His smile gives me chills. “If you marry me.”
I stand so quickly that Saela doesn’t have time to right herself, and she goes tumbling to the floor with a squeak. “Mer!”
“Sorry,” I mutter at her, and then turn on him. “Fuck. Off.”
Venna scoffs. “Insane.”
Lucien’s feline smile only grows. He’s clearly not deterred by my reaction.
Once again, another game. And this time, my people’s lives are on the line.
I can’t. I justcan’t.
He’s absolutely serious, isn’t he? Yet another man trying to control me—and my kingdom—by claiming ownership.
Stark might have been right; maybe taking control over Nocturna once Alistair was out of the way was his plan all along.
The library darkens. My fingers curl into fists, and the darkest shadows at the edges of the room start to distort and reach for him. Lucien’s eyes move over the creeping black. He assesses for a moment.
Then he steps out of the way of one of them as if it were a dirty puddle.
“You don’t like my proposal,” he drawls.
A scream gathers in my throat. He’s three seconds away from being torn apart by shadow magic, and he’s not even slightly afraid.Nothingthis man does makes sense.
“Perhaps I should elaborate. Make my case,” he says, stepping away from another slithering shadow. “I have something you need—my army. You have something Iwant—your Tears.”
Saela’s hand flies to her necklace. “You can’t have them!”
Bravo. “What she said,” I respond coolly.
“You misunderstand. I want assurance that the four Tears will always be evenly kept between our two countries. If we are united in marriage, you cannot conspire to take mine from me. Nor would I be able to take yours.”
There’s a hint of a threat there.
“Plus, if we are bound, the common people in both our countries will be more willing to accept and understand this ceasefire. We would rule both countries together,” he adds, as if that makes his proposal more palatable.
My stomach twists at the mere thought of this. I could never accept him.
He must read the distaste on my face, because he continues, “I would advise you to seriously consider this opportunity. Weigh your options. Think about how eager you really are for my help.” He smirks at me from across the table. “Besides, am I really so bad to look at?”
“Yes,” Venna and I say at the same time.
Lucien chuckles. “Harsh.”
Fucker.
As much as I would like to wrap shadows around him and throw him out of the library’s window, I can’t risk truly offending Lucien by declining him immediately.
“I will take your offer into consideration,” I say tightly.
In my heart, though, I know I could never accept him. Not when every part of me screams out for Stark.
Stark.
Fuck, I need to find him, need to tell him about Siegrid. Does he know already? Have the powers of the Sovereign Alpha passed along to him?
I bow my head to Lucien and then gesture to Saela and Venna that it’s time to leave. “We’ll discuss this more later,” I tell Lucien. “I need to find my people.”
