He faltered backward, clearly terrified by the sight, and that was when I saw it.Wanda’s face was not beautiful any longer.Like Bane and Desmond, her skin was grey, but lighter gray.Like a shark’s.Her teal eyes glowed and her teeth looked sharp as hell, and bright, aqua and gold light surrounded her.She stepped in front of me.And Bane.
“Your name will be written on your tombstone in a minute, O’Neil.Back the fuck up.”
I’d never heard Wanda talk like that.Dark.Threatening.
Bane chortled behind me, and I could feel the flames igniting his skin.
“Guys, come on, we need to move,” Norman said, his tentacles sliding along Desmond’s arms, tugging him backward.
Delaney gripped his other arm tight, and just as the clouds rolled over us, the rain started.
Desmond shifted down almost immediately and the thunder cracked above us.He turned, dazed as he looked at Delaney then back at Bane in fear.
“I’m sorry, I?—”
“No time for apologies,” Norman said as he headed for the exit, toward the inside of the castle, dragging Desmond and an attached Delaney with him.
Wanda shifted down, too, and Bane followed suit.
“Bane, what was?—”
Bane’s eyebrows furrowed and I could see his remorse.He looked just as scared as Desmond.
He tugged me close, leading me toward the exit as Wanda flanked my side.
“Men,” she whispered, only for me to hear.“And they say we are dramatic.”
When we arrived indoors, the rain really started to come down and for a moment we all stood on the precipice, staring out at the heavy rain, the moment not lost on any of us.
“What the hell was that?”I asked, turning to Bane with confusion.
“You are asking me?”His eyebrows shot up in surprise.“He started it, he?—”
“It does not matter if he drew a sword, Bane, this is not how we treat guests!”
Suddenly, the anger that filled me made me feel heated in a new way.
“Violet!”
“Seems yourgancanghhas much to learn about politics,” Desmond nipped behind me.
I spun on my heels, catching his cocky grin.“And you!”I took one step closer to Desmond, who only held my angry glare.“You are a guest!You should have better manners than this!You do not waltz into an adversary’s home and?—”
“Ah, there it is.”Desmond purred.
“There what is?”I threw my arms up in frustration.
He looked at me for a moment with sadness.“I had hoped you would be different.,” he said, glancing from Bane to me, to Delaney and the Squid Squad.There we all stood, soaked in our formal attire, staring like drowned rats at the Dark Fae Prince and his guilty frown.
“You know, I thought perhaps because you hadn’t grown up with the stain of our shared histories, you wouldn’t be so quick to judge me, Violet.”He slipped his hands in his pockets and scoffed at Bane, then me.“I would have expected it from a monster like Bane,” he snarled, then cast his gaze at Wanda.“Or evenyou,Wanda.”Then he turned his gaze back at me.“But I thought for sure a long-lost princess who knew nothing of our strained kingdoms would have given me a chance to prove otherwise.”He straightened his shoulders and turned away from us.“But perhaps I was wrong to think so highly of you.Good night.”
“Wait!”I called out, his words settling on me.
How had everything gone to hell so fast?
“I’ll take him,” Delaney said, stepping forward.
“But the Queen said?—”
