“What the mage is his problem?” I grumbled, picking at the edge of my blanket. Lessons? Honor was going to teach my wolf to shift in danger? Hah. Good luck. My father had been trying for years.
Noble shook his head, making it clear he wasn’t pleased either.
“You almost died, Nai. Everyone is really wound up about this attack.” Noble pursed his lips. “No one knows if you were the specific target or just the best opportunity to strike at the heirs. Think of what it could mean if our own kind was uniting with the selkies and betraying us. It could put others at risk, not just you, and there’s the tension with the other shifters too…”
Wolf shifters uniting with the other shifter races to pick off heirs? I shivered at the thought. I’d never asked anymore about the selkie incident, and the boys didn’t offer anything up.
“But the attack on me was an isolated incident, right?” I argued, my voice still sounding raspy. “Or have there been others?”
“As much as I hate to say it, you’re the only one. Hardly reassuring at this point.” He gave my good hand a squeeze. “Feel better. I’ve got to report back to the king.”
Then he, too, left the room.
My attention bounced from the door and back to my friends, who swarmed back to the bed again.
“Whoa,” Nell said.
“Super whoa,” Kaja agreed, her brown eyes as big as saucers. “What’s up with you and the Midnight princes?”
Speaking of… “Where’s Rage?” I asked. “He’s the one who saved me.”
I needed to thank him. Big-time. The memory of his green eyes flashing fire when he scooped me up set my heart fluttering.
Both girls shared a look, a look that one hundred percent promised I wasn’t going to like whatever they said.
“He’s briefing the king on the attack. Justice too.” Nell forced a smile, the flat-lipped kind that wasn’t really a smile at all. “You legit almost died. It’s Sunday afternoon.”
Sunday! I’d slept almost twenty-four hours? That was scary, but I was going to focus on the fact I was… not dead. “Why are they only briefing the king now? What happened? Why didn’t they brief him last night, right after the attack?”
Kaja scooted onto the bed, and Nell sat at my feet, but Kaja’s bouncing indicated she was nearly bursting with something.
“Spill,” I told her more urgently.
She grinned. Leaning forward, she dropped her voice to a whisper. “Rage lost it. He was white as a sheet when we arrived on scene, yelling orders at everyone. You looked like a ragdoll in his arms.”
On scene. Yelling orders. In his arms. My stomach dropped. I wanted to hear more, but I also needed to tell someone my suspicion.
“I think Rage or Justice might be my fated mate,” I blurted and then chewed my lip, waiting for their reactions.
Nell’s mouth popped open into an “O” shape, and her eyes widened.
Maybe I should’ve kept that to myself.
I glanced at Kaja, who grinned hugely.
“That makes sense,” my BFF said, nodding. “But which one?”
I sighed. “I don’t know. They both have the same green eyes, but I’m leaning toward Justice … he’s nicer to me.”
Beowulf also had green eyes, but my gut was telling me my mate was a Midnight brother.
Saying Justice’s name out loud caused a twinge of tightness just under my breastbone. Wait, did I want it to be Rage or Justice? Ugh.
This was going to kill me.
“If a Midnight prince is your fated mate, that’s going to be some dra-ma,” Nell concluded.
A sigh escaped me. “I know. Okay, tell me what happened at the beach. I don’t want to think about who my mate is anymore.”
Kaja nodded, picking up where she left off, “It was the strangest thing. After I found some mage wine, I was on my way back to the beach to look for you when a messenger told me I was needed urgently at our dorm. He delivered a note saying Rue had been badly injured, so I raced to the house to see—”
“The whole thing was a setup,” Nell added, her voice low. “I told Rage—”
“I even gave him the letter,” Kaja piped in.
What the heck? Whoever attacked me knew I was close friends with Kaja and that she’d be looking for me on the beach, so they lured her away? That meant this was a two-person job. One to attack and one to distract. Maybe more. “I was looking for you.”
After I explained how the attacker drew me away by mimicking her voice, Kaja cursed.
“Maybe it wasn’t a random attack.” But was Nolan smart enough to coordinate something like that? Not at all. Leaning forward, I asked, “What about the messenger?”
“Gone,” Nell said. “The guy wasn’t any of the messengers from around campus or the castle, and Rage made them all do a lineup in case Kaja could identify him.”
Dread slithered down my throat, through my chest, and settled at the bottom of my stomach—the cold weight making me nauseated. I sank into my pillows and closed my eyes, waiting for my stomach to settle.
“Anyway, Prince Courage brought you here, but the healer mage couldn’t wake you up. Justice was so upset he went rogue—totally disobeyed the king—and went to Dark Row.” Nell swallowed hard.
I sat up so fast my head spun, “Wait, what?”
Kaja nodded, picking up the story. “He forced a witch there to make a healing potion to awaken you. He just left.” She pointed to the door. “Otherwise, you might still be asleep.”
I sat up straighter, my fear overcome by shock. Okay, that settled it. Justice was my mate…
“He went to Dark Row?” I cleared my throat and pressed on. “As in the deadly black market?” Even watching Kaja’s head bob up and down, it didn’t register. “As in the ‘don’t ever go there’ market where people are murdered over magical things?”
I ended my question with a flourish meant to encompass all the artifacts and potions one could get—usually for a very steep price. It was legendary, and not the good kind. Definitely not a place for a prince. My father told me all about it.
They both nodded. “Rumor is, he had to give his blood to pay the price to save you.”
Holy shit. Justice was my mate. That was proof. Right there. No one else would do such a thing.
“Oh, girl, you should’ve seen Prince Courage,” Nell said as if to prove my conclusion wrong.
Kaja nodded. “Rage never left your side from the time he picked you up until Justice returned. We could hear him all the way from the hallway, screaming death threats at the healers.”
“From the hallway?” I repeated, trying to process.
Nell patted my leg as she said, “They wouldn’t let us in until you were stable.”
Kaja snickered. “More likely they didn’t want us in while Rage was thrashing that one guy.”
I frowned. Maybe Rage is my mate. Oh mage, I was so confused.
I rubbed my temples, wishing I could go to sleep for another day or ten…
“Nai…” Kaja placed a hand on my shoulder. “You do have a hunch who did this, right?”
I sighed. “Maybe…” But would he go to that much effort? “Nolan was my first guess, but I’m not sure.”