I didn’t want to believe Vincent’s mother had been the one to orchestrate my attempted rape. As much as I wanted to push the thought away, I couldn’t. It reeked of the truth.
Most people would be grateful for the bed serving as a barrier between us. It was just another obstacle in my way, keeping me from ripping her throat out.
“Keep her away from me,” I seethed, rage making my words shake.
Vincent hugged me tighter to his chest and spoke to his mother.Explain yourself, was his general tone.
Her answer had Vincent’s feathers standing on end.
“What is she saying?” I dared ask, even though I could probably guess the gist. She didn’t approve of our union, and she wanted me gone.
They exchanged a few more words, the tension between prince and queen growing more volatile by the second. The juxtaposition of their dynamic from when I’d first seen them together was mind-blowing. Before, they’d felt like mother and son. Not that I was any authority on child-parent relationships, but Vincent had had a certain air around his mother. He’d been gentle, kind, and respectful.
Now he was all hard edges, bared fangs, and pointed words.
It had been stupid to think I could win these people over. Not that I’d been given a chance in the first place. From the second they laid eyes on me, they’d been against me. Now that I’d gone and murdered the woman who was supposed to marry their prince, there was no hope of being anything more to them than what I already was. A dangerous outsider.
“Vincent, what is she saying?” The urgency in my tone matched the electric tension in the air, and this time, I got an answer.
“She’s saying that she’s tired of the loss. She lost my father, and she lost me too. The gods smiled upon her when they brought me back and didn’t question the state in which I returned. The lack of heartbeat. My new lander female with the scent of three other mates leaking from her thighs. She didn’t question it until she heard that I meant to leave after the ceremony. She won’t stand for it.”
As he translated, anger built, precious seconds away from combustion. His breaths lashed out, hot and angry like fiery blasts through Hell’s gates. “I told her I still planned on providing an heir. But that’s not enough. She’s tired of ruling and wants me to take her place. She doesn’t want to wait for the next born. Especially a…” He flinched as if he’d been physically slapped. “Especially a new land hybrid.”
The queen said something again. It was just a few words. Whatever they were, it had Vincent’s disposition toward his mother turning dark and caustic. “And that’s why she ordered Valkera to dispose of you.”
A series of chills skipped down my back. So much for getting along with my mother-in-law. TV and books hadn’t set my expectations high for our relationship, but even with my luck, I wouldn’t have ever guessed she’d stoop this low.
She’d probably expressed her distaste for this new plan to her son, and knowing Vincent, he’d completely disregarded it. So she’d taken matters into her own hands to make sure she didn’t lose her only child once again and kept the royal line of pure blood.
I wanted to go home more than ever. Not because I was naked in front of a crowd of strangers who, minutes ago, had been happy to watch me be raped and had done fuck all to stop it. And not because the vampire king was a day away from the coven’s doorstep, ready to tear everything I’d come to love to dust.
I was ready to go home more than ever. I was tired of being made to feel like I wasn’t worth the air I breathed.
It had started with the Helsing Guild when they’d tried to hunt their own leader down because of the abomination in her belly. Then Vincent when we’d first met. The Boston coven. The Elders.
Now the fae.
This shit could really wear on a girl’s self-esteem, and I needed my four big boyfriends to tell me I’m pretty, that I’ll be queen one day, and wear the hearts of my enemies on the spikes of my crown.
“Set me down, Vin.” Even though I wasn’t presenting in my stronger form, my voice came out demonic, leaving no room for argument. He set me on my feet, and with my head held high, I walked around the bed toward Vin’s mother.
Everyone watched with bated breaths as I approached their queen. This wasn’t the first time I was naked, drenched in blood, and ready to fight, with words first and violence next if my hand was forced.
“Translate for me, Vincent.”
In my periphery, I saw him nod, and I continued. “I’m going to glaze over the fact you tried to have me raped and killed tonight, Fairie Queen. I think this is less about hating me and more about wanting to hold onto your son. I love him. And when we have a kid, I will love them too. You may not like what I am, but you’ve seen what I can do.”
A smirk lifted the corner of my mouth as I picked a piece of Valkera’s flesh from my shoulder and flicked it away. “And that’s just scratching the surface. That power will pass to them, and if they choose, they will lead the fae. And let me tell you, they’ll have a little something called compassion. Which you people could use. Until then, I’m going the fuck home. And I’m taking your son with me. He doesn’t belong here anymore. It’s time to let him go.”
Vincent translated my words, speaking in an authoritative tone matching mine.
With every word, the fae queen’s demeanor grew colder, and I fought the urge to inch away from her.
I refused to give in to her attempts, and everyone else’s for that matter, to make me feel weaker. I was fucking sick of everyone else trying to dictate where I belonged in this godforsaken supernatural food chain.
The queen took a step toward me, the space between us shrinking. I didn’t back down or shrink away even though my human instincts screamed at me to run. She towered over me, beautiful and terrifying, just like her son.
She spoke two thick words I didn’t need Vin to translate. “Fuck you” was basically the vibe, and any doubt of that was put to rest when she spit at my feet a breath later.
