“Am I to assume, from your mention of an apology tour, that you’ve made up with your brother?”
My gaze snapped back up to him, stunned momentarily by the sudden shift in topic, but Milo hadn’t even looked away from the shelf he was examining. He ran his fingers along the spines of various books, absentmindedly mouthing the titles.
“Yes,” I answered. “We’ve put aside our disagreement.”
“Good. A few months is too long to stay mad at one another. Especially here, when you never know when someone may be taken from you.”
He was watching me now, hand poised over a book on the shelf. There was something in his gaze, something intense, as if he knew something and was willing me to understand it myself. Or perhaps testing me to see if there was something I knew that he didn’t. Either way, it was the strangest expression I’d ever seen on his face.
“What do you—”
“Adrian,” Nascha exclaimed, beaming as she entered the library. “What a pleasant surprise. I come here to retrieve my beloved grandson and find an esteemed guest. Please, do us the favor of staying for dinner?”
“I would love to. But I’m afraid Myrine takes it as a personal offense if I miss dinner at House Viper,” I lied. Myrine couldn’tcare less where I was, so long as I was training. In truth, I would attend dinner with Milo any day, but I had no desire to spend an evening being glared at by Olympia or interrogated by Nascha.
“Of course.” Nascha folded her hands delicately in front of her and smiled.
“Actually, I should be going now. Thank you, Milo. It was wonderful to see you again.”
“Any time,” he called back with a smile.
I left House Avus and returned to House Viper, my mind even more heavily laden than before. I passed through the iron gates and made my way through the foyer and halls of the grand estate in search of one thing. I could feel his presence like a shadow in the back of my mind, waiting, giving me my space, anticipating when I might next need him. Warren had lost Anna. Dahlia had lost Cyrus. I couldn’t lose Dante.
He answered his bedroom door shirtless, leaning against the threshold. The flickering light of the candle in his room cast delicious shadows over his muscled abdomen. I pressed against him, fusing my lips to his. He relaxed into it immediately, one fist wrapping up in my hair as he held my head still. I pulled away after a moment.
“Don’t marry Olympia,” I said, breathless.
There it was. I’d ripped that fragile thing straight out of my heart and presented it to him. Now, I just waited to see if he’d shatter it.
His green eyes flashed as they met mine but he was already nodding, already leaning in.
“Okay,” he whispered and kissed me.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Unify yourselves in strength. The only way that Sanctuary can hope to survive is through the careful, methodical curation of bloodlines. The weak will be cast down so that the rest may live.”
-Quote from an Anonymous Founder, Lost Texts of Legend, Date Unknown
Before Dante and I could rise to meet the day on our own terms the next morning, we were summoned to the patriarch’s office. Cautious, we made our way through the darkened halls to the propped-open door above. Cosmo sat behind his desk, his cold, cruel gaze settling on his grandson who followed me into the room before standing, clenching his jaw, against the opposite wall.
Dante?I asked.
He didn’t respond, but his lip twitched as the only acknowledgement that he’d heard me through our mental bond. Frowning, I strode deeper into the room and faced Cosmo.
“What’s this about?”
“I’m certain you already know.” Cosmo leaned forward and clasped his hands together over his desk, his gaze swiveling from me to his grandson and back. “Your decision, Dante.”
“We need more time,” I blurted. “We’ve been so busy training. We haven’t had time to properly discuss—”
“I gave you one month,” Cosmo spat. “You’ve had two.”
“Two in which we’ve defeated two more Trials,” I snapped back at him, glaring. I stepped closer to his desk.
The old man rose slowly, the sleeves of his robe falling down around his arms and pooling on the wood surface against which he leaned. I kept my eyes on his, despite how obviously he was trying to intimidate me. Not this time. I raised my chin and stood my ground against the patriarch of House Viper.
“I don’thaveto give him a choice at all,” Cosmo ground out through gritted teeth. “I already have an offer on the table from a willing participant of a fellow High House, a young woman who successfully made it through several Trials of her own. She may not be the best available option, but if my grandson refuses to convince you to reproduce with him, then she is a satisfactory alternative. I could have made the arrangements with Nascha the moment she offered them. The only reason I’ve held out at all has been in the hopes that the both of you might see reason. But I see now I was entirely too optimistic. A mistake I won’t repeat. As of tomorrow evening, Dante, you’ll be betrothed to Olympia of House Avus, and I expect—”
