Chapter 52: Chapter 52

KILLIAN

“Thanks for letting me know, I guess,” Lenore muttered dryly. The corner of my mouth turned up and I crossed my arms, leaning against the door.

“I’m being serious,” her brother replied. “He’s horrendous.”

This fucking—

“Stop it,” Lenore shot back and the slight venom in her voice made my smile reappear.

“What are his intentions with you?” he asked.

The heat of her skin and the way her back arched when her nipple was in my mouth came to mind.

Entirely sinister.

“Why do you even like him?” He sounded like he couldn’t fathom the thought of anyone—not to talk of Lenore—liking me, and I couldn’t help but wonder what his problem was. I didn’t do anything to him… I didn’t do anything to him except knock him out two days ago, but that was clearly not the reason he disliked me so much.

“Can we just focus on the game?” Calley said, sounding exhausted, at the same time Lenore’s brother said, “Seriously, tell me one thing.”

Silence.

I set my lips in a hard line, tilting my head. I didn’t actually expect her to have anything to say—we’d only known each other for six days after all—

“His smile,” she answered, and I paused.

“What the—”

“It’s so bright…” Her voice was dreamy as she cut him off, like she was picturing me smiling. “It’s beautiful. Like he is.”

I couldn’t stop the grin that overtook my face the next moment, and when my gaze drifted to the guard who I hit, I found him staring at me with a mixture of confusion and disdain. My eyes narrowed. Is he eavesdropping? I—

“He’s sweet,” Lenore continued, drawing my attention once more, and I bobbed my head.

That’s right.

“The fuck?” her brother muttered.

“What?!” She sounded irritated now, and her brother heaved a sigh.

“Nothing. Where did you two meet?” he asked, making my smile instantly slip off as the memory of my hand wrapped around Lenore’s throat practically barged into my mind. An unseen weight settled in my chest.

…Shit. She’d said if her brother hit me, it would most likely be because I deserved it, and for what I did to her, I deserved worse than getting my face pummeled. She’d be well within her rights if she never forgave me for it.

“…In the palace,” Lenore replied, the previous cheeriness in her voice gone.

“You don’t say.”

“You asked.” The bite was back in her voice.

“Okay. How did you two start talking?”

“He—Well…” She blew out a harsh breath and I could almost picture her sporting the same look that was on her face in the picture in the file on my desk. “I ran into him at the gates when I tried to run away after being told I’d been given to him.”

“...Then what?”

“Then we started talking.”

“And?”

“Yes.” She was protecting me—most likely because she didn’t want a fight to break out—but I kind of wanted her to tell him the truth. She let me off easy.

“…Are you making this difficult on purpose?”

She let out a long-suffering groan. “What do you want to know, Cameron?”

“Calley, how did they meet?”

“Don’t ask her!” Lenore burst out while Calley said, “I’m not getting involved… I don’t even know.”

“You don’t know anything about him. He doesn’t know anything about you,” he added, and… he wasn’t exactly wrong. Most of what I knew about her came from the file Fabien put together on her, and I’d barely told her anything about me… or the fact that she was my mate.

Enough with this though.

I opened the door and their gazes immediately snapped to me while I zeroed in on Lenore. The three of them were sitting at a round table in the balcony and playing monopoly, and as I walked in, I flashed Lenore a smile that elicited one just as big, if not bigger, from her.

“Killian,” she said and Calley got up to bow while her brother let out an ugh.

I glanced at him, then said, “Please. Don’t be so quick to bow.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched. “This might be your mother’s palace, but you can’t just walk in without knocking, Your Highness.”

“Details.”

Just before I got to the table, Lenore stood up and I took her hand in mine. “I need your invitation. The one you used to gain entrance to Eyrosa,” I said, and her mouth made an ‘o’ shape. I couldn’t resist leaning in to kiss her, and another smile overtook her face before she glanced at her brother.

“Bye Cameron.”

“Yeah. Bye Cameron,” I added as I also turned to face him, and the pure contempt etched on his expression almost made me snort. Then my gaze dropped to the chain of necklace he was wearing, and I gave him one of those bright smiles Lenore adored.

The necklace was an artifact—a quite powerful one at that—and it greatly amplified the abilities of its wearer. I didn’t think he truly understood what it was because if he did, I wouldn’t have caught sight of it after his infuriating interruption earlier. I’d sensed the magic coming from it when he barged into my study yesterday, but I’d thought it was coming from him.

I wanted to laugh. My father had been treating him like he was the one who would amplify Sennet, and he must have been thrilled when he sensed the magic coming from him. But I didn’t because I didn’t want to give him another argument for when next he’d try to convince Lenore to stay away from me.

There was also the fact that Lenore had mentioned the necklace was their father’s—

My bottom lip wobbled and I pressed my lips in a hard line while he stared at me like I’d gone crazy. Clearing my throat, I tipped my head at him before proceeding to pull Lenore with me out of the room while Calley followed.