“What the fuck was that?” she spat.
“I believethatwas all you.”
“All you,my ass—I felt those Shadows creeping up my shirt, you pig.” Her hand rose to meet her throat. “That was a lapse in judgment because it has been a while, and you were being nice to me and…and...it won’t happen again.”
“What, missing your Sun King? Ready to fill that empty feeling with something meaningless?” Those words weren’t for her though—they were for me. I kept digging a hole for myself and said, “What is it that you learned from that dagger, Sybilla? Is he not still your devout lover?”
What did I even care? And why was that symbol still tickling something in the back of mind?
“Fuck you,” she growled. She rose and crossed the room to pull on her slippers. “If I want pleasure, then you are thelastperson I should consider.”
Her actions hadn’t matched those words. Yet still, it stung, which made me even more pissed.
“It seems you’ve considered me plenty. You werealltoo quick to scheme up a marriage of convenience when it suited you.”
She huffed, fists clenched and cheeks pink, then stormed away with a growl of frustration.
Maybe I truly was the sadistic prick she thought me to be because she looked all too alluring when angry. As the door slammed shut, I cursed beneath my breath and fell backward against the cool tile.
Feeling guilt had no part in my plans.
Chapter 23
Emmerick
So much blood on the floor. It was everywhere, all over the walls, dripping from the crystal chandelier.
Where was I?
The fire in the hearth lit the cramped space. There was a peculiar heart-and-key emblem carved into each door, and an array of women’s coats hung from hooks at the entry—the wools and furs now splattered with crimson.
My heart thundered as I realized I’d been here before. Back when I first joined the ranks of the Luz guard, the men had taken me to a “pleasure hall” while we were traveling through Helos. I’d already gotten too drunk at a pub and so had spent the evening throwing up into a pail while a pretty redhead rubbed the back of my head. It had been humiliating…But this scene now? This was horrifying enough to make me sick for a different reason.
A dark-haired woman was at my feet, her throat slit. I dropped a blade.
Then amber smoke seeped from my fingertips,mine?Screams wrenched from upstairs before they were cut short.
Everything went dark, and then I surfaced in the throne room of Helos Castle. A new vision, this one more blurred at the edges. Firose Van Gran approached me and kneeled, taking my hands in hers.
“It was not you, my King,” she said. “He will bend your will; you must try to fight it.”
“Kill me,” I pleaded. My voice sounded deeper—it was not my own.
Firose swallowed hard. “Corric, you know I cannot. He will only take another—we must try to fight this together.”
I looked up, but when Firose’s gaze met mine, my blood ran cold and my grasp tightened around her wrists.
I spat back at her, “My flame, how soft you have grown.”
Firose began to convulse, and everything went cold and dark.
I sat up in bed. A hand held my cheek. I grabbed the intruder by their dainty wrists too aggressively.
“King Mattock,” Lady Ryssa whispered. “It is me—Ryssa. You were yelling—and it’s noon.”
I loosened my grip.
“You startled me. Can you get the curtains, please?”
