By morning the swirl of emotions condensed down to one. Rage. Hurt and embarrassment gave up the battle and produced one foul mood.

As Lars promised, I found clothes on the bed when I got out of the shower. A variation of what I had before: dark jeans, a black sweater, and this time black biker boots with steel toes. A thigh-length, faux fur jacket, beanie, and gloves were also included. Ireland at this time of year could be freezing.

I grabbed the jacket and clomped down the hallway, glaring at Lorcan’s door before descending to the first level. Voices led me to the back of the house to the kitchen. This room held all the latest stainless steel appliances, with sleek white counters, and cupboards with glass insets. Glass penlights and a crystal lamp hung over the breakfast table. Hazy sun glinted through the windows, displaying the grand gardens in the back.

Lars sat at the table, reading a newspaper, drinking coffee, Goran beside him.

“Good morning.” I forced a smile, but it came out as a grimace.

Lars looked up, his gaze trailing over me. “Good morning, Ms. Johnson. Did you not sleep well?”

Great. I looked like crap too. “Not really,” I responded. “And please, call me Kennedy.”

“Well, Kennedy, please help yourself to the coffee and breakfast on the counter.”

“How is Travil?” I moved to the kitchen island, filled with fruit, croissants, cheese, meats, and coffee. It looked great, but what a difference from Marguerite. That woman would shriek at not having breakfast made from scratch and loaded with calories and love.

“He is healing. Might be a few more days till he is back to normal,” Lars responded.

“I will go look in on him, then check in with the security on duty. See if the jet is ready.” Goran stood, the chair grating over the gorgeous dark wood floors, and he walked out.

I poured coffee into a cup, the smell already lifting away some of my indignation. It didn’t last long.

Lorcan stepped into the room looking like he just came from working out. Dressed in gym shorts and shoes, rubbing a towel over the back of his neck, his unclothed sweaty chest invoking lewd thoughts. My eyes wandered down the deep V-line at his hips damp with perspiration.

“Enjoy your workout, Mr. Dragen?” Lars folded his paper, standing up, strolling to the counter. “Hope you found the gym up to standard after your run.”

Lorcan snorted. I didn’t have to see this gym to know it was probably fully outfitted with the latest and greatest equipment. Probably better than any private health club in the world.

“Yeah. Thanks.” Lorcan’s gaze darted from Lars to me, then to the window.

“Mr. Dragen also had trouble sleeping last night.” Lars poured himself another coffee, a hint of a smile on his mouth. “Needed to burn off some excess energy.”

It always felt like Lars knew everything, as though his demon scurried into your soul for truths you didn’t want anyone to know. Who knows? He probably was capable of doing just that. Not a pleasant thought, especially after last night.

“Is there a safe phone line? I’d like to call Torin and let him know I’m okay.” I kept my head toward Lars but saw Lorcan’s snap in my direction, the feel of his eyes burning into me.

I had stayed up almost all night. Thinking. Going over what happened. My conclusion: Lorcan probably did me a favor. We were all wrong, if not for each other, then our lives were. He would never be able to fit into mine, nor would I in his. Too many obstacles and objections. We had a powerful attraction, but it would have always ended badly.

I needed to move on, from Jared’s memory and from any connection to him, especially Lorcan. Torin was smart, kind, and extremely good looking. He really was “perfect” for me, and our personalities were quite similar. He clearly wanted to progress our relationship. I liked he wasn’t connected to my history. Before, I hadn’t been ready…not sure how I truly felt about him. But now I felt more secure. I would at least give it a chance.

“Yes. You can call him from my office. There is a secure line there.” Lars took a sip of coffee, then set the cup back down. “The jet will be taking you guys to Belfast in thirty minutes. You each have a backpack on board with clothes, walkie-talkies, and weapons. Information I could gather last night is also in a packet. It is up to you two to do some digging, locate the headquarters for this group.”

Lorcan and I nodded, our glares crossing.

“Somehow you will have to find a way to contact me, without any suspicion.” Lars tugged at his cuffs. “I wish I could go. However, my presence is a lot harder to keep a secret; too many people know who I am, and I am needed at home.”

As Queen I had a lot of noticeability, but not like Lars, who had been King for decades. Centuries. After the fall of barrier between worlds, it took a while for Lars to get things like TVs, communications devices, and radios to function in this new world. My image was not embedded in people’s brains like Lars’s was.

I grabbed two croissants, cheese, and coffee and headed for the office, taking a breath once I got away from Lorcan’s barely dressed physique.

Torin picked up after two rings. “My liege?”

“No, it’s me.” I resettled in the wingback chair, suddenly feeling anxious.

“My lady?” Torin’s voice breathed out in a husky tone. “Thank the gods you are all right. I almost lost my mind with worry.”

