“Oh well, if they have promised…”
“Could you go heavier on the sarcasm, I almost missed it? I am not a fool. I made Decima take a Blood Oath. She was furious, but if we do this, then I can crown Daire and you as my King and Queen. This is how we get everything we want.”
I reach up to cup Aurelius’ cheek, and he stares back at me in surprise. “You’re calling him Daire and not Kit. Are you showing respect because he is risking his life?”
“That impulsive feathered fuck risks his life every day.”
I narrow my eyes. “But you don’t get to risk it for him.”
“Don’t I?” Aurelius’ gaze becomes heavy and dominant. “He’s mine. I’m the only Alpha between us with a throne.”
I let out a growl of frustration, twisting away from Aurelius and marching back toward the water.
I stare over the sea of rose petals. “If we do this, then it must be our choice. We do this together. You’re caged, as much as we are. But by the moon, it always bothered me that you returned from the campaign in Rune Forest without a fucking hair on your head out of place. Where was the blood? The bruises?”
Aurelius sounds confused. “You wanted me to be injured?”
“Daire, on the other hand, was a bloody mess.” I remember the sense of desecration to see the beautiful fae’s skin scattered with bruises. His right eye swollen shut. His lip busted. “It made me realize that Daire fought in the heart of that battle for his people. But you? Where the fuck were you? Watching from a safe distance? Enjoying the entertainment? I get it now. You succeed by using others, while not getting your own hands dirty.”
“Do you think that I’d rather stay in the Shadow Court with my uncle?” Aurelius snarls. “That I am any safer here? I would fight any battle rather than… Face death a thousand times, rather than watch theentertainmentof Daire and you being sent to the Blood Court. Butthe cost is too high to save everyone.There is always a choice about who to save and who to sacrifice.”
I turn to study him.
It sounds like Aurelius is repeating something that has been trained into him.
It’s bullshit.
“What raven starving asshole taught you that?” I demand.
Aurelius’ expression becomes as cold as gold.
And his eyes…
They glow. Swirl. Became fathomless.
“Shit.” I shrink back, stepping away.
My foot slips on the edge of the bath, and I struggle not to fall into the water.
Dread grips me at the surge of dark pheromones and the predator gaze of Aurelius, as he prowls toward me.
I can see an entirely different man surfacing.
“You called for Hadrian, when I was trying to save you,” Aurelius’ golden claws grow, sharp and vicious, “as if letting out the tyrant — who would have torn apart my kingdom with blood-stained hands to save you — was the answer to your prayers and not a curse.”
My pulse roars in my ears. “I was wrong.”
“Call again.” Aurelius’ expression hardens. The lines on his face become harsh and forbidding. His lip curls into a hateful sneer. “This is your chance, Wolf.”
“I said thatI was wrong,” I scream, grabbing hold of his biceps and attempting to shake him.
I can’t move Aurelius at all, as if he has been turned into one of the golden statues in his uncle’s study.
Shadowed death…
The whispers of the cursed dagger become louder.
Let me out.
