Barnabas’s dark eyes turned chilling as he met her gaze. “Then you and your brat will be joining Bastien and the rest of my brother’s family in their graves.”
CHAPTER2
Bastien tensed as Ember approached him. Instinctively, he cupped himself in expectation of what she was about to do. Not that he really needed to. Of their own accord, his balls had shriveled and jumped straight back inside his body as soon as he saw her coming.
To his instant relief, she paused in front of him and crossed her arms over her chest. “Congratulations, Captain. Welcome to the Wyldestarrin family.”
Those cordial, formal words with their undercurrent of leashed venom sent a chill down his spine. It was the first time she’d spoken to him since Alura had crashed the palace party and announced her pregnancy.
As if on cue, Alura came dashing up to his side to take his arm. The hem of her voluminous pale green wedding gown swept against his legs, then pooled around her feet. “Emmy! I’m so glad you came, after all. I thought you were planning to boycott my wedding.”
Ember raked a cold look over him that said she was gutting him slowly with her thoughts.
With a rusted-out spork.
She smiled at Alura. “Why should I lose a zusa over the actions of an inconsiderate asshole?”
A tic started in Bastien’s jaw. “Pardon? You broke up with me, not the other way around. You’re the one who wouldn’t even return my messages or acknowledge me!”
Ember held her hand up to silence him. “Just stay away from me, Bastien. I’ve nothing to say to you ever again.” And with that, she turned and walked over to where their sisters had congregated.
Bastien glared in furious indignation. How dare she! This wouldn’t have happened had she not challenged him to date her sister. It wasn’t like she hadn’t known how he’d react to her caustic response to his question. How he’d react to a direct challenge.
He was a surly, cantankerous ass and Ember knew it better than anyone!
“Don’t worry about it, baby. You’ll always have me.” Alura kissed his cheek, then went to join a group of her friends.
Was it just him or was there irony that as soon as Alura had said that, she skipped off and abandoned him?
Just like everyone else.
Yeah, he was a total outcast at his own wedding reception. This was a far cry from the wedded bliss he’d imagined the night he proposed to Ember.
Right family.
Wrong bride.
Worse, he’d overheard Ember throwing up earlier as he walked past the bathroom, and she still looked pale and wane.
Not even his own family would deign to speak to him. His mother, father, and siblings were in a corner with Alura’s parents on the opposite side of the room. None of his so-called friends would come near him because it was obvious his parents were taking issue with his actions and his peers lacked the balls to risk displeasing their ruling monarchs in the name of friendship. Or their future ones—which would be his older brother and sister, both of whom were already married. So the odds of Bastien ever sitting on the throne were slim to none. Which was fine by him. Last thing he wanted was to occupy the throne, since the only way to get it would be over the dead bodies of his loved ones.
Though tonight, he wasn’t feeling much love from them.
Open hostility?
Big affirmative there.
And because he had no chance of inheriting, no one else would dare risk displeasing anyone else in his family.That, folks, is why I’ve always been such an unreasonable ass.
Since the day he was born, he’d never held any delusions about the people around him. They were his friends only so long as they could use him to get close to his brother, sister, or parents. He was a means to an end. It was why he’d loved Ember so much. She, alone, hadn’t sought to use him for rank or privelage. In fact, she’d avoided his family and everything to do with royal obligation and ceremony, preferring instead to just spend time alone with him.
And he’d cherished every last moment of it.
But those days were gone. Alura adored her new position in his family. She was lapping up her role as visira like a starving cat in a creamery.
Dear gods, what have I unleashed?
Sighing, Bastien wished Fain Hauk was here. His Andarion drinking buddy wouldn’t give two flips about what the royal family thought. Or anyone else.
