Fated Blades (Kinsmen, #3)

by Ilona Andrews

This thing, this mockery of a marriage, which hung around her neck like a heavy weight, had to end. Whatever her future would be, Gabriel would not be a part of it.

He’d thrown his arm in front of her to shield her from the crash. What a dirty move. That bastard.

She wondered if he felt the woods the way she did. If their beauty touched him. There were only ten meters between them. She could get up, cross the distance, and kiss him. It would be worth it just for the look on his face. But if she did that, she wouldn’t stop. He wouldn’t stop. They would have each other here, in this holy temple, with only flowers and trees as their witnesses. Nobody would ever know. But they could never do it again.

Why did it have to be you, Baena? Why couldn’t she have met someone like him but without the poisonous last name? The answer came to her as if the forest had breathed it in her ear. She wanted him because he was secare. He was sharp, smart, and thoughtful, and yet when the occasion called for it, he acted without hesitation. On the entire planet, nobody but Matias would do.

She looked beautiful and alive, as if the planet had exhaled its magic and conjured her from its breath to taunt him. He wanted to touch her to see if she was real.

It felt like they were the last two people on the planet, just him and her. It was a dangerous fantasy. It swirled in his mind, until he could think of nothing else. Lying a couple of meters away from her was torture, so he got up and moved to the other end of the entrance to put more distance between them. Sitting like this, he could still watch her, confident that he would crush any temptation to touch her before it got the better of him and made him move closer.

“An answer for an answer?” Ramona sighed. “Must everything be an exchange?” “Yes. Everything is an exchange. Everything is transactional. You breathe in, you breathe out. You train, you get stronger. You do someone a favor, and they reciprocate. You should know that better than anyone, Lady Spider.” “Fine. What do you want?” Everything.

“You look like you’re stalking me,” she told him. “When I decide to stalk you, you’ll know.” He moved behind her, mirroring her pose. She stood too close. If he moved his hand a few centimeters, his fingers would skim the length of her bare arm. It was messing with his head.

He thrust his arm out, she did, too, and he grabbed her fingers on pure instinct and pulled her to him, spinning her as she came. A jolt punched his palm, shooting through his nerves. It was the strangest feeling, as if his world suddenly expanded. Ramona ducked under the glide of his arm, and they stopped and stared at each other. “So that’s what that’s for,” he said. “That arm extension never made sense.” Ramona’s eyes shone. “Again.”

The jolt rocked him again. He felt her move, knew where she would place her feet, and caught her as she glided over his extended leg, flexible, graceful, perfectly balanced, back to the front, cutting the phantom bodies on their flank, their linked arms giving her the greater reach. They broke apart. He wanted this woman more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life. He knew he was staring, realized that everything he felt was written on his face, but he couldn’t make himself stop.

It’s like an electric shock going through my arms, and suddenly I feel you. I know how you intend to move. I . . . to think that of all the secare in this universe you are my perfect match. We can never tell anyone. My family will disown me.”

Every life I ever took was in self-defense or retaliation, and even so, I’ve killed enough people for a lifetime already. I don’t want to accidentally hurt an innocent person. I don’t want anyone to be caught in a crossfire. I can’t. It’s not worth it.” He crouched by her. “I know. I understand.”

there will be no way to hide that we were dumb enough to let our spouses have an affair and run away together with our research. Everyone will know.”

“Right now, there are foreign troops on the soil of this planet, brought here by a corrupt senator. They have threatened Rada’s citizens, attacked them, and now they are planning to purchase tech stolen from two kinsmen families. If it wasn’t us, if it was the Escanas, or the Vinogradovs, or any other kinsmen family, and you knew they were about to face off with the Vandals, would you help them?” “Of course. We are all Dahlia kinsmen.”

“It’s not the betrayal,” Matias said. “It’s how we handle it. It’s our mess. Hiding it is no longer an option, so we will take care of it in front of everyone. We do not hide, we do not sneak—we do it, and we make sure nobody who watches it ever forgets it.”

“Six generations since the last synchronization, and you pair up with your lifelong enemy?” Lifelong enemy was a bit of a stretch, but he didn’t want to argue. “Yes.” Nadira stared at him for another long moment. “Why can’t anything be simple with you, Matias?” “Because life is complicated.”

Why would a man married to Ramona be with anyone else?

“As I said, he thought I was too soft. This was his lesson about hard choices.” He wasn’t sure who he wanted to strangle more, her father or her husband.

“You said it would be too much trouble.” Ramona’s voice was soft and wistful. “I would go through a lot more trouble to catch you. You have no idea how rare you are, Matias. A man who is competent, smart, considerate, loyal . . . a man who blocks a sonic blast so you can escape and throws his arm to shield you during a crash. What woman wouldn’t want you, Matias?”

Matias cleared the distance between them in a heartbeat. He wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to him. Her body felt amazing, strong, flexible yet soft, the same way it felt when they danced. The mere touch of her skin overwhelmed him, cutting through logic and reason. Nothing else mattered except her. He buried his right hand in her hair, breathed in her scent, and kissed her. The connection between them flared, bursting through him like an explosion. His senses shot into overdrive. He felt her melt against him, the warmth of her, the taste of her tongue, the fragrance of her hair . . . it felt like he had waited for her all his life without realizing it, and now that he’d found her, he’d never let go.

No. Matias stepped forward. His instincts told him that if he let her walk away, he would lose her. “Let me take you home.”

She poured all of herself into it—her want, her despair, her overwhelming need to love, even if only once, a man who was worthy of it.

“I don’t care what my ancestor did three hundred years ago. It wasn’t me. I wasn’t a part of that. You weren’t a part of that. Nobody who was there back then is still alive today. It’s ancient history. I’m in love with you. Don’t leave me.”

“What if it’s not real?” she asked. “What happens when the adrenaline wears off and you regret this?” “Never.” He swore like it was a vow.

He looked desperate, like a man whose life hung by a thread. “I know this more than I know anything. It’s never going to get old. It will never wear off. I’m not given to rash decisions. This is real. I know it. I feel it. I know you feel the same. Stay with me. Say yes, Ramona, and I promise you will never regret it.”

“The families will howl bloody murder.” “Do you trust me?” he asked. “Yes.” “Then the only question is, How much does your favorite uncle love you?”

“As of today, I own fifty-one percent of Adler, Inc. That gives me the controlling interest over your company.” Karion and Santiago Adler stared at him with open hatred, both a hair away from violence. “And where did you obtain these shares?” Karion ground out. “I sold my stake to him,” Ramona said. “For one credit.” The entire Adler battle line pivoted toward her. Silence claimed the room. “Why?” Santiago choked out. She didn’t answer. “Wait a minute,” one of her aunts said. “You own forty-nine percent. Where did the other two percent come from?” “From me,” Sabor Adler said. The Adlers did another pivot. The Baena side looked terribly smug, including Matias’s aunt, who was smiling like a silver shark serpent. Ramona’s favorite uncle shrugged. “He was very convincing.”

“Actually, that’s not strictly true. He only controls one company. I own fifty-one percent of Baena Corp. I bought it from Matias for one credit.” You could have heard a proverbial pin drop.

“The marriage contracts are in your in-boxes,” Ramona said. “We signed them and filed them this morning. Have fun coming to terms with it. We have a lunch date.”