Page 21 of Infernal Bonds

I wondered if I did more talking than he did.

I shook my head.

I couldn’t believe I’d spoken to him that way. He’d tried to kill me.

Some days I wondered if I wasn’t losing my mind after all—even if I now knew it wasn’t mental illness plaguing my family.

It honestly surprised me that the council hadn’t sent an escort to make sure I behaved myself on the way out of the palace after speaking out like that.

“Raelynn!”

I turned as Lymsrana rounded the corner, her kitten heels echoing off the marble while she closed the distance between us.

The only reason I wasn’t considering bolting for the door was that Cyn’s mother and Ezra’s mother, Amra, were the only people on the council I didn’t think wanted me dead. I wasn’t too sure about Cyn’s father anymore. He seemed more amused by my situation than by anything else.

Amusement was a lot better than animosity.

“I wanted to speak to you before you returned home.”

“Uh, sure.”

“Don’t look so afraid. I’m not going to hurt you.” She held a hand out, guiding me over to a small chaise beneath a gilded mirror on the wall. Once we sat down, she smiled. “Cyn has his work cut out for him, doesn’t he?”

“What?”

“Well, you said yourself you don’t get along.”

I blew out a breath, making my cheeks puff. “Yeah… something like that.”

She angled her head, studying my face, her hip-length black hair falling to the side.

“Listen, I didn’t mean it in an insulting way. I’m sorry if I offended you and your husband.”

She laughed. “Trust me, we know Cyn isn’t an easy child to get along with.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that.

“I need you to understand something. While Cyn is temperamental, he doesn’t interact with anyone he doesn’t have to. Over the years, we tried to encourage him to be social, but after what happened to him, we couldn’t reach him.”

“What do you mean?”

Her lips thinned as she watched a pair of guards pass. “If he’s not told you, I won’t overstep—though I believe it would help you understand him.”

I didn’t understand why she believed Cyn would share anything personal about himself with me—Nyrith mates or not.

We rejected each other.

If he were any other man on Earth, I’d have blocked his number and moved on with my life, but the guys kept us connected.

“I’m not sure what you think is going on between us, but Cyn hates me.”

“Hates you?”

“Well, yeah. He thought I conned him just like the rest of the council did. And I don’t blame him, really. The thing is, even though he knows better now, he still…”

When I glanced to the side without continuing, she asked, “Still?”

I shook my head. “Never mind. It’s not important.”