Maybe she should try a different tactic. Her mother, the gods be with her soul, had always said that kindness could accomplish far more than anger.
Keeping that in mind, Vivienne exhaled and unfurled her fists. She smiled sweetly at the prince, the expression foreign on her lips. “My prince, maybe?—”
“Don’t ‘my prince’ me,” he snapped, his nostrils flaring. “I won’t return to Castle Sanguis until I’ve dealt with this.”
He pointed to the broken tomb behind them, his meaning clear.
“I just think the king and queen might be better suited for this task,” Vivienne said softly, her mother’s advice still at the forefront of her mind.
“I will not run from this.”
“But—”
“No! Death has surrounded me every day of my life.” Marius turned to her, his expression stern. “My mother died bringing me into this world. I was sick for years. My father and sisters have all perished, save one. Luna has spent over a decade trying to protect me from death’s cold grip, but I’m done running.”
His words echoed around the clearing, his chest heaving as he stared at her.
Gods. Vivienne hated that she understood where the prince was coming from. It would be so much easier if he were just being stubborn and unwilling to listen to her. Then she could just force him back to the castle.
The problem was that he kept making valid points that weredifficult to refute. Her heart twisted as memories of her own parents flashed through her mind, and tears pricked behind her eyes. Her mother and father had died a long time ago, but she still felt the sting of their passing.
Death was an inevitable part of life when one was an immortal being. Even though time muted the pangs of grief, they would never entirely disappear.
“I’m sorry about your family, I really am.” She blinked back tears. “But the First?—”
“You’ll protect me, right?” He leveled her with a stare, his brown eyes seeming to stare directly into her soul. “Isn’t that your job?”
Damn it all, he had her there.
“It is,” she admitted, regretting ever taking this position.
A grin spread across the prince’s face, his anger vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. A dimple decorated his right cheek. She held back a groan.
It was so unfair that this frustrating man for whom she could have absolutely no feelings was so handsome.
“Great.” He waggled his brows. “Then protect me. Show me why Sebastian and Luna picked you for the job.”
Vexing halfling. “That’s not?—”
“We should probably go. The First had a head start, after all.”
Vivienne’s jaw fell open as the prince turned and sauntered back in the direction where they had come. Did he think that their discussion was over?
He was absolutely wrong.
“Coming, Viv?” The infuriating man called out over his shoulder. He’d nearly reached the trees.
Isvana help her, but the prince was rapidly becoming a razor-sharp thorn in her side. She was beginning to hate him for dragging her intothis… if by hate, she meant that she despised how he’d roped her into this, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
Gods damn it. Boundaries, remember?
This night felt never-ending.
Her wings itched in her back, reminding her of their existence. As if she could forget. She could either follow the prince, who was still walking away, or fly back to Castle Sanguis and let the king know where the prince was.
Except, she was fairly certain Marius would still go after the First on his own, and she’d already proven why that was a monumentally bad idea.
Gods above.
