To Defend A Bride (Entangled with the Enduar #3)

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

RA’SA

W hen I meet up with Teo and Vann, Melisa is nowhere to be seen. It’s a small mercy. She’s reached into my head and twisted up my mind. Mates, pain, safety, what does it all mean?

She is not meant to be mine, but for the first time… I wish.

I want.

What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?

That is until we exit the tunnels and find a human man on the ground.

My lip curls at the writing carved into his chest:

THlS lSN’T OVER

I grimace, a few sparks of hatred reignite. The giants are our natural enemies, but the cruelty they subject to the humans is too far.

All of the remaining dregs of my ire toward humans flow out of me, like the final breath of a dying beast, just as Melisa’s smell joins us.

“Trouble in paradise?” Melisa asks.

“You followed us,” I growl. It was a bad idea because she doesn’t like blood.

“Shouldn’t you be preparing for the dual'moraan ceremony?” Teo says, and I cast him a wayward glance.

“I was when I spotted you hurrying out of the cave. Your wife told me I was welcome anywhere,” she says, smiling and batting her lashes. Falseness drips off her tongue.

It’s disrespectful to the man lying on the ground, but I imagine myself blocking the ugly scene and tasting her tongue for the first time. It would be sweet, like her smell.

“You must tell no one that this has happened,” Teo says.

Her eyes narrow, and I find like her fire.

“You wish me to lie?”

“No,” Teo bites out before taking a deep breath and relaxing his shoulders. “I am asking you to help maintain the peace. We are still at war with the giants. I can promise we will protect everyone inside, but right now, our actions need to be calculated. This would cause unnecessary panic.”

Melisa bites her lip. “And what if I tell your wife?”

“I will tell her myself,” Teo says.

Her mistrust intrigues me. It’s yet another layer in the mystery of her.

“This is from the giants, yes?” she says at last.

Teo nods as she gazes back down at the corpse.

“If they wish to fight you, why don’t they bring an army right away?” she asks.

Vann interjects, “Estela reported a nasty skirmish on the night of the coronation. That has likely strained lots of relationships between the giant lords. Rholker has been cut a lot of slack. It’s hard to tell how much more his court will spare.”

Melisa nods, looking up and meeting King Teo’s eye. There’s something fearful and raw buried in her gaze.

“I used to be the whore of Foreman Eneko. He’s one of the few giant supervisors in the slave fields and has lots of information on Rholker. For example, his new bride is actually the sister of his first betrothed.” She leans in. “Word has it he killed the first woman.”

Every part of me, from the top of my head to the tip of my tail freezes. Is she offering herself again? Even the suggestion has my fists tightening and blood heating.

“I am so sorry they put you in that position,” Teo says.

I scoff. That’s it? He should be promising to bring down the sky itself upon the giants. Sympathy isn’t enough for their crimes against her.

Melisa waves him off. “Don’t be. I do what needs to be done. Which begs the question, how do you solve a problem like this? One where the giants threaten to return and lay waste to us all.”

Teo drags a hand over his face. “Information and allies, so that we might make a solid plan. We have already made great strides in coming up with strategies to attack the giants with information Estela brought back.”

Melisa looks doubtful.

I don’t like any of this.

She’s got a devious, powerful heart. I would’ve been proud to claim it and stop this from happening.

But I wasn’t blessed with such a privilege.

“What information?” Melisa asks.

“She learned the names of several lords and some of Rholker’s inner workings—like his friendliness with the Brujas and Elf King. It’s already helped us to make a plan.”

The king trails off, and his silence breeds unease. When he looks back at Melisa, I know he’s considering her offer.

“Of course, the fight she started has caused complications. We need to know what those are,” Teo says. “Do the giants war within themselves? How can we best help the humans? Does Rholker plan to send an army after us? Will we wake up with knives at our throats?”

Melisa nods and smooths her hand over her dress.

I frown as she does. Although it has been cleaned, it is still the same garment she wore when we brought her back from Zlosa.

How had I not noticed? It must bear the memories of a thousand awful nights. She shouldn’t feel obligated to wear it anymore.

Melisa smiles. “As a comfort woman, I know many men. My master loves to talk.”

“Would you share the information you’ve uncovered?” Teo asks.

She smiles. “I would do more than that. I would go back as your spy and dig up even more.”

Blood roars in my ears.

There’s no fucking way.

I step forward just as Teo says, “Absolutely not.”

For once, he’s made a good decision, but that does not stop the red that edges my vision.

She frowns, but it’s not just displeasure. There’s something under her expression—a kind of panic.

Yet another new layer I don’t understand.

When we walked away from the giant capital, she was nothing but smiles and soft touches. This is the first time I’ve seen her composure break outside of the few moments she was confronted with violence.

Something splits my soul in half, and I find myself with equal parts anguish and confusion.

She can’t do this.

“If you love women so much, you must trust us to know what is best. I can do this—if it worries you, then let me bring one of your men.” She holds up a hand and points it directly at me.

Something rears its feral head inside of me and hisses. Yes.

It wasn’t that long ago that Tirin was saying those same words to me. He asked me to trust him, to let him make his own choices. And now, here she is, asking the same.

Some might call it a coincidence.

It doesn’t feel like that.

A new flood of conflicting emotions rushes through me. On the one hand, of course, she would trust me to come with her. I can protect her— defend her—from the giants.

On the other hand, does she know that she’s asking me to watch as she returns to her old master?

What do you care? She’s not your mate.

Fuck off.

“If possible, I think Ra’Sa would make a handsome human,” she says.

Heat creeps up to my cheeks. I’m not used to being so easily flattered, but then again, I’ve never met anyone like her. I don’t know what to say. What man would agree to this?

“Lord Ra’Salore detests the overworld. We will find someone else,” Teo starts.

It’s his refusal that makes the decision for me.

“No need to search. I would do it, My King,” I say through gritted teeth.

Teo casts me a dark look. “You would volunteer to leave again? The last time you left, you hated every second of it.”

I let out a bitter laugh. I will hate it all again, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think I should go. I need to be there.

For her .

“Give me one reason why you should go,” he demands.

My fists curl and uncurl. “I understand I was unpleasant, but now I have experience walking the land above. Besides, she pointed at me when she asked.”

Melisa smirks. “That I did. He seems good with his magic.”

Teo makes a frustrated noise. “I suppose now we should figure out how we are going to hide a seven-foot Enduar with a tail.”

One of the elves who has joined us in the caves, the man with short white hair, steps forward. “Pardon the intrusion.”

Teo looks livid, letting out an exaggerated growl. “Anyone else hiding?”

“No need to get heated. Mrath sent me here to keep an eye on you. It seems like this delicious little human has an in with the giant lords. She’s even recruited a big blue bodyguard.”

Thorne grins, but I glare.

“Glyni can glamour him into a human without any problem, but it would only last a day at most. He’d need to bring some of the magic with him,” Thorne continues.

My anger fades, replaced with a weariness.

Teo waits a long moment and then nods.

“Very well. It is decided.” Then he looks back at Melisa. “It would likely be for the best that you don’t participate in the dual’moraan. Sending you back with a stone in your chest could be your death.”

She nods. “My thoughts exactly.”

Unbidden, Melisa’s dead body pops up in my mind. I desperately dash the image to pieces as a dull roar sounds in my ears.

What have I gotten myself into?