CHAPTER SIX
~ Kimber ~
INSIDE THE COMMAND center, I stated patiently, “I’m sorry—”
Lord Cato’s eyes snapped sparks of anger, effectively shutting me up. “You deliberately disobeyed the king and queen. You realize that I could order you killed?”
“Lord Cato—”
“Shut up, Lord Xenon.” The rebuke was sharp.
“Sire…” I tried again.
“I want you confined to quarters,” he barked.
“But sire…”
The lord stepped into my space and stared down at me. Once, he had probably been a shockingly handsome man. Right now, though, he was nothing but dark and cruel and clearly wanted to rip my throat out and drain my blood.
“Quarters. And if you don’t stay there, I will hand you over to the vampires of this stronghold and let them do as they will with you.”
Rilen spoke as Lord Cato was nearly out of the room. “Sire, if you allow her access to the library, she’ll do as you order from here on out.”
Lord Cato swung around and growled at Rilen. “What the fuck is this?Beauty and the Beast? Give the bitch a library to fill her days with inside the big bad castle?”
“I am not a bitch!”
“You are acting like one! And I sure as fuck can be the beast.” Lord Cato ran a hand through his black hair, then turned back to Rilen. “If she has library privileges—and shemustbe accompanied by one of her bodyguards—will she shut up?”
“She is right here!” I drew myself up straight.
“Kimber, shut up.” Roran hissed in my ear. “Just shut up. He’s trying to get you permission to do what you want.”
Lord Cato walked back to me. “You can go to the library, under a guard’s supervision. But if I see you anywhere but there, your room, or the halls between, I will take your head off without a second thought. King Belshazzar and Queen Gwynnore need you. I don’t.”
He stopped at the door. “Crow, Phoenix. Her room and the library only. Nowhere else.”
They nodded at the same time.
I looked at the people in the room, but they all filed out away from us, leaving only me, my twins, and the bodyguards.
Crow’s stare bore into my skin. “I’ll say this once. Lord Cato doesn’t fuck around. If you disobey his order, we will have no choice but to take your head.”
“Our loyalty lies with the vampires of this stronghold, and always will,” Phoenix asserted. “Never question that. Never test us again.”
I swallowed heavily.
“Kimber, they aren’t kidding,” Rilen said. “You almost got us all killed.Killed, Kimber.”
“They’re not going to harm us,” I muttered.
Crow was next to me in an instant. “Never doubt it. I will snap your neck without a thought.”
He was gone again. My breath hitched for a moment, a shiver of fear running through me.
Roran shook his head. “Let’s go to the library since we somehow managed to win that argument.”
I nodded but didn’t say anything. The two bodyguards were silent again, and the looks they were giving me were unkind at best. They both had annoyance in their eyes, just barely hiding the murder there.
