‘Sorry, Father, but you are no longer in charge here. As we speak, my men have claimed my position as the leader of our people back home. We are tired of your poor judgement, and we will no longer suffer because of it. Skylar, you wouldn’t happen to have a spare dungeon for my father, would you?’
Nodding, my guards walked over to chain him.
‘Why, son?’ Tiberias pleaded, looking shocked. Acheron pulled off his wooden ring, raising his hand to show the mark of the vow he had made.
‘Because my loyalty lies elsewhere now, with someone who earnt it,’ he said as he knelt before me.
‘Rise, King Acheron Khalil of Cazina. Kings do not kneel before anyone.’ Lejla chose this moment to scream and come barrelling towards us, but Viv pulled her back and threw her into the guards.
‘Don’t forget this one too.’ I couldn’t stop the smile that spread on my face as Viv met my eyes.
‘Guinevere,’ I called on Sienna’s mother. ‘The remaining Elder Wiccans have been working with King Sebastian to release whatever dark magic they can upon the lands. Do you stand with them in this war?’ Sienna took a step towards her mother but held herself back.
‘No, tell me what you need. I will do it; let me make this right,’ Guinevere said.
‘Emory and Celeste will bring their people by water. In three days, they will reach the top of the border where Morgad and our lands meet at the edge of the Ancient Forest. Most of my people are already at the border; only we remain, along with a few of our Forest Fae battalion. Jasper will lead the rest there tonight and they should be able to make it in two days—many are already there as scouts. Guinevere, I need you to open portals in Cazina and Voldina to get both Jade’s and Acheron’s armies to the battleground within three days. Sienna will join you, and so will Everett; they have been experimenting with some new magic.’
Portals were difficult magic and required immense power, but I knew it would be possible with Sienna, a high Elder Wiccan and a Nomadie.
‘I know this is coming over two weeks sooner than we anticipated, but this is it. There is no turning back and what we dohere shapes history. Any questions?’ I asked the group, taking in their confident and determined faces. Everyone in this room was familiar with the practice of war. They knew their roles. We were bred for these positions.
‘I will meet you all in three days,’ I said, dismissing everyone and leaving with my council members closely behind.
Forty-One
Once we returned to the council room, I sank into my chair, exhausted.
Demir came up beside me, touching my healing shoulder lightly and easing the tension in my neck.
You are so strong.
I could feel Cain’s eyes boring into me. Meeting his gaze, I stared him down until he looked away. He threw a piece of parchment in front of me.
Do not get distracted.
Demir’s grip tightened as he likely read the note over my shoulder and his thoughts filtered into my mind.Is that what I am?
Ignoring the two men in my life, I turned to Viv, and without missing a beat, she began to break down her strategy now that we were on a sped-up timeline. Heeding the warning of the first dragon, Cain’s whispers and shadows had confirmed that the Morgadian army was much closer than we had thought. We now had three days to reach a destination that normally took a week. Once we more or less agreed on a tentative strategy, and Sienna and Everett confirmed that they were optimistic about sorting out the portals we had dispersed. We had two hours to sleep andpack before marching with the remainder of our forces. We would be riding for three days without stopping or sleeping. Even our most thoroughbred horses would struggle to make it, and I would not be surprised if we lost some on the journey.
Demir shook me awake,but before I could truly register who it was in the dark, my arm shot up and gripped around his throat, choking him to the mattress as I pinned him under me. Instead of fighting back, a moan escaped his lips as I straddled him, pinning his thighs down. As I registered it was him and that he enjoyed that little display of dominance, I squeezed harder and pressed myself against his hardening length. The groan that escaped him lit my body on fire—as did the words he silently pleaded through our bond.
More. Please, give me more.
Obliging him, I dropped my lips to his throat just above where I held it and grazed my teeth over his flesh as his body shuddered beneath me. I rocked my hips over his hardening length and squeezed his neck harder, sucking his skin into my mouth. His breath came in short pants as he tried to rock his body against mine, but my grip was unrelenting.
He liked my power; he wasn’t scared of it like the rest. He wanted to submit to me not out of duty, or because of a blood oath, but because it felt good to. His body and mind craved it. Cravedme.
Releasing him, I rose from the bed and gently pulled him up by his wrist, enticing him to follow me to the vanity and mirror. Just as he was about to take the lead and go in for a kiss, I pulled his arm behind his back and slammed the front of his body into the vanity, pulling his hair back, baring his neck and lifting his gaze so that he could watch us in the mirror.
‘Do you like this, little prince? Do you like playing at the edge of my darkness?’
‘Yes.’
‘Tell me, what do you want me to do to you?’ I asked.
A darkness that matched my own entered his gaze as it met mine in the mirror. I lightly bit his earlobe, letting out a moan.
‘Break me. If I am about to die, then I want you to break me down until there’s nothing left but you. Then I won’t mind it so much, meeting the end with you by my side. Mark me, own me, destroy me.’
