“A word of advice?” Basten says tightly, baring his teeth at my father. “A thousand years from now, at the next Awakening, maybe give a word of fucking warning before stabbing your daughter.”
Vale huffs in mild amusement, as though even as a human king, Basten is as simple-minded as a lapdog.
Vale turns to me, instead—his focus always circling back on me, like orbiting planets. “You are immortal, Sabine. Nothing can permanently maim you. Not even Woudix himself is capable of harvesting a fae’s soul for his underrealm. The sooner you shed your former human habits, the more easily you’ll embrace your powers and your memories. What happened at the Garden of Ten Gods was a showcase of your raw, untamed fey. You’ll need to harness it. To tame it. To remember how to bend your power to your will until every human before you cowers.”
Beside me, Basten rolls back his shoulders, tense for battle.
A trace of a smirk twists Vale’s cheek as he faces Basten, looking him slowly up and down. He wrinkles his nose at what he sees. “You preferred her in her human form, didn’t you?”
Basten presses his hands together, drawing in a tight breath. “Listen close, King of Fae. I don’t give a fuck about your fae-human squabbles. I don’t kneel to gods, and I sure as hell don’t kneel to men. The only king I ever bent a knee to fucking burned me for it. So hear me now: the only loyalty left in my bones is to the woman at my side.”
A thread of warmth finds its way into my cold center, and I toy with the twine ring on my fourth finger that Basten gave me, wishing for an instant it was only the two of us. That the bed’s canopy of sewn fabric leaves was real, that the rugs underfoot were swishing grass, that the window was open to the stars.
Like our early days together.
“She isn’t yours, human,” Vale growls.
“I am his, and he is mine,” I interject before Basten can answer. A clap of anger beats alongside my heart. Outside, thunder suddenly cracks, though there’s no sign of a storm. “You could stab me in a thousand places, and each one will bleed for him.”
Wind rattles the window panes, sending a tree branch outside snapping at the glass.
“Easy, wildcat.” Basten’s steady voice in my ear calms the storm inside me.
I blink, swallowing back my anger, and the wind outside dies down.
Basten drapes his arm around my waist, low and intimate. “Try to tear us apart again, Vale, and you’ll see history repeat itself in blood. Sabine and I are a package deal. I’m the one who got her through the Gloaming at the Garden of Ten Gods. Not you. Not Artain. Not fucking Iyre. Sabine drank my blood, carved her need into my skin, broke her pleasure on my cock. That bond isn’t something you can break.”
I preen with pride, leaning into his promises.
Vale plucks a piece of dust off his shirt, unbothered. “To what length would you go for her?”
Basten’s back jerks upright. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“Any length.” His fingers curve possessively around my hipbone, pulling me closer. “Isn’t that clear?”
“Would you giveallyour blood?”
There’s a catch in his voice—a trap. My stomach pulls in tight, and immediately, I think of how Basten found Paz’s pale, dead body in Iyre’s cabinet. Drained of memories, prayers, and most of all, blood.
“She’ll need a mortal acolyte.” Vale rubs his fingers, lets the imaginary dust fall to the ground. “I suppose that’sonething you could be useful for.”
A warning beat picks up in my chest, but as soon as I turn toward Basten, he cups my jaw and says without hesitation, “I’ll be whatever she needs—it isn’t even a question. Wildcat, you know I exist to serve you. I’ll be your acolyte. Companion. Worshipper.”
I grab his shirt collar, the metal buttons cutting into my palm. “No. You’re a king, not a throat just waiting to be opened.”
He snorts as though I’ve made a joke. “Look, I don’t want to agree with your father on anything, but he’s right in this. You need someone to satiate you. Breathe, blood, sex, worship, prayer. You think I’d let any other man on this earth give that to you, instead of me?”
I open my mouth to protest, but the rush of words poised on my tongue fades. I close my mouth and swallow hard. Like it or not, I have to admit he has a point. I don’twantto need that from someone. But even now, the hunger is returning to my core, hot and demanding.
“You’re sure?” I ask.
He laughs softly—leaving no room for doubt.
My breath catches, unsure how to find the words to tell him what this means to me. I’m about to lean in to kiss him instead when Vale’s heavy voice cuts the moment. “It isn’t quite that simple.”
My mouth goes dry. “What do you mean?”
