Kadeesha nearly choked on her tongue. She was flabbergasted … and yet not. “When did you have the time to manipulate your way into gaining Nychelle’s ear?”
The cunning, charming, and silver-tongued Elder fae who was her mother waved Kadeesha’s question off as if it was silly. “I am stuck in a foreign court without any of my usual amusements on hand. I’ve got all the time in the realm.”
“Submerging yourself into the thickest part of court politicsisyour chief hobby,” she reminded her mother.
“Then why ask such ridiculous questions if you know the answers?”
Once more Kadeesha checked her temper over everything that was her mother: the flippant response, the even more casual acknowledgment that Yashira seemed to be scheming to sell off her daughter again, the dismissal that this was in any way out of the ordinary.
Taking a slow breath, Kadeesha said, “You must’ve misunderstood whatever Lady Nychelle had to say about me.” Because there was no way Nychelle thought positively about an enemy royal becoming her precious court’s queen or marrying her beloved nephew. “Besides,” she added, “Malachi would neverconsent to that himself. I am certain he’d turn utterly feral at the mere suggestion that he marryme—the daughter of one of the monarchs who supported the murder of his parents. Fucking me in lust and plying me with supposed gifts so I lower my guard and become easier to neutralize is one thing, Mother. Marrying me, binding himself and his eternal existence and his entire court to me, is something altogether different. I hate to crush your dreams of grandeur and a staggering rise in stature, but Malachi is as likely to marry me as Rishaud. He loathes all southern fae with equal malice.”
Instead of responding right away, Yashira turned from Kadeesha and placed the diadem she held back on the bed beside the poisoned gown. Then, she waved her right hand over them both. Aether flames swathed the objects in a soft purple glow. Kadeesha rolled her eyes because she knew what her mother was doing. When the flames vanished after having burned all traces of the Deathbane away, Yashira informed Kadeesha, “Malachizrien’s lovely gifts are safe to wear.”
“I’m overjoyed,” Kadeesha said dryly.
Yashira clucked her tongue and picked up the gown. “You need to hurry and dress or you’ll miss the start of his challenge.” Yashira’s tone was that of an order, as if Kadeesha remained a little girl that she could still boss around. It raised Kadeesha’s hackles, but once more she let it go. Regardless of how she felt about her mother’s maddening persistent attempts to marry her off to the most eligible, all-powerful, and available king, she didn’t want to miss the challenge. They may have been conspiring to betray him as well, but Cassius was colluding with the folks who’d injured Samira. She wanted to see him pay. She wanted to see the bastard bleed.
She was, she admitted, ready for somefestivities.
She also understood that appearances meant everything in any fae court. Further, the power one claimed or became stripped of during formal court affairs had as much to do with the air you projected as the actual level of power—be it raw magic, wealth, influence, or stature—that you commanded. And Kadeesha wanted to show up at the challenge and look upon the gathered lord primes whose schemes had hurt her sister and have them know,feel, that they’d pissed off the wrong monarch. She wanted the Stone Warden, Lord Prime Tareek, and whoever else had a hand in the blast to gaze upon her and understand that their deaths were coming, not by way of Malachi buther, and there wasn’t a damn thing they could do to avoid their fates. That aim was the singular reason Kadeesha allowed her mother to stay and help her dress when she insisted on it. Kadeesha hadn’t let her mother treat her as her personal doll since she was a stripling, but today she granted Yashira the indulgence.
She even consented to Yashira painting her face.
ONCE HER MOTHER’Swork was done—Yashira went about it efficiently, but with a painstaking eye toward every minute detail—she directed Kadeesha to gaze upon her masterpiece in the mirror that hung inside the wardrobe in a corner of the room. It was another indulgence Kadeesha granted Yashira—if only because she wanted to glimpse herself and make sure she’d emphasize the desired statement at the challenge, she told herself.
Kadeesha sucked in an unintentional breath when she beheld the sight. Yashira had understood the goal without Kadeeshaneeding to give her instructions. Clothed in the gown bearing flowers known to be able to end an individual’s life in the most gruesome manner, Kadeesha looked like a lethal warrior queen. No, like an avenging, deadly Celestial who’d rain her wrath down on everyone who’d crossed her. Kohl rimmed Kadeesha’s eyes, dark purple and silver eyepaint decorated her eyelids in a shaded effect, with the silver beginning at the top and fading into a light purple, her cheekbones shimmered a deeper bronze than their natural hue in a manner that accentuated how strikingly high and blade sharp they were, and her lips were a glimmering, pitiless black. Kadeesha held up her hands and ignited a pair of blazing aether flames in her palms. She smiled at the way her fire completed the effect. “Your work is lovely, Mother. Thank you,” she praised Yashira’s skills.