“I’m fine. Bruised and sore, but alive.” My fingers peeled at the top layer of the croissant, my nerves taking out their energy on the poor pastry. Why was I so nervous? This was Torin. Someone who had become a very good friend. On numerous occasions we had been alone for hours, talking and at ease with each other.

Because never before did you think of him as a “possibility.”

Now it was all I could think, and I kept trying to gauge my reaction to hearing his voice. It was nice to hear, and I had missed him...

Shit squared.

As my friend…my gut filled in the rest. It reminded me of how I felt about Jared at the end. I cared about him so much, confusing it for love, but deep down I knew it no longer was.

I bent over my lap, palming my face into my hands. Damn that dark dweller. He messed everything up... he messed me up.

“The thought of anything happening to you… I went insane thinking you might be hurt, and I couldn’t do anything about it. All I wanted was to be by your side…” Torin trailed off, the airwaves crackling with anticipation, words he was building up to say. My throat clogged, wanting to stop him from saying more, to leave the unspoken in its box. “I don’t want to be separated from you anymore.”

My lids squeezed together. Thinking there was a high probability I would throw up on Lars’s antique rugs.

“I was serious before. I want nothing more than to protect you forever. Be the man at your side, in and out of your bedroom.”

Oh god, he said it.

Butterflies zoomed around my stomach, but these weren’t the fluttery kind. They were petrified and trying to break out, or batter themselves against the lining until they killed themselves.

My eyes scanned the windows in front of me, contemplating using them as my escape hatch. This morning I had been sure I wanted this; now that it was being offered, all I wanted to do was run for my life.

“Uh...” My brain couldn’t come up with one good response.

“Think about it, my lady. I know you are going through a lot right now. But I want to be clear how I feel about you. And when you return, I want to be the one you run to.”

My fingers dug into my scalp before I raised my head, taking a deep breath. “I’ll think about it,” I responded. I was being honest. I would be thinking about his proposal, but I wasn’t convinced my heart would alter. It would be so much easier if it would. We made sense. It would be so easy.

Easy and so incredibly boring.

I shoved the thought away. “I need to go, Torin. I will talk with you soon.”

We said goodbye, and I clicked off the walkie-talkie with a stab of my finger. I groaned, folding over my lap, my forehead against my legs.

The flutter in my stomach tapped the back of my spine, broadcasting a warm tingle at the nape of my neck. My fists balled up, knowing without looking exactly why my skin sizzled with awareness. “It’s rude to eavesdrop on another’s conversation.” I sat up, staring out at the manicured lawn. What appeared to be a maze designed with hedges lay beyond the large spouting fountain.

“Your thirty minutes are up, Majesty,” Lorcan spat from the doorway. “Sorry, phone sex with your boyfriend is going to have to wait.”

I rose to my feet, swiveling around to face him. He leaned against the doorjamb, dressed in jeans, T-shirt, boots, and jacket, fresh from the shower with water glistening off the scruff lining his jaw and the tips of his hair.

I did not swear much… But fuck Lorcan Dragen. Damn him for looking the way he did. For making me feel the way I did. For pushing me to be more... to want more. Anger had never threatened my sanity like it did until I met him. He took my serene personality and flipped her over till I wanted to claw and bite.

“Darn, because morning phone sex is always the best,” I volleyed back at him. See what he did to me? The old Kennedy would have never said anything like that, never would have even thought of it.

Lorcan inhaled, his jaw crunching together.

I strolled past him, feeling quite proud I could silence the great Dragen. Take that, almighty beast, my thoughts shot at him.

He grabbed my arm, twisting me to face him, then pushed me back against the door, his form looming over mine. “You think this is a game?” He sneered, pressing closer to me; his fingers wrapped tightly around my biceps. “Fuck with this almighty beast…and he fucks back. Last warning, little Druid.” He shoved off me and strode down the hall, leaving my heart pounding in my throat.

Confusion and fright kept me pinned against the door. What the hell…? How did he know I called him that?

It wasn’t possible or logical. Only fae in the same species were able to link, and only some were powerful enough to do it. Ember and Eli had been a freak case, but now that she was part dark dweller herself, she could link to all of them.

Ember and Torin could because they were both noble fairies and had once been betrothed to each other. I knew they still could, but since she fell in love with Eli, Torin tried to sever the link as much as he could.

I was human. Okay, human plus. But still, there was no way—none—I should be able to link. Except I recalled the times in the past I felt we had to just look at each other and understand what the other one was thinking.

A coincidence, Ken. That’s all it was.

Even my brain laughed at me.

Like so many other things, I filed it away. We had more pressing matters to deal with.

Like keeping a kingdom afloat.