“Don’t hurt him, please.” My request brings Conri’s attention back to me.
“And what makes you think that you have any leverage to ask me anything?” He snarls. “Moreover, why would I keep the man you love alive?”
“Because of leverage. Keep him alive, chained, and I’ll do as you want. I won’t run. I won’t fight. I’ll be your bride.” The words are hard to say. But I force myself to say them anyway.As long as we’re breathing, there’s a chance for us to be together. That’s what Evander told me in the grove as we sat, professing love in ways we’d only ever once dreamed of. He endured years of pain, for me. I will keep breathing, for him. We will both endure with our only sustenance being hope.
“As long as you have her power, I have you under my control.” Conri shrugs.
“Faelyn and I made a pact,” Aurora speaks up. Her hand is still wrapped around mine. “Death is better than coming back with you.”
“You wouldn’t.” Conri’s grip slackens some with horror.
“I have lived a long,longtime,” Aurora whispers. Her voice is as cold as a winter’s gale. As lifeless as bleached bone. “I have watched kings rise and fall. I have fought for freedom and lost. Now, for the first time, I have the opportunity to end it.” She grabs me. In one motion she digs into my bag and pulls out the small knife I use for my threads. Aurora yanks me to her and presses the blade to my throat. I gasp as its point draws a bead of blood. It’s a small blade, but it doesn’t take much when pressed against the bulging vein of the neck. “What makes you think I wouldn’t take it? With or without her willingness?”
“Aurora?” I hide her name in a gasp. Not daring to ask another question.
She says nothing.
“All right. All right.” Conri releases Evander with a shove. Aurora’s grip slackens on me. “Then here’s what’s going to happen. We’re all going back to Den. We’re all going to pretend this never happened, and things will go back to the way they were.” He locks eyes with me. “Tomorrow, come moonrise, you and I will be wed.”
“But the full moon—” one of his knights begins to object.
“Damn the moon! Enough waiting and excuses—I will have my power!” Conri roars, stomping over to me. Aurora’s grip slackens. She backs away as he grows near, releasing me so Conri can yank me into his grasp. The wolf king looks down at me with rage. Hunger. Hate. “And let it never be uttered that I am not merciful. I am far more than the likes of you ever deserved.”
CHAPTER 45
Den is colderthan I remember on our return.
I am deafened by the oppressive silence on the long ride back. Evander has been forced to ride in his human form. I don’t know enough about the ways of the lykin to be sure, but it feels like a slight against him. He is on the back of an alpha to my left. They bound his hands with heavy rope that simmers with magic that I can only assume is intended to keep him from changing shape. Aurora rides on another alpha to my right. And I am in the middle, on Conri.
None of us talk. I try to catch each of their attentions once or twice, but Evander and Aurora both stare forward with dead gazes. Our thoughts overwhelm our hearts, and our mouths. There’s no planning or attempting to flee. Conri has us confidently in hand.
Every plan has come to an end. Every hope we’d carried has concluded. There’s nothing more…
When we arrive in Den, they waste no time descending on Evander again, overwhelming him in an instant. Evander puts up no fight, manhandled to the ground like a rag doll.
“Co—” I can’t even finish formulating his name before the wolf king looms at my side.
“What?” he whispers. “Think long and hard about any objections you intend to levy. You have embarrassed me enough for a lifetime. Every single word out of your mouth tries my patience.”
“This isn’t necessary,” I hiss back anyway. “He’s doing as you wish.”
“For now. I want to ensure it remains that way.” The clank of heavy shackles underscores his words.
I am left with nothing to do but watch in horror as they bind Evander, hands and feet. A heavy collar goes around his throat. The weight of all the chains would have a lesser man puddled on the floor. But Evander rises to stand tall as the alphas step away. His stare holds all the defiance and hate in the world, directed solely at Conri.
“Take him to whatever forgotten corner you can find and leave him there to rot,” Conri seethes. “Distorting the mind of my future queen against me is crime enough; kidnapping her is inexcusable.”
So that’s how he’s going to try and play off what’s happened. I doubt it will work, given what I overheard on the road. But no one is going to question Conri. Even if there’s skepticism in their eyes, they keep their mouths shut. Yet again, what the wolf king says is reality. It doesn’t matter how apparent the truth is.
“He can’t escape. Must you?—”
“Silence, bitch,” Conri hisses at me. “You will go to the chambers and ready yourself for our union come moonrise. I’ll entertain no other delays or objections. He’s only alive because you are going to comply peacefully and quietly. If you fail to keep up your end of the bargain, I might fail to keep up mine.”
I press my lips into a line and glare up at him. Then I force a smile as he slips his arm around my waist, guiding us back to his chambers. Aurora is behind, flanked by two knights.
“Ready yourselves,” Conri says gruffly, practically throwing me into the room when we arrive. I stumble, but manage not to fall. “I’ll return at twilight.” With one more look of disgust, he leaves. To my surprise, the knights follow him. I wonder if he’s trying to tempt us into fleeing. If the vicious side of him wants the opportunity to hunt us down once and for all.
My eyes swing from the entrance to Aurora. She stands at the edge of the divot before the hearth, staring into the flames, as still as a statue.
