For a heartbeat, nobody moved. Then a single pair of dainty slippers clicked across the marble floor, and Cadence’s maid stepped into view.
“Scarlette?” Riordan said, and the raw hurt in his tone set off a savage hunger in me to make her pay for putting it there.
“I’m sorry.” Tears streaked down her face, but I was unmoved. She’d made her bed, and now she’d fucking lie in it.
“Where is her proof?”
My father gave a derisive huff. “She heard you talking about it, Ryker.” He frowned as if he were disappointed in me.
As though I should care.
“I’ll pardon your lapse in judgment this once, Son. I’m not so old as to forget how stupid a mate bond can make a man.”
A flurry of murmurs broke out amongst the crowd, some claiming to have known it all along, while others could not stifle their shock. The corners of my father’s lips twitched as he fought to contain his smirk.
He was enjoying the chaos, but I still couldn’t figure out what his plan was.
“Wraith Borne or not, you will release my mate. Now.”
“That’s not going to happen, Ryker. The sooner you accept it, the easier it’ll be.”
I stepped toward the dais, ready to end my father’s reign, when someone blocked my path. I glared at the man foolish enough to step in my way, settling on his milky white eyes as he met my gaze.
“Move,” I growled.
Mathias grinned, menace radiating from him in waves.
The urge to sink my fangs into his throat was almost too much, crawling beneath my skin, riding the high of the violence thrumming through my veins. I stalked forward, each step daring him to stop me.
“I said, fucking move.”
His grin only widened, and a red haze descended over my vision. I slammed into him, sending him crashing to the floor. The sword I didn’t realize he was holding clattered from his grip as I caught him by the throat, lifting him until his feet left the ground.
The crazy bastard threw his head back and howled with laughter.
Behind him, my father watched, waiting. He relished this. The spectacle. He wanted to parade Cadence in front of the court, to break her spirit and mine in one glorious show of power.
But he was going to regret every second.
He’d been warned — more than once. But he hadn’t listened. He’d kept pushing, testing limits that should never have been crossed. Now, not even the threat of civil war or the promise I’d made to my brother all those years ago would save him. None of it mattered. Not in the face of my mate’s survival.
My father was going to die. This was his moment. And I felt nothing.
I called forth my shadows, letting the inky tendrils wrap around the man dangling from my fist. His head snapped up, and I saw the pure hatred he’d kept buried.
His hand darted out, striking the side of my face. But the slap wasn’t what startled me. The instant his skin met mine, an icy chill ran through me, making me stumble back. I shook my head to clear the sensation and reached for my shadows, only for them to flicker and withdraw.
“Our friend here has an unusual talent,” my father said from the safety of the dais. “He can suppress another fae’s power with a single touch.”
I stared at the envoy’s hand, and the place where he touched me burned cold, like frostbite working its way beneath my flesh. I gritted my teeth and tried to summon my shadows again, but the darkness wouldn’t come.
Fuck.
Satisfaction curved my father’s features, and I wondered how long he’d planned this.
Returning my focus to Mathias, I hauled him forward until we were almost touching, and let a savage smile spread across my lips. “If you think I won’t rip you to pieces with my bare hands, you’re sorely mistaken.”
Without warning, he reared back before driving his head into the bridge of my nose. Stars burst behind my eyes as pain exploded through my skull. I tasted blood, sharp and cloying, as it dripped down my face. Mathias grinned, his teeth stained crimson as he slipped from my grasp.
