Page 53 of Wrath

But that was a battle for another day.

Chapter 17

Wrath

In the past week since defeating Marcelle, and with my team well on our journey back home, I’d been multiplying the ways to woo and seduce my mate. The time we’d spent together had been magical, and I believed Kwan had enjoyed every minute of it. But tonight, I had something different in mind.

Thanks to Linette keeping my mate busy, I had time to set everything up without worrying Kwan would walk in on me before I was ready for her. After one last look around my quarters to make sure everything was perfect, I activated my stealth shield and took position in a corner of the room where Kwan was least likely to walk through and bump into me.

“Meet me in my quarters, my love,”I mind-spoke to Kwan.

“On my way!”she replied, giving me a gentle psychic caress before disconnecting from my mind.

I would never tire of those simple gestures of affection that made me feel cherished far beyond any word she could speak. In my hearts, I believed Kwan was falling in love with me and that soon her feelings would be as strong as mine for her. However, that didn’t stop me from being a nervous wreck.

Kwan walked into my quarters—that she now shared with me. A smile stretched her lips, and her beautiful dark brown eyes lit up with pleasure when she saw the candles lit around the room and heard the romantic music playing in the background. She probably believed I’d organized another private spa night for her. I barely repressed a chuckle when her head turned this way and that, looking for me, not realizing I was only a couple of meters away. However, the way she narrowed her eyes, my mate had figured out I was lurking nearby.

Instead of revealing myself, I activated the hologram of the Riddler—a character in one of Kwan’s favorite board games who asked really tough questions. He appeared in the center of the room, shortly after the door closed behind her.

“A simple question, a simple answer,” the Riddler said. “Find the five clues within this chamber.”

Kwan’s lips parted in surprise, excitement visibly surging through her. My woman loved riddles, puzzles, and especially escape rooms. Although I hadn’t organized anything as wild and complex as a real escape room, I had known Kwan would be tickled pink at the prospect of playing the game.

She started exploring, making a beeline for my work desk. It took her seconds to notice the holocard with a big number one written on it. My mate tapped it, and the 3D holographic image of King Kiza appeared. Kwan recoiled, clearly thrown for a loop. He was a character in a game Linette, Varnog, Kwan, and I often played together. She couldn’t really see how it related to the puzzle yet, but I didn’t doubt her ability to solve it.

Moving around the room, Kwan examined the seating area and seemed surprised not to find another holocard on the couch or the coffee table. My mate was about to move on when she finally noticed it peeking from behind the giant screen on the wall. It had the number two inscribed on it. She activated the card, which displayed a horseshoe this time.

“What the heck?” she whispered, looking more confused than ever.

I barely managed to keep myself from laughing out loud again, not to give away my position. But I psychically chuckled in Kwan’s mind, startling her. She spun around, her head jerking right and left, looking for me.

“You will not outsmart me, Mr. Smartypants,” Kwan said out loud.

“I hope not, my love,”I replied in a voice full of promise, thrilled to see her so into the game.

Lifting her chin with the most adorable air of determination, my mate pursued her investigation around the breakfast table but found nothing.

“Cold,”I telepathically said when she persisted.

My woman made a face at the room in general before moving on to the bed. She couldn’t see anything of interest on top of it.

“Warm,”I said when she lifted the pillows. Finding nothing under the three pillows on that side, Kwan walked alongside the bed, heading towards its foot.“Lukewarm,”I said as she moved in the wrong direction.

That stopped Kwan dead in her tracks. She looked back at the bed, wondering what she had missed. When she cast a glance under the bed, I couldn’t help but telepathically chuckle.

“I’m so going to kick your ass,” my mate said.

“Promises, promises,”I taunted, loving every moment of watching her thought process as she progressed through my little game.“Warm,”I addedwhen she ran her hand on top of the comforter covering the bed.

Kwan lifted the comforter and found the holocard number four. She frowned, no doubt wondering where number three had gone. It took all my willpower not to burst out laughing at the expression she made when the card displayed a hologram of Commander Honsin, another character from the same game.

“The King, the Commander, and a horseshoe… What the fuck does that mean?” Kwan asked out loud, although she didn’t actually look like she wanted the answer.

Following the same method, I kept guiding my mate by calling out hot, warm, cold. She eventually found the third card in the bathroom and the fifth one in the closet. She walked back to the breakfast table and—standing at an angle that allowed her to face the room—she aligned the five holocards in order: King Kiza, a horseshoe, a chemical reaction, Commander Honsin, and a single note on a music sheet.

“This has to be some kind of charade or rebus,” Kwan mused out loud. “The easiest one to solve is the music sheet with the note ‘mi’ which I presume means ‘me’ in the question.”

I smiled while she pondered, loving that she let me in on her thought process by voicing it.