Kit wouldn’t have to wait too long to find out. When she rounded the last corner toward her chambers, Eli was standing outside of her door speaking to Cassius. Seeing her, he quickly finished whatever he was saying, handed something to Cassius, who pounded him on the back, and Eli headed off in the other direction, still wet from the rain. Kit felt her heart drop. He hadn’t wanted to see her; she couldn’t blame him. She had just screamed in his face, interrupting their first intimate moment together.

“Ah, here comes my radiant Princess,” Cassius said as she reached him. “Are you all right?”

“Wonderful,” Kit said, forcing a...