“Boys,” I said, holding up my arms between the two to keep them away from each other. “This isn’t time for a pissing contest.”

Luke looked at me as if I were speaking Hungarian, but Griffin nodded. “True, Jane True,” he said, and I wondered how long he’d waited to pull that one out. “That is not why our distinguished Leader has graced this rabble with his presence.”

“Then why are you here?” I asked, before Jack could react.

“We are here to conscript you,” Luke said, and I swear Griffin winced. Jack started to freak out just as the Alfar second interrupted.

“What my lord means,” Griffin said, smoothly, “Is that we are here to throw in our lot with yours against the Red and the White.”

“You will fight for us,” Luke clarified, totally oblivious to his second’s attempts at diplomacy. It would have been funny if it didn’t make me want to punch Luke in the face.

“We will never fight for you,” growled Jack, making me also want to punch him in the face. I looked to Griffin for help. He put a hand on his Leader’s elbow, drawing him in to speak to him as I turned to Jack.

“We need them,” I growled. “We need their power.”

“Bollocks we need them. They’ll use us as cannon fodder while they claim all the glory.”

I frowned, seeing the wisdom of his words. In fact, that was exactly what the Alfar would try to do, just as they had in every other war.

Turning back to Luke and Griffin, I saw that Griffin had maneuvered himself to stand just in front of his leader. Luke, meanwhile, looked like he’d already forgotten why he was there in the first place.

“What are you offering?” I asked Griffin.

The Alfar second arched an eyebrow at me. His were nearly as expressive as my former lover’s, and this one clearly read, “and what makes you think I’m going to offer anything?”

“You need to offer something,” I told the eyebrow, and the thick elf to which it was attached. “We need to go into this fight as equals.”

“We will never be equals,” scoffed Griffin.

I bit back the sharp retort I wanted to use, saying instead, “Fine. Then as partners, if not equals. We need to go into this as partners.”

Griffin eyed me shrewdly. “You need us more than we need you. Why should we offer anything?”

I crossed my own arms over my chest, letting the labrys take center stage and amping up its power a bit.

“I think you do need me. You need the champion, at least. And the champion fights with the rebels.”

Griffin eyed me, and then eyed Jack. The rebel leader looked surprised at my allegiance, but it had nothing to do with him. I’d be happy to leave Jack and his creepy brother in the lurch, but I wasn’t letting his people suffer more than they had to.

“Fine,” Griffin said, nodding at his leader. Luke dreamily extended a hand to Jack, but it was Griffin who spoke.

“For this fight, and for this fight only, we will act in partnership.”

Jack eyed Luke’s hand, but didn’t take it. “What does this partnership consist of, exactly?” he asked.

“Strategies will be agreed upon by both parties,” Griffin said, after a brief consultation with Luke, who didn’t seem to care all that much. “Both sides will contribute what is deemed an equitable share of soldiers and power.”

“But you can’t do anything crazy like say that fifty halflings equals one Alfar or something,” I warned. Griffin shot me a look that told me that was exactly what he’d planned to do. “You’ve got lots of non-Alfar troops to make up numbers. And you still need to contribute Alfar.”

Griffin frowned, undoubtedly coming up with a million reasons not to trust Jack.

“Formal agreements can be struck later,” I said, realizing this was silly. We would negotiate all day at this rate, and still the Alfar would manage to stick in something weaselly and horrible. Better formal contracts were drawn up, done with thought and care.

“Shake on an initial agreement to do real talks,” I said. “Then go do the talks.”

Jack and Griffin eyed each other, weighing up the enemy. Luke had been standing with his hand outstretched the entire time, and I was waiting for a pigeon to land on it.

Finally, however, Jack took Luke’s hand and shook. Their was an odd combination of cheers and hisses from the crowd—probably cheers from people who realized how important the Alfar would be in a fight like this, and boos from people who would hate the Alfar no matter what.

