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“And it’s clear she loves Rey already. I think she’s fond of Linea too.”
    “But what about us?” Kaden nearly cursed. The woman had seen him at his absolute worst. She probably despised him for the way he’d seemed to ignore Rey’s lifethreatening injury.
    “Why don’t we find out?” Marcus stood, stretching and surveying the quiet tavern. It was late in the evening and most customers had already headed for home. The serving wenches were cleaning their assigned areas, but there seemed little left for them to do. He went across the room, toward the bar where Lucia was washing out tankards in a large bucket of water.
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    Wings of Change
    Chapter Four
    Lucia was just finishing up her chores when she noticed Sir Marcus walking in her direction. The man should come with a warning label. He was so good looking, and the way he walked should be outlawed. Long limbs rolled loosely across the tavern floor and his arresting gaze held hers the entire way.
    They hadn’t spoken since their run-in the day before and seemed to have achieved a somewhat uncomfortable truce. He gave her the patented Marcus melt-your-bones smile that all the other serving girls had been sighing over. It had been nearly impossible to talk to any of the other women at the tavern without being either teased or grilled for information about the knights. Of course, the girls were still frightened by the dragons. No matter how many times Lucia told them the dragons were gentle creatures, the others refused to go anywhere near them. Not even to flirt with the knights.
    “Are you nearly done for the night?” Marcus’s deep voice rolled over her.
    “Just about.” She wiped her hands on her apron and untied the strings holding it in place over her simple dress. “Why? Does Rey need anything? Or Linea?” She pointedly left him out of her query.
    “No, they’re fine. Sleeping, actually.” He glanced over his shoulder at the dragons’
    entwined necks. “I thought maybe you could sit with us—with Kaden and me—for a bit. We owe you much for coming to the castle and haven’t had much time to get to know you. We’d like to remedy that.”
    Surprised and wary, Lucia couldn’t ignore the voice inside telling her to grab whatever time she could with these strong men. Such men didn’t cross her path at all in the normal course of business, unless she was serving them food or drink. But Marcus and Kaden both had treated her as an equal, not as a servant. The idea was too tantalizing to pass up. It had been so long since she’d sat at a table and shared conversation with an educated man. She missed it. And playing with fire was something she’d always done,

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    Bianca D’Arc
    regardless of her propensity for getting burned. She went around the bar and allowed Marcus to escort her to the table.
    Kaden stood when she neared and pulled out a chair for her. His manners were polite and she was hard pressed to decide which of these men was more handsome. Marcus had a suave beauty to him, a grace of form and movement, but Kaden was pure power in human form. His muscles spoke of long days spent training at arms, while the cunning in his sparkling eyes betrayed keen intelligence.
    “Please, Lucy, won’t you join us?” Kaden captured one of her hands, lifting it to his lips for a gentle salute.
    Barely able to nod at his unexpected chivalry, she took the chair he offered, sitting lightly. If she hadn’t felt the scratchy linen of her shift against her skin, she would have thought she’d gone back in time.
    The men sat after she did, both focusing their considerable attention on her. She resisted the urge to fidget. Since she’d met him, Marcus had been the focus of her thoughts, but watching Kaden interact with Reynor made her want to understand the more rough-cut knight better. He wasn’t quite as effortlessly gallant as Marcus, but had a charm all his own.
    “We can’t thank you enough for