“They tried to kill you,” I needlessly reminded him. “They would’ve killed as many of us as they could without hesitation, and the reason sits in that fucking castle in a kingdom they have proven they do not deserve to rule, and we’re just going to let them be?” I asked, beyond incredulous.

“We don’t yet know enough,” said a soft voice from the door to the war room.

Stars, this shit just kept getting better and fucking better.

Both Fang and I watched, stupefied, as Opal entered the room with two steaming cups of tea and set one down before her mate.

Fang bit back his amusement with a choked-sounding cough, but I wasn’t hiding a thing. I openly grinned at Dade as the swan procured a sugar cube from her hidden skirt pocket and placed it in our king’s tea before taking a seat beside him.

The king stared right back at me, warning with fiery blue eyes not to say a word.

He should’ve known warning me would only make the temptation to pick at him more impossible to resist. “And here I’d thought you were sweet enough already, oh savage king.”

Dade’s teeth flashed in a cruel smile. Another warning.

Opal, tucking her chair in, stilled. “I couldn’t find a tray,” she said. “And I didn’t know if either of you liked tea…”

“For future reference, I take two sugars,” Fang supplied, evidently taking pity on our new golden-haired queen. He grinned as he made to snatch Dade’s teacup for himself. “But one will do for now.”

Dade snarled, claws unsheathing and falling into the wooden table like butter between Fang’s fingers. “Back off.”

Fang snickered and carefully plucked his fingers free, his attention given back to his apple.

I settled as best I could in the chair. It wasn’t that Opal was female that had me on edge. It was the fact that up until now, it’d mostly just been the three of us and Dade’s uncle. Serrin was now on his way to Sinshell to assist with repairing everything he’d instructed Dade and our legions to ruin.

In my humble opinion, he deserved far fucking worse for what he’d done to his nephew’s mate. I’d have killed him with nothing but the feathers he’d plucked from Opal’s shifted form, and I was certain Dade had wanted to.

But it would seem the king’s heart had more than failed during the battle he’d barely survived. He’d let it take a different shape. Though I couldn’t blame Dade entirely when his mate was responsible for his new, softer decision-making skills.