Chapter 97 Chapter 97

Chapter 97 Chapter 97
LENORE
The drive to Killian’s uncle’s place taught me two things: one, Killian was completely biased—and two, he was absurdly unconcerned with normal driving etiquette.
The former was because of how much he’d loved my singing after I connected my phone to the car's Bluetooth to play music when I knew damn well that though I had a lovely voice—Aimee had constantly told me that—none of that loveliness survived contact with melody—Wayne had constantly told me that. It was an asshole\-y thing to say but he was right, and Killian's continued compliments after I called him a liar the first time told me he was just incapable of seeing me objectively because he cared about me.
The latter was because he'd spent the entire drive with one hand on my thigh and his eyes glued to me… okay, that wasn’t completely true—he’d occasionally glanced at the road, probably out of respect for human driving conventions. If being a vampire didn't grant him the ability to drive blindfolded, I would have hopped out of the car, and when I'd pointed out the possibility of crashing, he responded with I'll never crash the car with you in it. I'd had no idea what to say to that sweet yet rather concerning declaration.
“What a gentleman,” I said to Killian as he held his hand out to me after opening the car's passenger door, and he flashed me a smile. When I slid my hand into his, he gave it a gentle squeeze before helping me out of the car, and as he shut the passenger door, I glanced at the mansion in front of us.
Killian’s uncle’s home was large and expansive. It had cream colored walls, tall columns, wide balconies, and several large wings extending from the main building. The grounds were equally expansive with manicured lawns and a circular driveway that had a fountain in the middle. In the middle of the spurting water was a raised platform which had the statue of a headless woman playing a lyre sitting on it.
Killian’s car started behind me, making me glance over my shoulder while his hand left mine to curl around my waist like it belonged there. Then he pulled me even closer.
At this rate, no one was going to remember what I looked like without him beside me.
“Are you trying to fuse with me?” I asked as the man he’d tossed the car keys at after he got out of the car drove it off, and he tipped his head to the side.
“Absolutely.” His gaze dropped to my lips and his hand tightened around my waist, a smile tugging at his mouth. “And once we get back to the palace, I intend to thoroughly fuse with you again. And again. Making a habit of it will—”
My hand came down on his mouth so fast, it had to have hurt him, and I winced at the sound, a flush racing up my neck at his words. Killian didn’t care. His smile simply widened against my palm before he pressed a kiss to it and gently pulled my hand away from his mouth.
“You’re annoying,” I muttered, my face tingling with heat, and it took me a moment to realize my thighs were pressed tightly together. The burning in my cheeks intensified.
“Doesn’t make me any less yours.”
A flutter started in my chest, rapidly spreading outward, and my lips curved into a smile. Mine.
A second later, he leaned down and I met him halfway, pressing my lips to his as his other arm wrapped around my waist too, pulling me flush against his chest. Then his right hand slid up my back to the nape of my neck and his fingers tangled in the curls there before he angled my head, deepening the kiss with a feverish intensity that weakened my knees and scattered every thought in my head. Heat flared between us and a moan escaped me as I pressed myself impossibly closer to him, my hands clutching his shoulders like he was the only solid thing left in the world. When we finally broke apart, it was only because we needed air, and my heart thudded against my chest as his breath swept over my lips.
“You’re going to be the death of me, Lenore,” he muttered against my lips as I lowered myself from the tips of my toes. It wasn’t the first time he’d said it—and knowing how he liked to use words to make me flustered, it most likely wouldn’t be the last—but it wasn’t something I wanted to hear right after learning I could actually kill him.
My shoulders tensed and Killian’s face instantly twisted with guilt.
“Ah,” he burst out before setting his mouth in a hard line as I began to run my hands up and down his arms. “I’m sorry.”
“Shut up.” The fact that I could kill him wouldn’t be going away anytime soon, but I refused to let its grim weight press down on every moment we shared. Heaving a sigh, I squeezed his arms before glancing at the mansion. “We shouldn’t keep your uncle waiting.”
He nodded, pressing a kiss to the side of my head before fixing the collar of my jacket and releasing me from his tight embrace. Not completely though. The hand on my waist simply shifted to my right hand and my lips twitched into a small smile.
“Come on,” he said and we made our way toward the mansion’s double doors. There were no guards standing next to it, and it clicked that I hadn’t seen any patrolling the grounds too—just the two men at the gates and a couple of gardeners.
