Selene stiffened.
“You hated Adelaide,” I murmured, my voice smooth as silk over steel. “So you stole her lover.” A cruel smile twisted my mouth. “You dragged Sly into your Faction. Broke him. Tortured him. Made him kneel to you. But he never loved you, wouldn’t even answer to his name. Made you call him Hayes.”
“He deserved it,” she spat.
“Tell me,” I whispered, “does Reverie remind you of the woman you could never outshine?”
Her breath caught.
“Does she make your skin crawl because she looks like the one person who was everything you wished to be? The daughter you’ll never have with Sly?”
Ubel flinched in the background at my tone.
Selene’s eyes filled with hatred—but also fear.
Good.
I dropped her face, stepping back.
“You forget yourself,” she snapped, voice shaking. “We built this kingdom with you.”
I chuckled quietly—dark and amused. “You built nothing.”
Ubel straightened, gathering what little courage he owned. “Surely you see the benefit of our influence. Our?—”
“Influence?” I repeated. The torchlight dimmed. The shadows thickened around me.
I stalked toward him. “You think youinfluencedme.” My voice shook the very air. “You think you shaped me. Directed me. Controlled me.”
I reached out and placed two fingers under his chin.
Lifted.
He trembled.
“You mistake proximity for power,” I said softly.
Selene’s voice cracked. “We are your allies?—”
“No.”
The word struck like a sharp blade.
“You are the tools. And I’m done pretending I need you.”
The manor itself seemed to exhale in relief. Recognizing its master.
Selene swallowed, her voice barely audible. “What… changed?”
Reverie’s kiss.
Her heartbeat.
The cracked crown binding itself to me.
“Nothing you deserve to know about,” I said.
Ubel dared a step closer. “Then what are your orders?”
