“Even in the way lychaen bind themselves to each other?” I tease.
Nox winces through his grin. “If that’s what you want, Blaise, then it’s yours.”
My heart fills with joy, and I chance a glance down at my finger, where a sole ruby ring glistens in the moonlight.
“It’s the color of blood,” I laugh.
Nox shrugs. “It’s all Bezzie had. I figured it would work, considering my mate has a macabre sense of humor.”
His mate.
The word makes my blood shiver.
“I don’t know. Becoming a wife might change her a bit.”
Nox holds my stare. “No one changes that much.”
I let out a laugh, and it’s the first time one has come freely from my chest in so very long.
“So what do you say?” he asks.
I simply grin.
CHAPTER 98
KIRAN
I wake to someone shaking my shoulders and a rather excited voice chattering my name.
“Kiran. Kiran, wake up.”
I groan, wiping the sleep from my eyes. I’m fairly certain I only just fell asleep, but my muscles tense all the same.
Something’s wrong.
I jolt to my feet, but when my eyes focus on Blaise, the female is practically glowing.
“Oh, don’t you look agitated?” she says. It doesn’t seem to occur to her she’s the reason for as much.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“What’s wrong is that Nox and I aren’t married yet.”
She’s right. Irritation swarms over me like a moth to the wick of a burning candle.
“You woke me up to tell me that?” I’m noticing now that Lydia and Fin are also grumpily wiping their eyes.
“No.” Blaise punches my shoulder lightly. “We woke you up so that you could marry us.”
I exchange a look with both my siblings, who appear equally confused and irritated. Who knew the three of us had so much in common?
“No offense, but I thought the two of you were already, I dunno, blood-married or something,” Fin says.
“We are,” says Nox, a glint in his eyes, “but Blaise would like to be unblood-married as well.”
“That seems unnecessary,” I grumble.
“Well, we’re probably going to die tomorrow, so I’d like it done tonight.” Blaise is clearly high on whatever exchange she and Nox just had in that locked bedroom.
I really don’t want to know.
I groan, wiping my forehead. “I can’t marry you.”
Blaise narrows her eyes. “What do you mean, you can’t marry us?”
“I mean that I’m no longer King of Naenden, meaning I have no authority by which to aid you in exchanging your nuptials.” What I don’t add is that while I’m willing to ally with Blaise, that doesn’t mean I feel like granting her joy while Asha is still trapped within Az’s clutches—because of Blaise.
Still, Blaise’s face actually falls, which I find surprising.
“I didn’t take you to be the type to care about going by procedure,” I say.
She shrugs. “I’m trying something new.”
It’s strange to me that this is so important to her. Blaise isn’t the type to care about the rules, and frankly, I would have expected her to cast off the idea of marriage altogether.
My fingers clench at my sides, and I find myself agitated, not wishing Blaise a drop of happiness until Asha’s is restored.
Still, as irritated as I am with her for betraying us, every time I try to hate her for it, my mind flashes back to the cavern and the shadow siren, my hand dripping with blood as I debated ripping Blaise’s heart out of her chest to gift Asha immortality.
