“Don’t you dare go anywhere,” I told him as I scooted off the bed to find something to throw on. I’d left everything at the cabin, including my boots after Shade finally let me take them off. Apparently, he had a thing for heels.
I grabbed a plain white shirt from my closet, as well as a pair of sleep shorts, and pulled them on while Shade made himself comfortable in my bed. “You could magic yourself some clothes,” I suggested, then frowned. “Wait, what about—”
Our wands appeared on my nightstand while I spoke, Shade following my train of thought before I could speak. From what I understood about our new bond, we literally could communicate via telepathy but hadn’t yet.
Can you hear me? I asked him.
His lips twitched. Yes.
Good to know.
He winked. Answer the door before Zeph has an aneurysm.
Right. I cleared my throat and twisted the knob. Kols and Zeph stood on the other side wearing matching expressions of annoyance. “Well, at least I know the lock works,” I offered.
“Cute,” Kols drawled, looking over my shoulder at the male in my bed. Because of course Shade hadn’t accepted my suggestion to put on some clothes. Instead, he sat up with his back against my headboard, the sheets pooling in his lap in a very inviting manner.
He seriously looked like he belonged in my bed.
Which, yeah, as my mate, he sort of did.
Are we going to give them a show, little rose? he taunted. Because I’m game.
Stop.
I’m not doing anything.
You’re… you’re…
“Aflora?” Kols cut into our mental conversation, drawing my gaze back to the hallway. “Can we come into your room?”
I wasn’t sure what shocked me more—that he actually asked for permission or that he seemed uncertain of my answer. We’d shared a bed together every day this week. Why would that suddenly change? Although, it was his bed we’d slept in, but the principle still applied.
Clearing my throat, I stepped aside. “Yeah, please.”
Zeph’s jaw ticked, but he entered.
Kols followed.
Then Shade narrowed his gaze. “What happened?” he asked, suddenly serious and very alert.
I shut my door and leaned back against it, nervous.
“There’s been another attack,” Zeph said, his tone flat. “And it has Kols’s essence all over it.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Zeph
“Why wasn’t I alerted?” Shade asked, his presence irking me immensely. Mostly because I’d been worried sick about Aflora for the last several hours, just to find out he’d been playing with her somewhere out of reach.
When we were done discussing this incident, we’d be having another conversation about not stealing our mate away without any sort of notification.
Wherever he’d taken her, we couldn’t sense her at all. Or him. Which had me wondering what realm he’d taken her to, because it definitely wasn’t a Midnight Fae location.
“The Council is meeting right now,” Kols replied. “Without Seconds or heirs apparent. I suspect the Elders have been called in.”
“Great,” Shade drawled. “It’s always a pleasure to hear from Constantine Nacht.”