“That’s it? A ceasefire and we become allies? That’s basically the exact same thing your general said to us at the border. Why the fuck did you drag us all the way out here?”
“Stark,” Meryn warns.“We need to hear him out.”
Lucien takes a sip of his golden liquor. “You had to experience Astreona if you were ever to believe that you’d been fed lies for hundreds of years. Plus, I had to see your queen for myself and judge her, of course.”
He lingers on the wordseefor too long. The nerve of this asshole.
We glower at each other.
“Alpha Stark makes a good point,” Meryn says coolly. “I am enticed by the idea of a ceasefire and becoming allies, but I was expecting more from you. Do you have a plan for how to deal with your brother and his current host?”
Lucien leans his head on his palm, a catlike expression on his face. “Queen Meryn, if you want more from me, I promise I am very giving.”
Before I can stand up and take a swing at him, Meryn reaches a hand down and grabs my knee, squeezing hard. Her touch on me after so long ignites a swirling, impossible need.“Ignore him. He’s just toying with you.”
“He’s toying withyou, and that I cannot stand.”
Meryn relaxes her hold on my knee, and I want to grab it, hold her more tightly to me.
“King Lucien is testing boundaries like a rude child. If you let him rile you up, he’s just going to get worse. Cool your fucking head, Daemos, before you start a diplomatic incident.”
“It’s cute how you do that,” Lucien says, a smug smile creeping back onto hisface. “You’re talking, aren’t you? I can tell by the way you keep glancing at each other. Not as subtle as you think.”
Meryn’s eyes slice back to him, sharpening. “You’re right. I’mnotsubtle. What I am is increasingly irritated.”
The shadows in the room start to sway again. So much for not letting him rile us up.
“So, do you have a plan or did you seriously just bring us here to judge me?” she continues. “Because my country is on the brink of tearing itself apart, and I’d really rather be there, muddling through this whole leadership thing, thanhere, watching you put on sword fighting shows for your own amusement and experiencing repulsive visions of yourorgies!” Her voice breaks on the last word, shrill.
The whole room goes silent.
Lucien sits back in his chair, letting the points of his fangs show as he smiles widely. “Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy it.Youare my plan, Queen Meryn. I’ve been a beloved ruler for hundreds of years because I know how to delegate.”
My brows furrow. What is he trying to say?
“Be direct,” Meryn demands.
Lucien straightens and says, “If you agree to work together, I will give you complete control of the Astreonan forces. They are yours to command.”
36
MERYN
Complete control of the Astreonan forces.
He’s joking, right? He has to be joking.
Or he’s not joking. He means what he said. And it’s just part of a plot that I can’t quite see or understand.
After Lucien’s absolutely ludicrous declaration, I tell him that I need some time to think about it. That I’d like to take a walk to clear my head.
I’m not the only one who needs some air, though. Stark’s dark emotions have been roiling at the surface of my brain from the moment I woke up from that vision. I need to move, and I need him to move, too. His edginess is seeping into me over our bond, winding me up.
We set out from the southern gate of the castle, passing through gardens and then across one of the bridges that leads us away from the castle complex.
We don’t talk as we move. Frustration runs hot between us, through me and over to him and back to me. It fuels our movement, and we pace faster and faster through the city outskirts until our walk is almost a run.
Once we leave the cobblestoned streets of Brightbane behind, I take a deep breath and speak.
