Crown of Beauty and Vengeance

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Lyv didn't know how she was going to manage the day's ride, not when her head was pounding and every single bit of light burned her eyes. She'd only had a few sips of Castyr the night before, not the whole tankard. Drue Deverell had taken it away once he sat her down, seeing as she was already intoxicated.

Seeing him up close...well, she needed that tankard then.

She hardly remembered what they talked about, but it was definitely about her mother and why Lyv was there. Then Gideon had taken her in his arms to get her out of the tavern and to the inn, but she couldn't stop looking at the two males that were watching them leave.

The first one a male she tried her damnedest to despise...and couldn't stop thinking about after the night before when she'd fallen asleep on him and woke up safely in his arms. Gods above, it had been a long time before she was held as Jai held her. So intimate and yet simple.

And it felt like it had with Amory, something that made her heart ache and soar all at once. Safe and loved and cared for. Even though she was supposed to loath him, one word ran through her mind just before she'd fallen asleep. A word that she thought belonged to another. Or maybe the Mother had mercy on her for losing a mate so young that she allowed her another.

The second male, though, had almost knocked her off her feet as soon as she spied him. That silver streak gave him away. Had Drue Deverell been one of those Fae males to take her mother to bed all those years ago, resulting in a pregnancy? She wanted to talk to him more without Castyr loosening her tongue and clouding her mind.

Maybe they could on the next leg of their journey up to Asturia since their smaller group was joining in with Drue's mercenaries.

But for now, Lyv swallowed down a tonic to help her headache before reaching for her jacket, which was hung up on the bed post. She barely remembered taking it off...somehow managing to get tangled in it...and having Jai help her out.

Jai. Oh, gods above, what in the world had she done?

She'd kissed him. There was no going around that fact.

Her expression when she turned toward Thia and Laurel must have queued them in.

"Jai gave you a good scolding for getting drunk when he was helping you take off your boots," Laurel smirked.

Thia laughed, continuing. "And then you got tangled in your jacket. How you did, I will never know."

"You two got a little close and started whispering. What happened between you two the other night? Before we all went to bed, you wouldn't even talk to him and then the next morning..."

"But we can't forget the most important part," Thia said, cutting in and wiggling her eyebrows. "Now, I know you've been having some fun with Destan...but that kiss you gave Jai was something else."

"And it is something that neither of us will mention," Laurel told her. She looked over at Thia, who was nodding in agreement, before back to her with a tiny smile. "But seriously. That kiss was something else entirely."

Lyv put one hand on the bedpost and slowly lowered herself to sit on the edge. "So that...really happened."

"Oh, yes, it did," Thia nodded.

Yes, it certainly did. Unconsciously, she lifted her fingers to her lips, still feeling Jai's pressed against hers, unmoving from the shock of everything, feeling his beard scratch against her skin. And she could still taste him, sucking in her bottom lip so she could run her tongue over it. Even drunk, she would still remember it.