Chapter 177: Divine Dick-Measurement: This Guy Right Here

Landon turned his head slowly towards Nicholas.

"I’m her fated mate. Who the hell are you?"

The subtext of his tone was clear: I have been dodging the Dragon King’s fists for an hour, healed his wife, threw a blanket on the floor, and now consider myself part of the established party and we are not accepting walk-ins.

"Shut your mouth, Solveil. She’s MY fated mate," Maddox snapped.

"No. She’s MINE," Nicholas’s wolf announced through him.

The room went still for ten full seconds. Maddox glared at Landon, who was glaring at Nicholas, who was glaring at Maddox, in a beautiful go-fuck-yourself circle.

Landon broke the circle first, glancing down at Guinevere.

"My mark is the largest on her neck," he stated, as if it was medical truth and not a divine dick-measurement. "The light is part of her soul. These are observable facts, Drakencrest."

Ryker pinched the bridge of his nose. "Here we go again."

"Your mark is NOT the largest," Maddox snarled, his dragon pushing to the surface so hard his voice split into two registers. "Mine is BIGGER, mine was there FIRST, and mine is the CORE."

"I could see mine from across the room," Landon replied. "I can barely see yours when I squint."

"Bullshit. Mine is fully INTEGRATED into her skin. Yours is sitting on top like a sticker from a carnival."

"A carnival," Landon repeated, his composure cracking by a full degree. "You’re comparing Luminari bonding light to a carnival."

"If the shoe fits."

Kael leaned back against his headboard, watching. "They are equal in size. We measured. Remember?"

"NOBODY ASKED YOU," Maddox and Landon snapped in unison.

Nicholas’s wolf growled under his ribs, louder than the dragons combined.

"Why the FUCK is your mark on my mate’s neck?" he demanded.

"My mark is on her neck because I saved her life," Landon replied. "Earn yours before you question mine."

Behind Nicholas, Damon dragged a hand down his face.

"Earn mine," Nicholas repeated dryly. "Where the hell were you two weeks ago? Because last time I checked it was me who sailed across an ocean for her. It was ME who found her first when she was running for her life through an Eldorian jungle. And when she died, it was ME who restarted her heart. Drakencrest carried her for miles not you. Drakencrest and I both gave her our blood after."

Landon’s eyes widened for half a second at ’restarted her heart.’

Nicholas took a step towards him, eyes darkening. "I don’t care if you’re the king of the goddamn sun. Shut your mouth or I’ll shut it for you."

Landon turned away from the wolf king, ignoring his threat completely, his eyes landing on Maddox.

"WHAT. IS. HE. TALKING. ABOUT."

"I would like to know as well," Blair piped in from her chair. "That last bit better be a metaphor."

"That information is classified, Solveil," Maddox answered with zero emotion. "It’s also none of your business."

Without another word, Nicholas crossed the room towards Guinevere.

Landon turned away, angling towards the wall.

Maddox stepped between them, placing himself in Nicholas’s path. "Why are you here, Shadowfell?"

"Because I am goddamn glowing, Drakencrest. The pain she was in yesterday broke my shift. What happened to her?" Nicholas asked.

Maddox ignored the question. Nicholas stepped around him like he wasn’t there. Neither acknowledged the exchange. Both felt they’d won.

Landon turned his body, blocking Guinevere from Nicholas’s line of sight. Nicholas sidestepped.

Landon’s glow intensified as this went on, as if his body had heard another male voice claim proximity to the woman in his arms and responded the only way a Luminari king’s body knew how. Peacocking with light.

He rotated again just as Nicholas reached. Nicholas matched him. Landon turned. Nicholas circled. Landon adjusted. Nicholas adjusted faster.

From the bed, Kael started humming a waltz matching their footwork perfectly.

A decorative pillow hit him in the face. Blair’s aim was flawless. Without breaking the hum, Kael tucked it behind his head.

The old healer looked at the ceiling asking the gods if this was real or if he was having the world’s worst acid trip. Bath-salt-induced.

Nicholas stopped circling and faced Landon directly. "Let me touch her. My wolf can help stabilize her wolf. She needs both halves balanced right now. I feel it."

Behind Nicholas, Damon chose to stare straight ahead at the far wall with the rigid posture of a Beta choosing to neither confirm nor deny whether that was an actual thing.

Landon’s eyes narrowed. "That is made up."

"No it’s not," Maddox snapped.

Every head in the room turned. Landon’s included.

"If her wolf dies, she dies with it. She’s my wife. It’s my call. He can touch her to make sure her wolf is okay." Maddox’s voice was steady, his reasoning airtight, and his actual motivation having nothing to do with her wolf and everything to do with the fact that a second man touching Guinevere diluted Landon’s exclusive access. A small victory.

Nicholas closed the distance and took Guinevere’s hand.

He began to glow the second he made contact. The runes on her arms dimmed by a fraction where his fingers met her skin.

"How remarkable," the old Luminari healer said. "The young wolf holds light too."

Landon watched Nicholas’s hand wrap around hers wearing the specific expression of a king who had just been ganged up on by two kings and there was nothing he could do about it because she was not his wife.

"Fine," Landon gritted. "Then I get to sit down while I hold her."

Maddox’s dragon rumbled. "You are not going to have my wife sit in your lap, Solveil. We’ve been over this."

Landon ignored him completely. He crossed to the foot of the bed and sat on the L side.

Nicholas followed without letting go of Guinevere’s hand and sat on the L side too.

Maddox stormed across the room, grabbed her other hand, and dropped onto the M side of the bed.

"See, I told you this would come in handy." Kael gestured at the chalk line and the letters on his bed. "And who thought of it?"

No one responded.

He pointed at himself. "This guy. Right here."

From the doorway behind Damon, a hand rose, attached to a mage who still had his hood up because he understood the assignment.

"Quick question. What is wrong with her?" Brennan asked.

The room went completely silent.

Kael looked up from his pillow. His eyes tracked past Nicholas, past Damon, and locked onto the hooded figure behind them.

"Brennan?" His voice carried genuine surprise. "Why the hell are you here?"

"Working, actually. I’m Shadowfell’s Master Mage."

"You’re a master mage," Kael repeated.

"Yes. It’s my first day."

Kael blinked once. Then again. "The mage who helped siege this Keep ten days ago is now a master fucking mage."

"Yes. My compliments on your wards. Really an upgrade for you all," Brennan added, with the respectful nod of one craftsman admiring another’s work.

Kael stared at him. Then at the back of Nicholas’s head. Then at Damon who suddenly found the ceiling fascinating.

"I died last night," Kael said slowly. "Now I woke up in a world where Brennan is a Master Mage complimenting our wards."