“Who I am doesn’t explain why you would take a married woman as your mate like—”
“Yeah, so I don’t consider Aurora ever having been married,” I finally,finallyconfessed. I shrugged when his mouth hung open. “She never consented and—”
Kenneth snorted. “That doesn’t matter when—”
“No, it actuallydoes,” I purred. “I read the laws back then. The laws of the land said she had toconsent, asshat. Yes, fathers could sign marriage contracts and deals were made, but to have an actual marriage back there, she had to have given her vows in front of a man of the cloth to sign off on her consent. That neverhappened, did it?”
I smiled like the cat who ate the canary and the predator I was all in one. It was fairly amusing when he couldn’t seem to recover or his tiny mind exploded.
“So she wassoldto a monster who did monstrous things and I’m not the type of man who holds crimes against the damn victim,” I continued. “Unless you canhonestlytell me that she came to you of her own free will—evenonce—then no, she wasn’t married. She was sold illegally and abused. By you.”
“Dayumn,” the guard said under his breath, clearly amused by all of this.
Good. I was glad people in the prison hated Kenneth Reed as well.
That meant he wouldn’t be getting any favors or treated well.
“That’s all nonsense,” Kenneth finally said dismissively when he snapped out of it.
“It’s really not, you fucking narcist,” I drawled. “You can’t just dismiss anything that doesn’t fit your narrative.”
“Then why are you here?” he snapped.
“I had to see who you really were,” I admitted.
Something dark filled his eyes. “Yeah, smart to not trust that lying bitch. She betrayed me at every turn working with the elders to—”
“You really are fucking clueless and a pathetic man,” I whispered, shaking my head when he started yelling and calling me names. “You say she was your wife, but you couldn’t even protect her.” I nodded when he froze. “You weren’t the only monster who abused her in that coven.”
The understanding filled his eyes, but he wasangrythen. “That stupid bitch. She let them trick her and didn’t even come to me so I knew and could—”
“Handle it?” I snorted. “You’re pissed that she ‘let’ it happen to her. Are you fucking hearing yourself? That wasyour job. Your one job was to protect her if you wouldn’t ever be a husband in the rest of the ways you should have been. Other women were sold back then, but not all of them wererapedin such horrid ways.
“You ‘bred her,’ right? And you think she would ever have come to you foranything?Like why, man? You can’t be this stupid. You weren’t on her side. You didn’t protect her. You were her abuser. And such a stand-up guy I’ve heard over and over again that the only reason your coven didn’t fall apart much sooner was Aurora handling things.”
“She didn’t handle anything,” he lied. “I handled it all. I had to lock her away because she was a tart who flirted and lured in—”
“You’re fucking delusional,” I whispered, blinking at him. “I thought you had… You think this is true.”
“Itisand you weren’t there,” he bellowed, slamming his hands on the table.
“No, butothers were, asshole,” I snarled. “Ellie was there and she was clear that Aurora never flirted or acted anything but loyal to your stupid ass. Others werethereand witnessed the same. Aurora iskindand people respond to that. Stupid men think that is flirting or showing favoritism. That’s not how real life works. She was kind. That’s it.”
“Oh right, then tell me how you were lured in by someone with so many issues?” He saw or sensed something that gave away this was a point to hit. “You can act like it’s fine, but you’re here. I will always be a part of your mating. I had her first and she won’teverforget me. Not when I’ve—”
“No, she won’t,” I agreed. “Nor should she. I want her to always remember what she was brave enough tosurvive. She survived you. She’s not holding onto you like a lover she can’t let go.”
“Bullshit. I’m all she’s known and—”
“Fucker, it wasn’t your godsdamn name she was screaming as I pleased her,” I snapped, hitting my limit with this asshole. I stood and adjusted my neck. “This was stupid. It was a waste of my time. You are a scar she’ll heal from. I can’t believe I was petty and gave you this much importance to call in favors and come see you myself.”
“Oh please,” Kenneth chuckled darkly. “We both know why you really came.”
“Is that so?” I asked, actually wondering if this asshole could know. It sounded idiotic, but he was centuries old.
He had to have some intelligence to have lasted that long, right? Especially given how many people and groups had been looking for me.
Kenneth smirked as he sat back in his seat, ignoring when he couldn’t go all the way because of his restraints.
