“Must?” he echoed, watching my chest rise and fall. Like Gratia, he could hear a trap. He also, unfortunately, knew somewhat of how my mind worked. As different as I was and as my priorities were now, I was stillme.
I smiled. “What we want as individualsmustcome second to the wellbeing and growth of the realm. Don’t you think?”
He stopped breathing as I brushed against his body to squeeze through the tiny gap left in the doorway.
I strode toward the ballroom. Instead of a banquet, tonight’s festivities involved a cocktail evening. Demon royals and their festivities were the biggest pain in the ass. They partied all the damn time. But not in a fun way. Every night was in a different location in the fortress, but the people were the same. They talked about the same things.Didthe same stuff. After a while, the food and music and dancing all looped around again. And again. And again.
Boring.
“Explain.” Carmine hadn’t moved from the doorway, though he’d turned as I walked away.
The second round of Tiers was in two days, and if I wasn’t there, then I’d forfeit my place and be forced to sit out the last two rounds and wait to reenter next year. One year might not seem like a long time, but it was one more year of a ruse, one more year living a double life, one more year in his company, one more year my twin spent in the dungeons, and one year away from my reason for being. That was impossible for me.
I had to play this exactly right. This was my chance to convince Carmine.
His hand caught at mine, and I was whirled back. I didn’t hear him move.
Carmine dropped a searing kiss to the back of my hand. “Explain.”
“Remove your lips from my body,” I hissed.
He looked up, and his hold on my hand became the threat it was always intended to be. Gray eyes, ice cold. This part of him would kill me, and the rest of him would weep at the loss. Those two people existed in the same person, one cruel to the core, and the other a reasonable—dare I say the word—demon capable of compromise and mercy.
Explain, said his look. He wouldn’t repeat himself a third time.
Carmine had spoken of blades being forged. Did he think that of himself? His century-long imprisonment had achieved the opposite in my eyes. Whatever happened to him there had created this cruel monster who felt no remorse and who appeared at the flick of a switch. If this splitting of self had happened to him down there, then my twin’s demon could be going through the same.
“There’s something you can’t give me,” I said, relieved when my voice was steady. “Something I must win Tiers to claim. When I claim this, I will become powerful in my own right. That is why I must return to the game, Carmine.”
I pulled my hand from his grip.
What I’d said was true. Also, obvious—everyone knew why demons entered Tiers. My definition of power just differed greatly from how Carmine would interpret my statement.
“You will use this power against me.” His words weren’t a question.
“Only if you get in my way.”
“You can never exceed my power, Syera. I won’t allow it.”
I’d set the trap. Now for the lure. “I will be too powerful for you to harness. My power will stand apart and serve me. That is what I seek.”
Power was everything in this realm. The king’s mate should exist to lend her power to him and his rule through the mating or her family or possessions or intelligence. Whatever assets she had. If Tiers made me more powerful, and if Carmine could keep me under his thumb, thenhewould become more powerful. In his mind, that served the realm’s best interest.
And he had no doubt of his ability to control me.
I said, “You know that I can request a lot of you if I win. More than you could justify giving me without the game.”
Carmine’s cold eyes glittered.Black ice.One wrong move, and I’d veer off the cliff. He blinked twice, and the coldness remained. That suited me fine. Gratia had pulled the curtains back for me in a big way. I’d been stuck trying to appeal to his other, calmer side, yetthiswas the monster who ran the show.
“Shall we?” I nodded toward the babble of conversation down the hall.
“There’s something else, my sweet Syera, is there not?” Carmine blocked my path and curled his arm around my waist to draw me close. “Do not leave me in ignorance.”
An order.
I rested my hands on his chest. “What you’re ignorant of could fill a library. We don’t have time for that.”
His hard length pressed against my stomach out of nowhere. I mean, of course the erection was attached to his body, butfuck.A small moan escaped me, and when my eyes widened at my slip, my exhale shook out of my lips too.
