“Thorne,” she moans, and it nearly undoes me. I bring the skirt of her dress up to her hips, running my palms across the soft and delicate skin of her thighs. Thank fuck she’s wearing a gown today. She dips her head back, and I tease her with light touches on her inner thighs that move closer and closer to where I know she’s already wet. She moans again. “Please,” she whispers, but I hold back from giving her what she wants. I stroke my thumb across the barrier of fabric of her undergarments, but I don’t move them to the side. She arches her hips toward me in a demanding motion. With a final sensual kiss, I lower her skirt, taking my time stroking her legs as I do. “Thorne,” she whimpers, the word a plea, but I hold my ground. I bring my mouth close to her ear.

“I want you to be sure, witchling,” I whisper, and she shivers. “Of us, and of the mating bond. When you’re ready, I promise you our joining will be electrifying.” I help her from the desk, then patiently wait for her to change into leggings and a tunic for a training session.

“They’re asking for a route into the palace,” Silene tells Laurel, Fionn, and me several hours later. After the meeting with the Council, Silene and Fionn visited the granary to check in with the rebels. They were trying to discover whether the rebels discovered the letter we stole. Instead, they’d received a message from Krantz, detailing plans to attack Laurel and the palace. I guess they don’t suspect us, at least not yet—not a promising sign that Nemesia isn’t the mole.

It feels like eons have passed since I promised Laurel I would help convince the rebels to attack her instead of her people. So much has changed between us, and I’m even less interested in enabling her to put her life on the line than I once was.

“And they plan to attack in three weeks?” Laurel asks, wholly unphased by the news that the rebellion is planning an attack on her.

Silene nods. “That’s what they said. They also mentioned a backup plan, but it’s less than ideal, so they’d like us to sneak in three dozen rebels. And said that once we sneak the rebels in, we should make ourselves scarce.” Laurel’s calm somehow makes me more agitated.

“We obviously can’t help them,” I say with a voice that leaves no room for argument. “We need to cut our losses and move on. We’ve gained what we needed to.” Silene and Fionn both look like they’re about to agree, but Laurel cuts them off.