“Might I remind you that, as far as the Summit is concerned,” Amber said, “she is not your significant other—she is your mistress with an unsanctioned mark.”

“I understand that, but she is currently walking at the front of my people, by my side, holding my hand. She should be given the courtesy of her placement if not her standing,” Kieran replied. “That someone would…offer her a preview, right under my nose, is crossing a line.”

“Given that you didn’t notice, it is merely walking the line, sir,” Amber said. “I would guess that they were looking for a reaction. Trying to get a clue as to her power and efficiency. You must remember that very few at this Summit have encountered a Spirit Walker in the flesh. Harding was an assassin with a perfect record, but Lexi is an unknown. They’ll all want to be the first one to bring down a Spirit Walker.”

“The first person that tries will get a horrible surprise,” Zorn said, his deep, gruff voice full of uncharacteristic humor.

“I hope I am there to see it,” Amber said.

“Me too,” Zorn replied.

Kieran took a deep breath, his head held high. He made eye contact with the next woman to pass, and nodded a hello to the man who followed.

“We should’ve gotten married before the Summit,” he murmured.

I felt a strange slice of spirit cut across my middle. I bristled, but souls were everywhere—some bright, some dark, some fluctuating—and I had no idea who’d just taken a shot at me.

“We would’ve had to do a quickie wedding.” I scanned the faces at the side—the observers who were watching people pass. More than a few regarded me curiously, but none seemed hostile. A soul flickered through the trees and bushes, jogging by, quickly out of my range. “People would’ve just said you were marrying me to make the mark seem more legit.”

“That is certainly true—” Amber’s voice caught, and I felt another slash of spirit. Judging by Kieran’s face, he didn’t feel a thing. “We have a middle-grade attack here. Spirit. Given we’ve trained with Lexi, it’s more annoying than anything.”

“Who?” Kieran asked, his gaze staying straight ahead, though more than a few people were trying to catch his notice.

“Don’t know,” she answered. “As far as I know, we haven’t passed anyone who can use spirit, either on the path or along the sides. There are new faces, though. I don’t know everyone. Yet.”

“Someone just ran through the trees behind that wall of flowery bushes.” I felt for the soul again, straining to expand my range. “Gone now, though.”

“Ah. There’s your answer.”

I glanced ahead to see what Amber had seen.

A short man in a silk fuchsia shirt that showed off all the wrong elements of his flabby upper body walked beside a slender woman with an upturned nose and sour mouth. His team stretched out behind him, as few in number as our crew, and all of their gazes were aimed our way. The man’s watery stare landed on me and stuck like glue, his eyes hungry and his mouth set in a grim line.

“Demigod Aaron,” Zorn hummed, and a shock ran through me.

“Do not engage,” Amber told Kieran. “Not here. Let him pass.”

But I was already cutting across the path, unable to help myself. My blood boiled. Anger made me senseless. My cats bounded up with me, keeping pace.

“Alexis,” Kieran said between his teeth, trying to pull me back.

I ripped out of his hold and made a direct line toward that miserable excuse for a man.

“Because of you, my wards almost died,” I said, low and rough, as soon as he was within hearing. I didn’t care about politics. This was personal.

His eyes narrowed and stayed rooted to mine. “Demigod Kieran, what is the meaning of this?”

“Demigod Kieran is my boyfriend and the holder of my mark, not my keeper, and you, sir, are a cowardly little bitch who needs his balls cut off.”

“I will not be spoken to that way—”

I stopped in front of him. “Nice spirit shape, by the way. You know, the one you hid behind when you showed up in the dead of night with your army, trying to kill Kieran and kidnap me? Hilarious, that shape. Does everyone know you assume the shape of a huge being with a slim waist, broad shoulders, and huge muscles? There has never been a clearer example of a man compensating for his shortcomings, if you ask me. Love that fuchsia top, by the way—your tailor clearly loves you as much as I do.”

Someone seated to the side of the path snickered.

“Demigod Kieran—”

I leaned into his face and cut him off. “Kieran will not save you from me. No one will save you from me. You’re a desperate little man clutching at straws. Just because Demigods don’t get punished by their peers for breaking the rules doesn’t mean they won’t get what’s coming to them. Maybe not today, maybe not ten years from now, but one day you will stand in judgment for what you have done to me and my family. Do you hear me?”

A smile showed his white teeth and his eyes glittered with malice. “I see your threat, and I’ll give you one better. One day you will belong to me, and I will make sure you’ll hate your existence until the end of time. What that Lightning Bolt went through will be nothing compared to your existence strapped to my bed. Do you hear me?”