I advance on her swiftly, backing Siegrid against a wall. She doesn’t even blink.
“Is that so?” I snarl. “Because we conveniently didn’t discuss it tonight, but I haven’t forgotten thatyoumade the call to send Tormun after Killian. After Meryn explicitly told you it was a dangerous idea. And what happened there?”
She merely lifts her chin.
I thrust a finger into her chest. “Youare responsible for an entire pack defecting.Youare responsible for Weisenstat being unguarded. The innocent people who are going to be killed because of your hubris, because you wouldn’t deign to take a younger woman’s advice? That’s blood onyourhands, Siegrid.”
The Sovereign Alpha swats me away and still says nothing.
“So, yes,” I hiss, “I’m going to question your decision-making. Because I’m not going to marry that woman, but I’m sure as hell going to protect her from the likes of you.”
Finally, something sparks in Siegrid’s gaze. It’s disorienting. It almost looks like… pride.
But all she says is, “You’re dismissed, Alpha Stark.”
20
MERYN
Tonight I fight sleep, just like every night, but exhaustion wins. After everything that’s happened the past few days—the coronation,Izabel, the Phylax betrayal—my body has reached a breaking point.
I’ve barely closed my eyes before I open them to that blurred and shadowy place, the space where Killian’s magic and mine seem intertwined.
Turning around in dread, I already know he’ll be there. He’s lounging on what looks to be a throne made entirely of shadow. Intricate curls and knots of shadow magic move slowly, lazily, creating a stomach-churning impression of the throne being alive somehow.
Killian’s eyes are bright, and when he smiles at me, he reveals a hint of fang.
Even now, with everything that’s happened, the sight is sowrong. My skin crawls. I squeeze my eyes shut tight, trying to will myself out of this place and back into my bed.
I cannot fucking deal with him right now. Or ever.
“Oh, now, Meryn, don’t be that way.” His voice, so familiar, makes me hotand cold all over. “Come talk to me. I’m sorry about Izabel; I know she was important to you.”
I grit my teeth, refusing still to look at him.
“Was that you?” I snap. “Did you supply the poison?”
Killian sighs. “Haven’t I made myself clear, kitten?” The old nickname pricks me like a knife, and my eyes jump to his, narrowing. “I don’t want to kill you, Meryn. Iloveyou. Come now. We could avoid all this trouble if you’d just let me love you the way you deserve.”
One corner of his mouth pulls up in a smirk as his gaze rakes over me. I shudder, hating the flashes of memory that unwillingly skate across my mind: him washing my back, his lips on my ear, my neck.
His hands, touching me, unmaking me.
“And Phylax?” Shadows gather and swirl around my feet like a thick, inky mist as I move closer to where he sits. I stop just a few feet away, staring him down, refusing to be cowed by this lying snake.
“Of course Phylax came to me; they’ve always been the loyal ones,” Killian says smoothly, rising to stand. “They know better than to abandon their rightful king. Alpha Tormun saw the truth. Phylax are the guardians, the protectors. And right now, they think their duty is to protect the people fromyou.”
“I—I don’t believe you,” I sputter. The Bonded were thrilled by what I did at the coronation. It makes no sense that an entire pack would turn around and willingly abandon me. Killian must have… done something.
Alistair Brightbane is the most powerful Siphon in history, as far as we know. If anyone could pull off deceiving a Bonded Alpha, it would be him and Killian.
“No?” Killian’s eyes bore into me as he draws closer, voice almost a whisper. “The nobles have seen it for themselves, now. They know you have no control over your powers. They went running back to their fiefdoms in fear, Mer. You know what they’re calling you? The Mad Bitch of Sturmfrost.”
Tears prick at my eyes, shame welling deep inside me. I don’t believe him; and still, there is truth in what he’s saying.
He takes another step toward me. “You are gambling with our entire kingdom on the line. What’s going to happen to everyone now with the front lines so weakened?”
The darkness is dense, crushing. I suck in a breath, feeling like I’m drowning. Killian moves closer still, one elegant hand coming up to cup my cheek, thumb stroking softly against my skin.
