Page 76 of His Realm

I was laughing as we started to jog.

SEVEN

I had missed Ode. She was my dearest friend, and being with her, talking to her, soothed my soul. I knew I did the same for her. But to have her there the next morning after breakfast, when I’d felt so unhinged, so disjointed—though I was better after Varic’s return—was the cherry on top of the cake. I had him back, and I got her as well. I felt like I was vibrating with happiness.

“This is nice,” she told me as she walked up to me. Duro—her mate, her love, whom she didn’t need to marry because that, she told me, was not a part of her journey—was walking behind her, carrying more luggage than I thought possible. He was a big guy, though, built like a brick wall, six-five to Ode’s five-eight, so he could handle the weight. “You’re certainly marrying up.”

I laughed, she laughed, and then she was in my arms, hugging the life out of me, and I squeezed her so tight in return, she squeaked.

“You look so beautiful,” I told her as I shoved her out to arm’s length.

Her voluminous curls were still a deep wine color, as were her lips, and her eyes were lined, finishing with the cat’s tail that made her look like an Egyptian goddess. I had always been struck by her beauty and the life force that rolled off her. When I glanced at Duro, his brows were deeply furrowed.

“Are you all right?” I asked him.

He forced a smile. “Yes, my consort.”

But he wasn’t, and the way he glanced around made me nervous.

“Duro,” Zev greeted him, coming up behind me.

The change in him was immediate. “Zev,” he said breathlessly, stepping forward to offer him his wrist. “It’s true, then. You no longer belong to the king but are my consort’s hendr.”

Zev smiled and clapped Duro on the shoulder. “I am.”

“As Ode is the guest of my consort, will you extend her your protection?”

“Of course.” Zev turned to Ode and placed a hand over his heart. “Lady, while you bide with my consort, I will protect you with my life.”

“Thank you,” she said, clearly dazzled by him, which wasn’t surprising. She offered him her hand, and he took it, covering it with both of his.

“Perhaps while you’re here, you will take a bit of Duro’s blood every day.”

She made a face that told me and everyone else that the suggestion was not appealing. “I don’t really enjoy drinking his blood. I love it when he drinks mine,” she threw in quickly, and Duro groaned. “But I’m not a fan of⁠—”

“And yet,” Zev gently interrupted her, “if you do this, it will help mask your delicious scent. Among so many vampyrs, it would be wise, as many are not as old as all of us here and have not the same control.”

She glanced at Duro, who was nodding.

“Well, I can⁠—”

“Here is my friend,” the queen announced as she descended the stairs with a goblet in her right hand.

We all bowed, and I watched Ode execute a perfect curtsy she must have practiced with how easily she did it.

Once the queen reached us in the grand foyer, she walked right up to Ode and wrapped her in her arms. Ode hugged her back tight, and I saw Zev, Duro, and my guards all smile at the picture the two women made. You didn’t get to see absolute happiness in the palace every day.

When the queen eased back, she offered Ode the goblet.

“My queen?” she asked.

“I know you’re not a fan of drinking blood, but Dae-Jung, Jason’s wonderful companion, has mixed my blood with…pomegranate juice, I think, which should make it more palatable.”

“Zev was saying that if I drank some of Duro’s blood every day, the scent of my blood, of me being human, would be masked.”

“And it would,” she acknowledged, then glanced at Duro. “Forgive me for overstepping and offering your mate my blood, but I think, in this instance, my blood will serve better than yours.”

Duro put his hand over his heart. “My queen, you grace both myself and my mate with your most magnificent gift. I am deeply in your debt.”