I stare at him. “If that’s what it takes?” I echo at him. “What the fuck does that even mean?”
“It means someone has to push you.” He utters the words clearly. Efficiently.Truthfully.“You’ve finally found a worthy candidate. The Strigoi are eager to meet her.”
His words are not ones I expected to hear. “You’ve told them about Viviana? Before I was ready to announce her?”
“I didn’t have to. Your energy traverses the realms, Ciprian.” He takes a step back and draws his fingers through his long blond hair. “You’re the Strigoi King. It doesn’t matter where you are—we allfeelyou. And the moment you learned of Viviana Dalca’s existence, we sensed your intrigue, too.”
I stare at him. “What?”
“I had hoped that the moment you met the human in person, you would recognize her as yours and immediately present her before the kingdom for testing. Instead, you decided to play. Given your eternity of celibacy, I understood. But the Strigoi are growing impatient.”
“And you’ve chosen to wait until now to share all of this information with me?” I demand.
“Yes.” His amusement is no longer prominent, the warrior I befriended ages ago now peering at me through narrowed blue eyes.
“Why?”
“Because it’s my duty as your second-in-command to be the first one to evaluate your chosen candidate,” he tells me, his words underlined with a dominance he rarely exudes in my presence. “That’s the initial trial, Ciprian, the one that starts the process. And she passed.”
I continue studying him. “You’re telling me her trials have already begun.”
“Yes.”
“But she hasn’t consented to be my mate yet.”
He arches a brow. “You suddenly care about her consent?”
My teeth grind together as I begin to pace. Twenty-four hours ago, I would have questioned my own sanity in this conversation.
However, that was before gaining access to her mind.
“She’s complicated,” I mutter. “She… she makes me consider things in a new light.”
A chuckle escapes Marius, some of his natural humor seeming to return. “That’s fascinating.”
“Fuck off.”
“No.” He steps into my path. “You need to take her home for the next trial, Ciprian.”
“She’s not ready.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“It does,” I argue. “If she’s meant to be my queen, then her wishes will be respected not just by me but also by our kind.”
His jaw flexes, his irritation palpable. “Give me a timeline.”
I arch a brow. “You’re making demands of me now?”
“On behalf of the Strigoi, yes, Ciprian, I am. Your intended must participate in the trials. You know what will happen if she doesn’t.”
“I haven’t even presented her yet.”
“Not to the kingdom, no. But you did to me. And as I already stated?—”
“You were the first trial,” I interject, growling in irritation. “You could have fucking warned me, Marius.”
“You should have fucking expected it,” he counters. “Why do you think I so dutifully agreed to retrieve her for you?”
