I almost laugh. As if my uncle isn’t one of the best warriors our faction has to offer. It doesn’t matter what his history with Ezekiel Paine is; he’ll handle himself tonight. “Jasper will be fine.” I tilt my head to the side, smiling widely and enjoying the way Broderick’s jaw clenches in response. I can do nothing to help my sister right now. Best to get this over with and find her in the morning. “Are you stalling, dear husband? If someone weren’t paying attention, they might think you’re scared of little old me.”

“I’m not stalling.” He spins on his heels and resumes his march toward the door that’s obviously our destination. It looks identical to the other doors on the side walls of the warehouse—plain and gray.

I cast one last look at the space behind me and force myself to put aside my worry about Winry. She’ll be okay. She might be soft, but she’s still an Amazon. Someone soft in our faction is still someone a thousand times more capable than anyone else.

The room Broderick leads me to isn’t anything to write home about. It’s spartan in decorations, containing only a bed, a wardrobe, and nothing else. There is a door to what appears to be a private bathroom, which is something, at least.

I turn as Broderick shuts the door. He seems to make himself look at me, and I don’t imagine the heat in his eyes. He wants me. He doesn’t want to want me, but the desire is there all the same. Silly man. Between that and the way he was making heart eyes at the pretty brunette, he’s all but handed me the keys to the kingdom, along with a map to navigate his pressure points.

He motions at the bed. “Let’s make this quick. We don’t have to have sex—”

“Yeah, no. I don’t care how you’ve played this out in your head, but you won yourself a Bride, and you’re going to do this properly.” It’s necessary to ensure the Bridal peace holds…so when I go back to my people at the end of this year, I’ll have all the information I need to crush the Raider faction once and for all.

In the years since Broderick and his brothers were driven out of Sabine Valley, the Raider faction has become the weakest of the three. No matter how brilliant Eli Walsh is at leadership, he never reclaimed what the Paine family had previously accomplished. Eight years is a long time. It means Abel and the others are an unknown quantity. The fact they were able to infiltrate the city long enough to stage that show at Lammas means they’re a threat in a big way.