“Ididdie,” he said in a low growl. “I became something monstrous. It was a disease that, until recently, I thought had killed my fae abilities. They awakened when I was united with my true mate.”
“Why did you even bring her here?”
“I’ll tell you why.” Vincent turned toward the crowd. “I’ll tell you all why! I brought her here because this woman—” His wing curled around me, pulling me flush against his side. “—is mine. I want everyone to get that through their fucking head.”
He repeated the words again, but in fae tongue so everyone could hear. “She might not be your official queen. But you will treat her like she is.”
His eyes settled on me, gleaming with something that had my heart clenching in my chest. “Because one day she will birth your future king.”
After Vin addressed his people and briefly spoke to his mother—the topic of the conversation I couldn’t pinpoint, but I guessed it had to do with the marriage ceremony—he carried me off to our accommodations. The royal quarters. It was mostly just a glorified treehouse. I’d seen them on TV before, not that any of them had been likethis.
The place was massive, like a treehouse mansion. It had been built directly into the Life Tree’s trunk, with the main living area having ceilings tall enough for Vin’s full fae form.
Although I was furious with Vincent after what had gone down in the village center, somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to address what had happened with Val or ask the question burning at the back of my throat.
I didn’t trust myself not to get worked up. And when I got heated in my monster form, and Vin was around, things always turned…physical. I couldn’t encourage that right now. Not while I was on the cusp of a heat cycle, with no birth control to prevent any unwanted accidents. Besides, he would need to reserve the little self-control I knew he was capable of for the ceremony.
So I was thankful when my attention was redirected to the colorful mural adorning the carved wood of the main living area. It appeared to be some kind of family tree. I walked up to the painting and examined the fine details. It reminded me of cave paintings I’d seen on the history channel once. “Who are all these people?”
Vin approached me from behind, his gaze following mine. As we both observed the elaborate mural, his aura darkened. I turned my head to catch him looming over me, and my breath latched in my throat. The light from the fire pit at the room’s center caught his broad features, painting the wall behind us with a monstrous winged shadow.
“My family,” he rumbled.
I looked back at the painting and saw the last line of figures. A woman—Vin’s mother—holding the hand of a child, which I guessed was Vincent. Beside them was a man wearing a crown—the king. He had a frame of laurels adorning his image. In fact, every single one of them did… All but Vin’s mother.
“The frames mean that they’ve passed on, doesn’t it?” I asked in a voice that was more human than monster as I reached to brush my fingers over Vincent’s childhood portrait. “They thought you’d died with your father, so they painted you a wreath, too.”
Vincent said nothing, but I felt the weight of his aura grow more substantial.
I twisted around to take in the family tree with him in silence. I didn’t have to see him to know he was looking at his father’s painting.
Wanting to change the dynamic in the room, I stomped away, exploring the rest of the treehouse. The room above this family tree was connected by a spiraling staircase. Once I’d reached the top and entered through the hatch, I recognized this new room as the bedroom, by the massive circular bed in the middle of the space.
It was so freaking huge it could hold a fully shifted fae couple, along with a few guests—if that was their thing.
Like the other room, there was a fire pit in one corner, and then in the other was a cage. A fucking cage.
I stood there, frozen, unable to do anything but breathe. I gnashed my teeth, clenched my fists, and tried to calm the boiling inferno sweeping through my body.
Hearing Vincent enter the room behind me, I looked up to see his shadow engulf me. A confusing mix of lustful heat and rage-fueled lava filled me. I wanted to fuck him and kill him at the same damn time.
I didn’t trust my monster not to do at least one of those two options, considering killing and fucking were her two favorite things. So I shifted back into my human form. Part of me didn’t trust Vincent’s fae side with my more delicate form, but at this moment, I trusted my monster even less.
It was like taking off a pair of high heels after a long day. A potent mix of relief and exhaustion swept over me, and I crumpled into the bed. It was more comfortable than it looked, swallowing me in a hug of downy pillows made of feathers that had been plucked from who the heck knew what.
From the way I had sunk into the soft bed, I couldn’t see Vincent. The only part of him that I could make out was a shadow standing over me in the bed. I hated how much I loved being wrapped in his shadow. After everything he’d done, there was no reason for me to feel secure inside it. But…I did.
I felt safe. At home.
Even if I wasn’t safe. Even if I was, in all reality, worlds away from home.
“You’re angry about the cage,” my monstrous mate cooed.
The sudden shift in his cadence had me lifting my head from the pillows. His eyes widened when he caught my tears. “Why is there a cage in here?”
“To hold food.”
“In the bedroom?”
