight with Calix to get him to see my point of view, but in the end, he'd met me halfway, able to truly understand why I needed to be free.

And in that moment, as Lorcan's mask returned, and he lowered his lips to mine, I knew he would never give me what I asked. He was a king used to getting his way through whatever means, no matter how savory or not. The Druil blossoms were proof of that, and he had only ceased using them because he thought it would make me trust him.

He kissed me hard. Demanding a response from my body, and traitorous thing that it was, it responded. Arousal hardened my nipples and dampened my panties, but I kept my lips closed against him and gripped the sheets to stop myself from throwing my arms around his neck. I didn't think he would rape me, but he would take even the slightest hint of participation from me as permission to push boundaries until my human control unraveled and I begged him for more.

"Fine," he growled, pulling away with a scowl that darkened his beauty and turned it monstrous.

"Fine?" I panted, fixing my top to hide the evidence of my near capitulation. "You will agree to my terms."

A second of silent stretched between us, weighty and tense. Then, he sighed and wiped this thumb across his swollen bottom lip. "A compromise. The ball is in a few nights. You may come and go in the palace as you please, but you will not leave the grounds until after the ball. Once I declare you as my intended before the Courts, you will have a measure of protection about you."

That would leave me with a week to explore before I had to commit. It wasn't much time, but it was better than none at all. "I can agree to that."

"Good." He spoke the single word in a harsh whisper and walked to the door.

"You're leaving?" We rarely had time together outside of his duties. As much as I wanted to explore the world outside before choosing Faerie, I wanted to explore this male before choosing him as my forever mate.

With his back to me and hand pressed against the wall, he said, "I think it's best. I... I cannot trust myself around you right now. Goodnight, Luna."

Then he was gone.