“Just give me the phone,” I snapped, not wanting anything else said over speaker phone.

I fumbled with the cell phone until it was no longer a conversation that the room could hear, and then I left the living room and went into the garage, feeling very self-conscious with Jericho and Sebastian listening in.

I cleared my throat and took a breath before speaking, “Kiran, if I want to discuss something with your father, is there someone else I could talk with? The head Titan, or a human resources director or something?” I started out politely, although I was seconds away from threatening my way to what I wanted.

“Eden,” he started with the same measured civility, “you're talking to him.”

“Because that worked so well last time,” I accused.

“I thought it did,” he laughed gently into the phone. This was not the way I wanted the phone call to go.

“I have a prisoner that I would like to return if you are interested,” I ignored his comment and got straight to business.

“I hope you mean Sebastian,” Kiran said and there was suddenly a very hard edge to his voice.

“I do,” I agreed, taken back by his anger.

“It's about bloody time,” he growled into the phone and then found his composure again, “And what do you want in return? Don't bother asking for Avalon.”

“I want the four prisoners without magic,” I decided not to play games this time. Sebastian was worth a lot more than Talbott as far as political prisoners went, and because he wasn't in any hurry to go anywhere, it wasn't as if I absolutely had to get rid of him.

“Really? Why?” Kiran asked, almost mocking my request.

“Do we have a deal?” I refused to let him derail the conversation.

“How long do I have to consider this deal?” Kiran inquired and I didn't know if I could take him seriously or not. I regretted not making Jericho take the call.

“Do you want to discuss this with your father?” I pushed. I really wanted Lucan to be aware of what was going on this time. I wanted him to know that I was in control and that I had my own bargaining chips.

“My father would never negotiate with you,” Kiran sighed.

“You do realize I could easily keep Sebastian and kill him, don't you?” I grew frustrated.

“In my father's eyes, Sebastian is already dead,” Kiran said with a hint of contempt thickening his tone. “You have a deal. I'll make things easy and come to you.”

“No, there's absolutely no need for you to come all the way here,” I stomped my foot in the empty garage.

“Would you rather meet in the desert?” his voice got low and husky and I rushed to answer him.

“That is not what I meant,” I defended myself. “I mean, you personally do not have to come, you could just send Talbott if you're not going to involve your father.” I breathed deeply, searching for my patience, “And Kiran, what happened in the desert will never happen again. Not ever.”

“We'll meet you at the private club tomorrow night at eight,” he ignored my promise, changing the subject.

“Absolutely not,” I argued, picturing his underground club as the perfect place for him to set a trap. “We can meet tomorrow night at Kingsley, the center courtyard.”

“Fine,” he agreed. “I take it you won't be coming alone?”

I hung up the phone, not even dignifying him with an answer.

----

I stood in the moonlit bathed courtyard of Kingsley feeling severely out of place. I never considered myself a high school dropout until now, waiting for Kiran and his Guard to arrive. I looked up at the brick, academic buildings surrounding me and realized I felt more at home at Kingsley than anywhere else, and yet I would never return.

With Amory gone, and until I could claim leadership over the entire kingdom, a high school education was last on my long to-do-list. Besides, I made it almost all the way through my junior year; that was probably as good of an education as I needed.

Then it dawned on me that I never finished a full year my entire high school career. Magic always got in the way.

I wondered for a moment what it would have been like to live a normal human life. Would I have had lots of friends? Or gone to prom? Or had a normal, non-royalty, non-rebellious boyfriend? Then the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and my blood began to prickle with warning that the Titans had arrived.

I breathed in slowly, wanting to find complete control before I was face to face with my enemies. I turned around to address the entire team gathered with me but my eyes met Sebastian's and I realized that I wanted to talk to him the most.

“Sebastian,” I whispered in the darkness, “I'm sorry, I'm using you again. I'm sorry, I didn't keep my end of our deal.”

Surprisingly, he pulled me into a hug, squeezing me tightly and lifting me off the ground, “I should have known better than to expect you to, but that's all right, you made up for it!” He set me down and smiled at me. “Thank you for my magic, I think I've learned a valuable lesson through all of this,” his smile turned roguish and I couldn't help but laugh.

“As long as you've given up your spy days, you're always welcome back with us,” I offered, surprising myself.

“You could just keep kidnapping me,” he joked, “you might be able to get a few more prisoners out of me before they catch on.”

“I think you have Stockholm Syndrome,” Titus interrupted playfully, and I left Sebastian to say goodbye to his new best friend.

“He does kind of grow on you, doesn't he?” Jericho grumbled, still not really sold on Sebastian.

“Like a rash,” I agreed.