I watched the two men shake, and I wondered if they meant it. A lot fewer people would die if we could all work together against Morrigan and Jarl.

But when I turned to step down off the table, I caught Lyman’s expressions. He was still smiling, but the way the light was shining meant I could finally see his eyes that had been constantly hidden behind his glasses.

They burned with an emotion I couldn’t read, stemming from seeing his brother shaking hands with an Alfar.

I hoped the emotions were positive ones, as we needed every competent soldier we could get our hands on.

Or I’d just convinced a room full of people to become dragon kibble.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

After I’d done my little speech, and then stuck around to meet individual leaders and show off the labrys, Blondie took pity on me. I think she was also very pleased with my actions, as she apparated Anyan and me to a lovely stretch of stony beach. I had no idea where we were, and I didn’t care. There was ocean, there was barghest, and after a day like that, I wanted both.

“Swim hard, recharge, and call me when you’re ready. We’ll leave for York tonight, but take your time,” Blondie said, before apparating away with a soft pop and a shimmer of power.

“I officially declare this a date,” I said, turning to Anyan. He cocked an eyebrow at me.

“Oh really?” he asked.

“Yes. I think I need a date right now. And by ‘date’ I mean you. It is our second date, right?” While I talked, I moved towards him.

“Yes, I think it would be. Why?”

“ ’Cause you know what they say about what happens on third dates?” I took off my shirt.

“Um, yes, I think I do,” he said, eyeballing my chest.

“Well, I’m easy. So let’s consider this a third date, wrapped in a second date package. And speaking of package…”

Anyan’s lips bowed in a wicked smile as I took off my bra. He moved towards me, and the look of lust in his eyes nearly knocked me over.

Needing very little encouragement, I took off my pants, kicking off my shoes as I did so. When the underwear joined everything else on the pebble beach, I started in on his clothing.

“Heartworm medicine,” I said, shaking my head at the advertisement emblazoned upon his T-shirt. It was much better off lying on the ground, so I made sure it got there. Stat.

Unable to resist the sight of that chest in front of me, I ran my fingers down through the light smattering of hair on his pecs, converging my hands so my nails dragged gently down his happy trail. Stepping even closer, my mouth found his nipple as my hands found his belt.

“Are we finding a wardrobe?” Anyan asked, his voice even more gravelly than usual.

“No. But I do have plans for you. And you must not attempt to resist me. For I am the champion,” I said, very seriously. His brow furrowed, and I think he would have interrupted me if I hadn’t had my hands at his crotch—a powerful incentive to go with the flow. And then his pants were undone, as if by magic. I’d done it delicately, carefully on purpose. For some reason I didn’t want to touch him that intimately till I had to—till we were just at that stage. I believed in doing things in stages.

I gently pushed my hands under his underwear’s waistband on either hip, stroking his skin with flat palms as I pushed his jeans down his legs. His thighs were tight with muscle, the skin scratchy with hair but deliciously warm. Keeping my gaze locked on his, I saw the strain around his mouth as—already hard—he popped free of his underwear. The soft skin of my own belly was there to meet him, and I purposely rubbed my way up his body as I stood on tiptoe to kiss his chin and then his mouth. His hands found my ass, pulling me against him as he kissed me with soul-curling intensity. My libido stood fanning my virtue, which was about to faint.

I disengaged myself from Anyan’s kiss, stepping back from his embrace, much to his evident consternation. But his look of confusion turned to anticipation as I knelt before him. I sat back on my heels, bending low to unlace his motorcycle boots, helping him step out of them and his pants so that he was entirely naked before me.

It was only then that I allowed myself to look up, taking in all that magnificent male beauty with the appreciation of a true connoisseur.

“People say that men have silly bodies,” I said, just loud enough for him to hear. “But that’s a terrible, horrible lie. You’re so beautiful.”

Anyan reached forward, stroking a hand through my hair as I continued to eat him up with my eyes. I think he was self-conscious, which was ridiculous.