“Donotblame this on me. I thought I was closing the portal when I joined them!”
“Yes, well, that was unfortunate and could have easily been avoided had you listened to me. I think we’re going to need to work on our communication.”
“You took her,” Jace continues, hyper-fixated, a razor-sharp edge cutting into his voice, “knowingsomething was after her. ThatIenarcould be after her. That he might be fucking alive and here?!”
He seethes, his entire body now quaking with rage.
“The safest place for her was at my side. I was protecting her.”
I blink, and Jace has Kylian by the throat.
“You did this!” he explodes. “You fucking stole her from her home, tracked her with that star, threatened everyone she cares about—and you’re surprised she didn’t trust your word? Your word is as good asshit!” His glare remains fixed on Kylian as he addresses us. “He’s a liar and a manipulator. Don’t believe a gods-damned word that comes out of his mouth.”
Kylian grins, having gotten the rise out of him he was gunning for. “I have no reason to lie.”
“You have every reason to lie now that you’re powerless.” Jace releases his throat with a shove.
“You can all sleep well at night knowing I would never harm my mate.” He flings an arm around Serena’s waist, tugging her onto the bed beside him. I bite back my fury as she scrambles out of his grasp.
“Funny that you don’t classify kidnapping, imprisoning, and extorting into marriage as harm,” I grit, clenching my jaw.
“As I’m sure she’ll tell you—I never touched her. Well, I did, but it was consensual.”
I glower at him, my fingers curling into fists at the thought of his gods-damned hands on my mate.
Jace turns bright red, all but convulsing. “Tell me how it was consensual when you had her chained up like a fucking whore in your bed!”
“Hey!” Serena shouts, demanding our attention. “Itwasconsensual. You may never understand, and frankly I don’t need you to. And you.” She hits Kylian with a warning look. “Stop provoking them and tell us how to fix this.”
He splays a hand over his chest, his brows inching higher. “Are you…asking for my help?”
“Yes,” she answers begrudgingly.
“Then you should say please.”
Her lavender eyes roll. “Please.”
“I think you should say it on your knees, just there.” He points to the ground beneath his feet.
“You fucker.”A growl rips from my throat as I bound forward. Serena’s hand on my chest is the only thing that stops me.
“It’s fine,” she hisses.
I twist away, taking deep breaths.
Stay calm,I tell myself.The last thing we need is for you to shift and turn this into a bloodbath before we get the information we need.
Slowly, she turns and lowers to her knees before Kylian. It makes me sick watching her supplicate herself to this bastard.
Jace makes a disgusted sound from across the room.
“Kylian, I am asking you, begging you”—Serena peers up at him from the ground, hands wrung like she’s in prayer—“to please, please tell me how to fix this.”
Kylian’s gaze travels over her body, lazy and lingering. He waits a moment, and then, “It cannot be fixed.”
She tosses her hands in the air, shoving to her feet.
“I just wanted to see you on your knees again.”