Yashira winked at her in the mirror. The laugh that followed was girlish and conspiratorial. “You are welcome. You look the sort of arresting that has lured males to their deaths. The Apollyon king won’t be able to take his eyes off you. You will further bewitch him.”
“Mother …”Kadeesha warned.
Yashira held up a hand. “Perhaps you do not wish to entice him in an earnest entreaty to be made his high queen. However, I’ve taught you well that a female possesses untold power herself when she can easily beguile powerful males. So, think of my work here and what it will accomplish as me bestowing upon you an additional weapon to wield against Malachi in whatever dance you two are doing.”
Kadeesha nodded at Yashira’s suggestion. That perspective she could readily embrace, and be soothed by even, since her goal from the beginning was to stoke Malachi’s growing hunger for her and use it as a weapon against him. She held tight tothat aim and planted it squarely in the forefront of her mind, which helped makewhatever danceshe and Malachi had become engaged in a lot less rattling—as long as she didn’t dwell on howhewas perhaps captivating her as ardently.
A knock came at the door. Kadeesha called for who she assumed to be a maidservant to come in. Instead of a young woman, though, Malachi strode inside. Yashira beamed upon seeing him. Kadeesha became …stuck. The Aether Court didn’t have laws or customs that allowed for sanctioned challenges for its throne. But if it did, she imagined Sylas, or any other seated monarch, would participate wearing supple and breathable fighting leathers with sturdy boots. Malachi … he was dressed in … well, practically nothing. His feet were bare, as was a good portion of his muscled legs, leaving his powerful quads and thighs, which were like tree branches, on display. A pair of loose-fitting black silk shorts with a silver waistband was the scrap of a garment that covered his lower half. And that didn’t leave much to the imagination, because a bulge tented the front of the shorts. Kadeesha jerked her eyes upward.
It was an egregious mistake. Above the silver waistband of the shorts was more gloriously bronzed, satiny-smooth skin rippling with muscles. She quickly skipped her eyes over the thin sagittal trail of dark hair that disappeared beneath his waistband, making her mouth water. Each abdominal muscle stood out in a proud display that competed with Malachi’s shredded chest and biceps. Black paint, thick horizontal bands that Kadeesha wanted to lick, had been smeared across his chest. Around both of his biceps was a pair of glittering silver cuffs. More paint—war paint, Kadeesha surmised—had been smeared in vertical bands along the sides of his neck. The bands on the right side stopped just above the Marking she’d placed on him. It was a hard-woneffort to collect her senses enough to pry her eyes away from Malachi’s body and the Marking and look him in the eyes.
That was another mistake. Malachi’s gaze locked with hers in a manner that disturbed her entire psyche. The flecks of gold within his dark brown stare smoldered with an intense gleam, while the shadows that swirled in the depths of his pupils were like looking upon a black void and being sucked in no matter how vicious of a fight you put up against them. The combined effect stole what little breath she had left. His gaze—pinned on her,piercing her—swept down the length of her. She swore she could feel his stare emanate an icy burn that licked down the column of her throat, over her Marking, between and across her breasts, and then lower. Her stomach fluttered, her pulse a rapid pounding in her ears that shot straight down to her sex. When he looked back into her eyes, he grinned—it was wicked and salacious and knowing andpossessive. She should’ve automatically rebuked him, reminded him she was not his plaything or property for real. But he’d donned the grilles over his perfect white teeth and the gleam of diamonds set in platinum that flashed at her made him go from smoldering toscalding. The damn grilles made Malachi all the hotter, and threatened to make Kadeesha combust on sight.
She mentally shook herself. At the same time, Malachi seemed to need to exert a taxing effort to pry his own gaze away from her. At least she was successfully establishing a firm hold on him; she just needed to ensure she wasn’t a victim of her own stratagem.
Malachi glanced behind Kadeesha. She knew what he saw: the corpse of a member of his court. He raised an eyebrow. “How long has Lady Keeya been dead?”
“Not very long,” Kadeesha answered.
“And her offense?”
“She brought my daughter a dress that had been laced with Deathbane,” Yashira seethed.
“I see,” Malachi murmured. “Did sheknowinglyparticipate in the attempt on your life?” His eyes had refastened on Kadeesha.
“That is what she told me when I interrogated her before killing her. She apprised me of other curious things too that may be of interest to you.”
Malachi’s lips twitched. “It sounds like you’re edging toward initiating another bargain, Archprincess?”
“Obviously,” Kadeesha returned. “How did Leisha fare in extracting information from Arrenia?” She asked the question while studying her nails.
