“Why are you telling me this?” I forced my hands to remain still in my lap, fighting the urge to wring them.
“You have a choice to make.”
“What choice?”
“When the Crimson Enclave makes its move, you can either join your father or be crushed beneath the uprising.”
History was repeating itself as though my father had learned nothing.
“This is madness,” I raked my fingers through my hair, needing an outlet for my growing agitation. “And why are you involved in my father’s schemes? What do you gain from all this?”
Fallon shrugged. “Maybe I want your mate put in his place.” His tone was nonchalant, but there was more beneath it.
“Men like you don’t expose their throats without good cause,” I said.
“A tongue as sharp as your mind,” he chuckled, repeating his words from earlier.
“That doesn’t answer the question.” I crossed my arms over my chest, if for no other reason than to prevent myself from lunging at the arrogant lord and strangling him with my bare hands.
“The Crimson Enclave will require someone with a certain… understanding of how things work to help them reintegrate into the Unseelie Court.”
I scoffed. “You think my father will name you his successor.”
Fallon’s eyes darkened, and malice burned in his green depths.
I inhaled a sharp breath, realization slowly dawning on me. “You want the throne.”
Fallon gnashed his teeth, startling me. “I have stood by for decades, watching my father’s generation ruin this court with their antiquated views and lack of ambition. The Unseelie deserve to be recognized as the superior fae we are, and I’ll be damned if I let usurpers stand in my way.”
“What are you saying…” I trailed off, afraid to venture down the path my mind had wandered.
“I think you know exactly what I’m getting at,” Fallon said. “It’s time for the Seelie and Unseelie Fae to be united under one banner.”
“Your banner, I presume.”
“Naturally.”
My thoughts swirled as I considered Fallon’s intentions. He wanted to conquer the realm, enslave the Seelie Fae — my people, my parents — and bend every living thing to his will.
“What makes you so sure I won’t tell my father of your intentions?”
Fallon wanted something from me, but I didn’t know what.
“You’re not a fool, Lady Cadence. Your father is coming, and he will not stop until your mate is in the ground. And where willthat leave you? Do you want to spend the rest of your life as your father’s puppet?”
His eyes scanned my body, heat banked in his gaze, and my stomach roiled at his insinuation.
A sharp, bitter laugh escaped me. “You can’t be serious?”
“Oh, I am many things, but a jester is not one of them.”
I was out of my seat before I even realized I was moving. “Never. You’ll die before you ever claim me, and the fact you believe otherwise only proves how delusional you are.”
Fallon’s hands darted out, gripping my wrists and tugging me toward him. “Careful,” he warned. “Keep going, and I might think you aren’t worth the risk.”
I reared back, spitting in his face.
But Fallon only grinned. “Oh, taming you will be the greatest spoil there is.”
