“I’ll do my job. You can count on it,” she said quietly.
Understanding softened his face. “Of that, I have no doubt. We’ll get started with business then as it seems more comfortable to you.”
Elysia nodded, drinking her coffee and nibbling on a scone.
His face shifted into one she knew oh so well. She’d seen it a thousand times. It was the look of someone who knew a secret and wanted to use it.
Anxiousness turned the coffee in her stomach to acid, and she spoke quickly before he could maneuver their deal even more to his advantage. She set her shoulders primly.
“I’d like to renegotiate. Your terms were terrible.”
The terms had been terrible, alright. He was requiring her to find the talisman that would unbind his powers.
Aidan barked out a laugh. One leg kicked out in front of him, he considered her with quiet delight. “Are you always this stiff?”
“You can be direct, but I can’t?”Hypocrite.
Aidan shook his head laughingly, his smile stretching wide. “You are painfully uptight.”
Mouth half-open, disbelief heightened her pitch. “And you arerude.” Her posture noticeably stiffened, proving his point—much to her irritation—but nonetheless she pushed back on his observations. “I’m not uptight. I just… Deals are done in a certain manner at court,” she finished, both embarrassed and affronted.
His grin widened even further. “That voice you use. Whatisthat?”
Her cheeks heated, her gaze catching on the sheen of the scars on his hand. His fingers spread across his jaw and mouth, distracting her. This wasn’t going how she wanted it to at all.
“My sister calls it my Crown voice,” she admitted begrudgingly. “It just happens, okay?” She crossed her arms uncomfortably and stole a glance at him only to wish she hadn’t. The pure amusement hidden behind his hand made her own lips twitch into a smile. Bastard.
The fact of the matter was, the stick up her ass had been installed at birth by her mother, and it was not going to come out without a fight. Not in the presence of a god, anyway. And not that she’d ever admit it.
He held up his palms in placation. “Setting aside the voice, I admire the bold opener. You would have died if it wasn’t for me. But please, insult the deal I offered after falling into my throne room nearly dead.”
Exasperated, she set down her coffee with a rattle. “I couldn’t fight back—I had to let the guards take me. I didn’t think it would go that far! And you know what, the voice is called having manners!”
Contrary to his even breaths and calm expression, a dark sootlike fog encased Aidan, his eyes now shining like royal blue coal. Elysia froze. She’d gone too far. She’d pissed himoff.
She drew on every ounce of court training she’d ever had, forcing the words through gritted teeth. “I’m sorry, I apologize. The deal is perfectly fine. How do we proceed?” Better to stay alive and work with a shitty deal than to die her first day here.
Ducking her head, she stared at the floral rug, hating herself for rolling over, but she wasn’t prepared for immortal fallout. She bit down on the insides of her cheeks. She’d never agreed to such an absolutely gods-awful deal before, and it was going to be inescapably bound by agod.
Aidan spoke, his voice smooth and rough at once as his flood of sootlike power tasted her skin. “We both know it’s a terrible deal. That’s not what I’m angry about.”
At his power’s touch, an old hunger yawned within her, a hunger she’d been forced to deny her entire life in Kava. She pushed the ravenous sensation down and tucked her feet beneath her on the chair. “It really is terrible. Worst deal I’ve ever made.”
He ignored her, his soot still writhing in the air, tasting her skin and brushing against her hair. “I’ve kept eyes on you—I was recallingexactlyhow you received your injuries.”
Startled, she gripped the arm of the chair. “Like I said, I knew the king was going to make an example of me. At least I got to stab him before he tried to kill me.”
“You really knew?” His jaw ticked and her confusion increased.
“Yes.”
“You didn’t consider escaping? Traveling here before it came to such lethal blows?”
She was quiet. “People needed to know. Everyone thinks Garrison’s a hero—that he’s golden.”
His fingers were drumming again. “I suppose I might owe Garrison one thank you before this is all done.”
“What could you possibly want to thank him for?” The sootlike fog had disappeared now, and she mistakenly thought it meant he had relaxed.
