The Swarm Trilogy Read Free

partner.
    “Come here.” Kellan rolled on his side and pulled me into his arms. He kissed the top of my forehead as I eased my way into his embrace. My heart pounded and my body tingled. Closing my eyes, I snuggled my face into his neck, smelling an adorable mixture of dirt and oranges. Was this real? If it wasn’t, I didn’t want to know.
    “Your birthday is tomorrow,” he whispered in my ear. “I have a surprise for you.”
    “One hint?” I begged.
    “Patience,” he said, running his fingers through my hair. I shivered and hoped he didn’t notice. I had no experience with other boys. In my mind, Kellan was the only boy worth hoping for.
    As for him, well I didn’t know if he’d loved other girls before me.
    I was the only female adoptee in the palace, but I’d seen the native girls gaze under their dark eyelashes at his height and porcelain skin. I didn’t blame them for wanting something different from the native Fithian boys. The three of us were oddities, exotic oddities. Of course, wanting and having were two different things. We weren’t allowed to intermarry with them. It was punishable by death, or worse, banishment back to our homeland. With only three adoptees, it wasn’t a hard rule to enforce.
    “Why?” I asked him. “Why did you see me, as a girl not just a friend? On your birthday, I mean?” I knew I sounded like an idiot. My cheeks flamed at my stupid questions.
    But Kellan smiled. He knew what I meant, like he could read my mind. “Let’s just say I had an epiphany on my birthday. I’ll tell you more on yours. It’s part of your surprise.”
    It wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear and really didn’t make much sense, but as long as I was in his arms I didn’t care.
    “Will you two get up off the floor?” A shrill voice from behind interrupted us.
    Kellan rolled over, not letting me out of his arms. I looked over his shoulder and saw my sister standing in the doorway. My adopted sister, Albree. Curvy and petite, just like the rest of the native girls. Her dark ringlets hung over her shoulders, cascading over her shoulder and resting between the cleavage of her low-cut gown. It reminded me so much of Mags’ hair, well except I thought Mags was beautiful and Albree made my stomach turn. She’d never been kind to me, neither had our mother.
    “It’s disgusting. You could be related, you know. You look enough alike to be.” Albree sauntered over to us, her hips swaying with every step. I couldn’t watch her without being reminded how plain I was compared to her.
    I was supposed to be grateful for being adopted, being saved from starvation and poverty as part of the post-war agreement, but I wasn’t. Albree never let me forget I was different; never let me believe for a moment I could fit in.
    “Is there a problem here?” Kellan’s father Aric strode into the fighting practice room.
    “No sir.” Albree dropped into a curtsey. Her mother was only a lady-in-waiting, below Aric in social status. Kellan and I never received any respect from Albree, but she followed courtly behavior better than anyone we knew. Our mother pounded it into her brain from the day she was born. Albree never forgot her station, which is what made her feel she could pick on me whenever she wanted. She may not be ranked higher than a lot of people in the castle, but she believed she was better than me.
    “You two.” He pointed to us with a beefy finger. “Up off the floor.”
    Kellan released his grip, but stroked the back of my arm quickly with his thumb. The shivers raced over my skin again. We’d only been together a month and still there were days I felt like I needed to pinch myself. Kellan and me, a couple? It was unreal. We stood and Kellan slung his arm around my shoulders.
    “Albree, if you’re not out of here in two seconds I’m going to inform your mother that instead of doing your duties you were spying on the crown’s honor guard.” Aric took his duties very seriously. Even though