Yes, this wasn’t the palace, but the security was surprisingly low for somewhere the King’s brother lived.
The first thing I saw in the foyer when Killian opened the door was Aurel standing by a window in it and I smiled at him as he said, “Took you two long enough. Thought I was going to have to come out there.”
“Hey, Aurel,” I said.
“Do not talk to me. Calley told me what you said,” he replied, sneering at me, and I frowned slightly while Killian shut the door after we walked in.
“What did I say?”
He shot me a pointed look and it took me a moment to remember my response to Killian’s Aurel’s stupid comment this morning.
“Oh! I didn’t say anything. I just—” nodded… Yeah, that wasn’t better. “I didn’t say anything,” I repeated with a shrug and he clicked his tongue as Killian pulled me further into the building, paying Aurel no mind.
“Good to see you too, Killian.”
“You talk too much.”
“Don’t be mean,” I said, patting Killian’s arm, and he glanced at me, his eyes softening with fondness as he pressed his lips together.
“No need. You’d have nodded if I wasn’t here,” Aurel cut in as he fell into step next to us.
“Oh, come on.”
He gave me an exaggerated, dismissive wave, his hand nearly clipping my cheek in the process, and Killian hissed. “Cool it?” Aurel said to him, raising a brow, and a snort escaped me before we entered the sitting room where Killian’s uncle was.
There was also a woman in the room and she was holding an open binder in front of Killian’s uncle who lifted his gaze from it the moment we walked in. “You’re just in time,” he said, waving the woman away before he rose from the couch.
Once again, his azure eyes were the first thing I noticed, but his smile didn’t crawl under my skin the way the King’s did. “Your Highness.” I moved to curtsy, but Killian gently squeezed my hand as the man spoke again.
“Please. Call me uncle.”
I blinked at him, my brows lifting. “Um…” My father and Aimee didn’t have brothers, and I grew up referring to my father’s friends as mister followed by their last name. The only time I remembered referring to one of them as uncle, his daughter had punched me so hard, I saw stars, because she wasn’t related to the half-breed.
Apart from that, it would feel a bit odd calling him uncle. He was the King’s brother, after all.
“Or Valen,” he added, and my brows lifted even higher.
Yeah, no. “Good morning… uncle.” Thankfully, it didn’t feel as odd as I thought it would, and the man gave me a small smile before shifting his attention to Killian.
“It’ll just be me and Lenore meeting her,” he said and Killian’s grip on my hand tightened while my brows furrowed.
Then I realized the her was the witch who would put a protection spell on me as Killian bit out, “Why?”
“Fuck do you mean why?” Aurel snorted at the same time Killian’s uncle tilted his head, saying, “You killed her coven’s previous regent.”
Oh. My gaze shifted to Killian who had a half-irritated, half-confused frown on his face before he asked, “What coven is that?”
“Starfall.”
A muscle in Killian’s jaw twitched and he averted his gaze from his uncle as the man began to walk over. I had the urge to ask him what happened, but this was hardly the time, so I tamped it down.
“She’s going to be here in a couple of minutes—do not let her see you. The meeting will be taking place in the lounge upstairs so you shouldn’t be anywhere close to it. Is that clear?”
Killian tightened his grip on my hand even more, and just as I began to wonder if he was going to oppose it, he reluctantly let go of me. “Very,” he bit out and his uncle gave him a nod before his gaze slid to me.
“Let’s go, Lenore.” With that, he walked past Killian and into the hallway, and as I started to follow him, Killian’s fingers skimmed my wrist. He looked like he was reconsidering this arrangement, and my chest slightly tightened at the worry in his eyes.
I actually didn’t feel worried about meeting the witch—I knew he’d burst into the room in the blink of an eye if anything went wrong—but a disconcerted Killian was something I heavily disliked seeing. Placing my hand on his chest, right over his thudding heart, I said, “I’ll be right back, Killian.”
“Hmm.”
“I’ll just be a couple of rooms away.”
He stared at me without speaking for a couple of seconds and when Aurel glanced into the hallway, I pictured his uncle standing there and waiting for me to come out. Then Killian heaved a sigh and leaned down, pressing a kiss to the bridge of my nose. “I’ll be waiting for you, my love.”