Free Catch & Hold-Legend (Legend series) by Claudy Conn

around me again.
    I stalled him with an arched brow as I turned to Crystal and asked, “Leave … time to leave?”
    Even as I waited for her to speak, I felt Danté once more try to touch me. I slapped his hand away and gave him the evilest eye I could level at him.
    “Yes, Radzia MacDaun—the time has come for you to get to your queen,” Crystal offered gently.
    “Yes, you are right, we have to tell the queen about the maps I saw and warn Breslyn—”
    “Maps? You saw maps?” Danté was diverted into asking me. Mistake—I wasn’t ready to give him a break.
    “I wasn’t speaking to you,” I answered curtly. He deserved to writhe beneath my frigid glance and squirm from the power of the ice dripping from my tone.
    “Not speaking to me, and yet, it is I who must get us to Tir,” he answered smugly. At least it seemed smugly to me, but then he said, “Take my hand, enfant  … and I will take us home.”
    His voice was a caress and very difficult to resist, but, you see, jealousy is a cruel beast that works you until it enslaves you, and I was still under its grip. “Perhaps I would rather stay here than take your hand.” Childish, I know, but that was what came out of my mouth.
    He released an impatient sound—maybe it was more a grumble than a sigh—and put his hand on my shoulder and said, “ Chur Tir na nog .”
    As I waited to be transported to Tir I made an awful face at him and said, “That’s it? Spell Tir na nog? ”
    He frowned and explained, “In this context chur actually means ‘return to Tir’, and only a Royal has the power to invoke the words, but something is wrong. We should already be shifting out of here.” He looked at Crystal. “It isn’t working.”
    “It will not work,” she said with a soft smile.
    “Why not?” Danté demanded, standing up and pulling me up beside him in spite of my resistance. He is a gorgeous prince, all muscle and strength, and while he wasn’t looking, I admired.
    “Only the princess may invoke the command.” And so saying Crystal left us to figure out what next to do.
    “Huh,” I said, and now I was smug. “Only the princess … I guess, big boy, that means me.” I rubbed my nails against my shoulder and then blew on them as I cast him an awful look. “I guess that means me. Right then … here I go,” I said, moving away as though I were actually about to leave without him. But as he stood there frowning unhappily, I reached out and took his hand. Wasn’t about to leave him in the land of the uglies with Morrigu on the prowl.
    I didn’t have to physically dive into my Faeness. It was just there; I knew what to do—I knew what to see in my mind’s eye as I repeated the words Danté had said, “ Chur Tir na nog. ”
    Danté had my hand, but apparently that wasn’t enough because he pulled me into his arms, and it felt wild, hot, and right. I had missed him so much, and for the moment, just that moment, I forgot the grievance I had against him and allowed myself to just enjoy the pleasure of his arms.
    The next thing I knew we were in Queen Aaibhe’s antechamber. When I stepped away from him, it was like stepping into the cold again. Almost immediately I missed his embrace and the warm feeling of belonging.
    The doors opened wide, and the queen called to us in anxious tones, “ In  … come in. There is no time to waste. Now—tell me …”
     
     

 
    ~ Five ~
     
    SOME HOURS LATER and after quite a bit of scolding and affection, the queen sent us on our way, on yet another mission. Sighing, I wished we could have had a moment alone together. I really needed some time with Danté.
    However, off we went, leaving Tir and the queen as we shifted into beautiful, green Ireland—Killarney to be specific.
    Danté didn’t speak as we shifted, but he drew me to him, and before he would allow me to step away, he held me and looked down into my eyes with those gold and glitter-filled, beautiful eyes of his.
    I couldn’t deny the bond