“Do let me know,” he drawled. Crossing the foyer, he stopped beside us and leaned his shoulder against the wall beneath yet another painting depicting trapped creatures, these with golden spikes jutting down their spines and thick tails whipping the lush, brightly colored vegetation surrounding them. “As you know, I’m always happy to assist.”
“Beast,” Delaine shrieked his way. “Beast!”
I swore he flinched, but it was so subtle I could be wrong.
His gaze on me, his lips coiled up in a smile that would’ve sent me bolting in the opposite direction if I didn’t know him. “Beast is an improvement over bastard, don’t you think, Tempest?”
This was what Vexxion had dealt with his entire life.
With rage raking across my bones, I whipped power at Delaine, wrapping it around her neck and using it to lift her. Shake her. “Apologize to Vexxion.”
Her eyes nearly burst from her head, and her breathing stuttered.
“Apologize,” I snarled in her face.
“Sorry. Sorry!”
My shock at finding my fortress roommate here gave way to a sudden realization, and my magic fizzled. Only my grip on her wrists kept her from fleeing.
“You’re fae,” I snapped, tightening my fingers, making her bones creak.
She whimpered, trying to yank away. “I’m Bledmire.”
“Of course.” That didn’t explain why she hated me or why she came to the fortress. Except . . . “You were sent to the fortress to watch me, weren’t you?”
She jerked out a nod. Tears shimmered in her eyes. “Let me go, Tempest. Please?”
Drask soared in through the open front door and landed on my shoulder, cawing Delaine’s way.
She shuddered, her wild gaze spiking from the bird to me. With a shriek, she wrenched her arm from my grip and slammed past me, racing across the foyer and into one of the six ornately decorated, arched doorways on the opposite side.
“Who’s her sister?” I asked, staring after her.
“Selitta.”
Lovely.
Is this going to be a problem?I asked. Funny how easily I slipped back into speaking to Vexxion in my mind.
Only if we let it become one.
I should’ve seen she was fae all this time.
It’s not blazing on our foreheads.
I slid my fingertip across the area on my own forehead Vexxion had marked. Nothing showed when I looked in the mirror. But then, my gaze was more often drawn to the slight bulge of the vines encircling my throat. At least I’d be able to tell who was Nullen and who wasn’t, since every one of us was collared.
I need to get you ready for the king.Vexxion took my hand to flit.
Fuck that. I jerked away and flitted myself, landing on top of one of the chairs facing the fireplace in the suite we were assigned. With a huff, I jumped off onto the floor.
Drask squawked and left my shoulder, soaring into an adjoining room.
Vexxion joined me instantly, placing himself in front of the roaring blaze. He studied my face.You’re getting good at flitting.
The pride in his voice thrilled through me, and I hated that his words and thoughts could still wrench my emotions in all sorts of directions.
“I’m not going to let the king drain me,” I snarled.
