“It kinda suits him.” I winced internally at the pain in my voice.
Triss put a plate of sweets down in front of me. As I obediently took one, she settled her hindquarters on a cushion. I noticed that she chose one on the opposite side of Fang.
Couldn’t blame her, I suppose.
“If you don’t want to talk, that is fine,” she said. “But you must have chosen my doorstep for a reason, and I assume it either has something to do with the battle tonight, or with my son.”
I blinked at her. “What battle tonight?”
Triss tilted her head. “Emmanuel is joining his mercenary buddies to assist the council and Legion in their fight against Isobel.”
I gaped at her. “That’s tonight?”
“Apparently. Didn’t you know?”
“I’ve been a little out of the loop.” My mind spun. The council and the Legion were going after her? Brute force wasn’t going to win against Isobel, so long as she was in that stronghold. They’d be slaughtered.
“So I take it, then, that Marcus has done something rather dumb?” she asked.
Dumb was one word for it. I sighed. “Your son is a dick.”
Okay, I hadn’t actually meant to say that. But she snorted a laugh, and said, “He’s fiercely stubborn, opinionated, and exasperating. Also possesses a strong sense of integrity, honor, and an often irrational desire to save the day, no matter what the cost. In short, he’s a typical male Centaur and a prime example of why females need to be in charge.” She smiled at me. “Why don’t you tell me what he’s done, and we can commiserate together?”
I stared at her. And then my mouth opened. And I told hereverything. Not just about Marcus. About Havoc and Rafael, too.
I hadn’t intended to. But once I started, I couldn’t seem to stop. By the end of it, the tray had been replenished twice—apparently Marcus came by his sweet tooth honestly—and I was embarrassingly aware of how desperate and needy I sounded.
Those were two labels that I’d never wanted attached to me.
I took a deep breath and began the trek back to sanity. “This has really happened because I screwed up. I believed it when my friend told me I was fated to have all three. But maybe I just imagined that there was something between us.”
Triss cocked her head. “Well, the Dragon did bite you.”
“Yeah. But he doesn’t want to be mated, and I should respect that. Everyone makes mistakes.”
Triss almost choked on her mouthful. “On the shifter scale, that’s a pretty big one. That bond, once started, cannot be put to bed.”
“He wants to be free,” I said.
She put down her tart and regarded me intently. “Fate likes to point things out and then make them difficult to achieve. She played games with Emmanuel and me, too.”
I’d seen her pain when Emmanuel was taken, and then his when she’d been poisoned. There was no doubt as to the closeness of their bond. Yet somehow I’d missed the obvious. “You guys were fated to be together?”
“Oh, yes. I knew from the first moment I saw him.” She waved a hand. “But my father didn’t approve of me mating a weaponsmith. And when my he intervened, Emmanuel agreed with him. Even though he couldn’t look at me without—well, he was attracted to me, too, of course.”
“What did you do?”
She grinned at me. “In traditional Centaur families, the females rule. My mother believed in fate, but she mated to tie two powerful families together. My elder brother was destined for much of the same, but she wanted more for me. She knew that if Emmanuel was truly destined to be my mate—if he spent any time in my presence—it would be game over. So, she arranged to have him escort me on a three-day journey to my aunt’s colony.” Triss laughed. “He didn’t stand a chance.”
The passion and love in her voice made me smile. “Do you think you can arrange something similar for Marcus and me?”
She leaned her arms on the table. “Marcus is at least as stubborn as my Manny. Maybe more so. And although he doesn’t talk about it anymore, he bears deep scars about the death of the Stormswifts. It has made him reluctant to embrace anything that might eventually cause him pain.” She met my gaze. “But females rule, Riley. And so does Fate. If you really want him, go and get him.”
“I’ve tried,” I said. “But he runs away.” I tipped my milk glass to give Fang access to the last bit at the bottom. She dipped her toes in and purred happily. “But I’ve wondered if he’s running to protect me, or running from me.”
Triss’s chin lifted. “I cannot begin to understand what that Sorceress did to him, and how it must feel to have those monsters living inside. But I promise you that the mate bond can only make those involved stronger. In his case, that is a necessary thing.
Dreambit, stop yakking with the Centaur’s mother and bring back Fang.
