Their gazes land on me. On the tears burning down my cheeks.
Biren squares his shoulders. “What did you do?” he demands of Daniel.
Daniel, a partner who had been as good as my husband, the man who had fathered the only child I’d ever conceived, glares up at them.
“This isn’t your business,” he spits.
Faol ignores him, turning his stern gaze to me. “Are you all right, Lady Arlet?”
I swallow, forcing the pain back down. My lips curve into a brittle smile.
“I’m fine, but I don’t want to see him.”
Faol nods, and they move. Daniel barely has time to react before they seize his arms.
His face darkens. “What the hell? Arlet.Tell them to stop.”
I don’t. In fact, I watch.
His struggles fiercely. His voice sharpens. Desperate. Then, he switches to the human tongue.
“I swear it on our child’s grave—I only came to talk.Maldita puta!”
Ice shoots through my veins. How dare he invoke that?
I take a slow, deep breath. A crowd gathers as others come out of their houses. Fuck, I see Melisa, and her mate Ra’Salore. Svanna. Fira. Their presence wraps around me like a suffocating fog. My cheeks burn.
And then… the people part to reveal a figure. Vann.
His bright silver eyes sweep over the scene. His voice booms, carrying over the gathered onlookers. I hate myself for feeling glad.
“What’s all this?”
His gaze meets mine. Disdain flickers there—only to deepen when he turns to Daniel.
Daniel snarls, thrashing against his captors. “I just wanted to talk to my wife!”
The word slams into the crowd like the beat of a war drum.
Shock ripples across the faces of my fellow council members. Fuck. These are people who know I’ve been searching for a partner. People who know I was with Joso.
What must they be thinking of me?
From here, I see the shift in Vann’s expression. His disdain warps into something uglier.
“Wife?” he spits, his gaze snapping back to me. I think of the meeting we’d just had hours ago.
His mouth curls.
“Shame you didn’t invite me to the ceremony, Firelocks. The Mating Journey isn’t for half a week.”
Embers of indignation heat my skin. I won’t let Daniel do this.
Not again.
I lift my chin.
“This man is not my husband.” My voice cuts through the noise, ringing clear and final.