He jerked his chin at the closet. “Sir Kristoff did his job.”
I nodded. “Good.”
Aflora’s brow creased. “I thought Sir Kristoff took the night off?”
I grunted and put my hands on her hips to walk her backward into my Guardian’s chest, then kicked my door closed behind me. “Sir Kristoff doesn’t take time off,” I said, releasing her to Zeph. He promptly wrapped his arms around her, knowing I didn’t want her to leave. The two of them watched as I walked over to my closet. As soon as I opened it, the gargoyle in question came strolling out with my box.
“Here you go, My Prince,” he drawled, holding it up for me.
“Thank you, Sir Kristoff,” I murmured. “You’re excused.”
He bowed and disappeared into a white cloud of dust, his trademark exit.
“Now he’s taking the night off?” Aflora guessed.
“No, he’s gone back to the front door,” I replied, my focus on the box in my hands. I opened it to check the contents inside and nodded. “All here.”
“Then the gargoyle did his job,” Zeph murmured.
I nodded. “He did.”
“What’s in the box?” Aflora asked, unusually bold tonight. Or maybe she was just getting more comfortable with us, in which case, I approved.
“Your real collar and a few other items I don’t want the Council to know about.” Such as the photo of her parents from Sol.
I went to my closet to return the container to the rightful place, one Sir Kristoff knew about so he could hide it again should the need arise.
While my father commanded the kingdom, the gargoyle’s allegiance belonged to me. I’d seen to that minor detail the day I started attending the Academy. It was an easy task, mostly because I treated Sir Kristoff with respect and listened to his requests. A few negotiations later and his loyalty was mine.
“My real collar?” Aflora asked, touching the thin leather around her throat. “I thought that’s what Zeph put on me before the guards came for me last week.”
I met his gaze over her head, wondering if he wanted to explain it or if I should. He gave a subtle nod for me to go ahead.
“This isn’t the collar from the Council,” I said softly, stepping in front of her again. I lifted my finger to the leather encircling her neck and traced it along her throat. “Remember how there were two before?”
She nodded. “I destroyed one in the LethaForest.”
“Yes. So Zeph and I created a new one to replace it, but we had to make it match the one from the Council. We added a temporary enchantment to mask your powers—specifically, your Quandary Blood abilities—and also created a concealment charm to hide our bonds to you. It was done hastily, but it worked.”
I pressed my thumb to the side, near her pulse, and unsnapped the leather to bring it away from her neck to see it.
“The spells have slowly worn off over the last week, bringing the concealment to a dull thrum that should only be protecting our bonds, not dimini
shing your power. Have you felt it weakening?” I asked her softly.
She frowned at the item in my hand. “I hadn’t thought much of it after that initial zing.”
“I imagine that hurt,” I replied, regretful. “But we didn’t know what else to do, and there wasn’t time to explain.”
“So you never put the real collar on me.”
I shook my head. “No. Just touching it zaps all the energy right out of me. I can’t imagine what it would do around your neck.” Which was precisely why I’d never make her wear it.
Zeph bent down to kiss her freshly exposed skin, his eyes holding mine the entire time. I read the message in his depths, just as I noted her sharp inhale.
“Oh,” she breathed, her lashes fluttering a little. “I… I didn’t realize they were… different.”
I set her collar off to the side and returned to brush my knuckles down her flushed cheek. “The primary purpose of that collar is to hide your connection to me and Zeph.” I showed her the band around my wrist. “Zeph and I have to wear these, or others will sense the mating claim. Shade doesn’t need one since everyone already knows he bit you.”