She understood her mate’s hurt, but she also understood fear, and fear kept Adila on a tight leash for five-hundred years.
Rory insisted they meet in the city to ensure there were no interruptions while they spoke. With the changes happening in both realms, someone always needed them.
As they waited on their drinks, Caius asked Adila if they’d made any progress hunting down Gedeon’s spies.
The day Gedeon died, Caius rounded up a fewAatxeguards and barked orders like a commander. He had experience running a palace, whereas Adila looked like a frightened bunny.
The trusted guards rounded up the non-Aatxeguards hired by Gedeon, forced a truth potion down their throats, and learned about a large number of spies the late king had stationed around the city.
A guard named Titus had the most information, and when heshowed Caius where to find the files on all of Gedeon’s spies, Rory was hurt to learn Fiona was one of them, but the biggest surprise was learning she was Nina’s mother.
Adila rattled off the latest updates as Rory half listened, lost in her morose thoughts, and after their server brought their drinks, Adila cleared her throat loudly. “Thank you for agreeing to hear me out.”
Caius drummed his fingers on the table, avoiding eye contact. “I know what you’re going to say. I understand you think you had no choice.” His eyes met hers. “But I’ll never understand why you gave up as easily as you did.”
The Lux Queen’s face filled with shame. “I’m not you or Atarah,” she admonished. “I’ve never fought back a day in my life, and I hate myself for it. I hate myself for accepting things as they were. I am not excusing my actions,” she assured him. “I am asking for another chance to be the sister I should have been.”
“Five-hundred years is a long time,” he replied quietly. “It will take me longer than a few weeks to get over it.”
“I know.” Her eyes looked hopeful. “And I’m not asking you to get over it. I’m asking for a chance to make it up to you.”
“You’ll get one.” He threw back his drink and signaled for another. “Just not right now.”
“Rory?” a man’s voice asked, and they turned to see a handsome guy in his twenties with shaggy hair gawking at her.
Where did she recognize him from?
“How are you here?” he asked, and her eyes bulged when she realized who he was.
Wyll the virgin.Shit. Rory still used her alias in Erdikoa, pretending to be Aurora Raven’s cousin, but she’d answered when he called her name.Double shit.
“I think you have me confused with someone else,” she replied politely.
Wyll’s eyes flicked to Adila, widened, and rolled back in his head. Caius shot to his feet, catching the man before he hit the ground. “Who is this?” he asked Rory.
She grimaced. “I slept with him not long before I was arrested.”
He scowled and dropped Wyll like a sack of potatoes.
“Caius,” Adila hissed, looking around as she scooted out of the booth. People were staring, and she lifted a hand. “We’re fine. He got a little excited.” Some turned away, but a few still watched curiously.
Wyll’s eyes opened in a daze. “I fucked The Butcher.” He turned to Adila. “And you’re…”
Caius’ eyes flashed, and he lifted his foot above Wyll’s head. Rory reached out and forced her husband into the booth before he could stomp the poor guy to death. “Don’t you dare.”
Adila held out her hand to help Wyll up, and when he grabbed it, they both gasped.
He pushed himself into a sitting position, and his eyes almost popped out of his head as they ate up their surroundings. “How is this possible?” he whispered, turning his wide eyes to Adila. “What did you do to me?”
He and Adila were lost in their own world, and Caius glanced at Rory.
“We need to get him out of here,” Rory told him sternly. “Help him walk out, but if you hurt him, I won’t touch you for a week.”
“You slept with him,” Caius replied through clenched teeth. “I am fighting the urge to disembowel him.”
She tried to rub the tension from her forehead. “You can’t kill anyone who touched me before we met.”
His brows rose. “You did.”