“Hey, are you going to be Ok tonight?” Jericho looked down at me with smoldering eyes and a clenched jaw. I knew he was anticipating meeting Kiran face to face with a current of silent rage pumping wildly through his blood. His magic radiated off him in waves of hatred and I suddenly felt like I needed to comfort him.

I felt the Titans surround the courtyard, offering as much protection for their Crowned Prince as they could. There were not more than our numbers, maybe twenty-five. I felt Kiran's magic in the distance, watching us, waiting for the right moment. I could feel his eyes on me, even from far away; his movements filled my consciousness.

I stayed gazing into Jericho's eyes, worried about him, and now finding my resolve shrinking. I reached up to his collar, pulling it towards me and I met his mouth with frenzied desperation.

I kissed him aggressively, forcefully pushing my magic into his, allowing myself to wrap completely up in him. I had to find courage and strength and remember that even if I still felt hated feelings for Kiran, there was life after him. There was love after him.

A throat cleared from across the stone path and I relinquished my hold on a bewildered Jericho. I didn't completely pull away though, I held his gaze, smiling encouragingly. We could do this.... together we could do this.

I glanced back at Sebastian, to make sure Titus and Gabriel grabbed hold of him to make him appear more like a prisoner than a reluctant martyr. Sebastian hung his head as if standing in the midst of us was a struggle all of its own. I shook my head, trying to wipe away the smile and then walked forward to meet Kiran and Talbott, Jericho at my side.

“I will not conduct business with anyone but you,” Kiran growled standing underneath the bell tower. He stared Jericho down with equal contempt and disgust; I couldn't help but find that a little bit satisfying.

“Then we have no deal,” I replied casually, and turned to walk away.

“Eden, it's fine, really,” Jericho offered before I could leave completely.

I turned to him quickly, hating that he trusted me so much. He gave me an inspiring nod of the head and I wanted to run into his arms again and never leave them.

“Fine,” I cleared my throat, forcing courage forward, “but then Talbott has to go too.”

“Fine,” Kiran echoed and tipped his head for Talbott to obey.

We were suddenly very alone in the shadows of the bell tower. Our individual backup felt worlds away. This was better than Morocco; we were not actually alone. There was nothing to seduce my senses, but still a palpable tension between our magics made business awkward to conduct.

“You gave Sebastian his magic back?” Kiran looked down at me, his eyes the deepest, intense blue.

“Yes,” I sighed.

“Why?” he asked, almost taunting me.

“I have my reasons,” I snapped, growing impatient. “Where are the prisoners?”

“They're here, but first we need to talk.” He chewed on the inside of his cheek. He was completely serious; there was no smirk, no sarcasm, not even a hint of amusement, so I narrowed my eyes and listened. “Have you thought any more about my offer?”

“What offer?” I stalled, not wanting to answer the question.

“To take your brother's place?” he asked flatly.

“No, I haven't thought about it and my answer remains the same,” I insisted strongly.

“There has been an amendment,” he continued slowly, and for the first time I noticed that he was holding his magic back from mine. “My father wishes you to know that if you would rather be sacrificed, that can be arranged.”

“Do you mean instead of marrying you and producing your hundreds of children?” I mocked.

“Yes, an heir isn't really necessary now with my father's elevated circumstances and if I had your magic then that would be that,” he explained quietly, but every syllable was crisply clipped as if the words were hard to say.

“I'll have to think about that one,” I laughed, sarcasm thick in my tone.

“You have until the wedding,” Kiran threatened. “May first, my father will sacrifice your brother, magic or no, you have until then.” He gestured to his Guards, and they produced the four prisoner's, pushing them forward roughly.

I motioned the same way and then tried to ignore the snickers from Titus and Sebastian as Titus tried to treat Sebastian with equaled cruelty. The Guards from either side moved forward and worked out the details to simultaneously exchange while Kiran and I observed.

“Eden, it's time to start taking my offer seriously, you are running out of time,” he whispered fiercely.

“Like I said, I'll think about it,” I vowed back, the new offer striking a reluctant chord in my mind.

“You could do better than him,” Kiran accused, with just a slightly louder, angrier tone, staring across the dark courtyard at Jericho.

“Well, I've certainly done worse,” I mumbled and then the prisoner's were deposited on their respective sides of the war and everyone backed away slowly, carefully disappearing into the night, vanishing back to the opposite corners of our world.

Chapter Thirty-Five

I sat down, utterly exhausted. I dismissed Ronan Hannigan, too tired even to hear him say thank you. He happily walked to his teammates, who were all marveling at their restored magic. The four of them had been without magic the longest of anyone that I stole from and were weak, tired shells of people when they came back from Romania.

So far, they had thanked me at least a million times, but I assured them that I was the one who was grateful. The process of giving their magic back took everything out of me, but I couldn't believe how much better my magic felt. My blood, finally, had room to stretch out and move around, and it felt wonderful.