“You smell delicious with all that wretch’s blood off you.” Caspian tilts his head back, black hair falling over his shoulder. He’s removed his jacket, now wearing only a simple shirt and trousers, the laces loose. “I wanted the honor of torturing him before he met his end.”
“It was Rosalina’s choice.”
“And your advisor’s fault,” Caspian says. “She longed to let me.”
“What are you doing here?” I lean against one of the bedposts. “You made your bargain.”
“But I haven’t gotten what I want.” His gaze is a brand. “Only you can give me that, Kel.”
My hand instinctively goes to my wrist, rubbing the bargain tattoo. “I’ll never give in.”
“Then you’ll never break your curse.”
“Isn’t that exactly what you want?” I turn away from him and walk to the fireplace. It hasn’t been lit in so long.
He looses a long, deep sigh. “Like that dim mind of yours could possibly comprehend what I want.”
I stack the logs, then grab a match and light the fire. Flames spurt up, filling the room with warmth. When I stand up, he’s still lying there. His arms are stretched high above his head, lifting his shirt to reveal his sharp hip bones.
“You were right,” I say.
He sits up in a whirl, a surprised, genuine smile on his face.
But I should know by now, nothing about him is genuine.
“What did you say, Keldarion?”
“That you were right.” I close the distance between us. “Rosalina did not need to awaken that darkness in her heart. At least not for this.”
“Oh, I love when you talk to me this way.” Caspian kneels on the edge of the bed, narrowing his dark gaze.
“You don’t hate her.”
“I could sneak some frogs into her bed if it would make you feel better. But I think she’d assume they were cursed staff and befriend them.”
I can’t help but laugh at the thought, and when I glance back down at Caspian, he’s giving me a peculiar look. “Maybe that icy heart of yours can be pierced.”
He’s being strange tonight. There’s a softness to him I haven’t seen in years. Though I know it’s an act, I can’t stop myself from asking the very question plaguing me. “What would you do if she came to you?”
He considers for a moment, then trails a hand along my torso before rising on his knees, his face almost parallel to mine. “Does it matter what I say, Prince? I could tell you what you want to hear. Or I could say your worst fear, that I’d seduce her until she begged me to fuck her into sweet oblivion.”
A rough growl emits from my throat, and my fists clench to resist the urge to throttle him. He gives a little sigh, then rests his arms over my shoulder. “It doesn’t matter what I say, you won’t believe me. And it won’t change your self-imposed celibate streak, will it now?”
I clench my teeth together. “You are infuriating.”
He chuckles, a hand drawing down my stomach again as he purrs, “Though, this isn’t the reaction I suspected you’d have. We could always—”
He stills completely before his hands begin to shake, eyes widening. His body spasms and convulses. An explosion of black sludge shoots from his mouth and onto my bare chest.
“Caspian!” I grab his shoulders, but he scrambles away, clutching the sheets of my bed. He heaves again as another deluge of blackness spills from his lips. His eyes water with darkness, sludge dripping from his nose.
After a heartbeat, he falls back, holding his stomach, body still trembling.
“Sorry,” he wheezes, voice hoarse. “I know you probably had these cleaned for the full moon.”
“How long have you been on the surface?”
“Only for dinner.” He shrugs.
