Swallowing, I push inside, the Hadeon keeping close.
The cloying scent of roses surround me and I gag. It’s overpowering and horrible. I can taste it on my tongue. Across the room is a large bed made of gold, with cream linen draped across it. It looks slept in.
Bile wets my tongue and I gulp. Now’s not the time to throw up.
I’ll draw out Aoife’s death for this.
I check the entire room—behind the curtains, through the washroom, everywhere for Kaden. But no one is here and worry gnaws at my gut like a vicious panther. If he’s not here, where can he be?
The Hadeon stands at alert, looking to the door. I only have a moment to turn as it opens and the scent of roses deepens.
Aoife comes in—but it’s not the Aoife I know.
Gone is the pale hair, now long and dark as sin. Her eyes, no longer green, are black jade, and just as cold. Revulsion strikes me. She and my father have the same eyes.
Dressed in a tight black gown of silk and satin, she strides inside, tripping over her feet when she sees me standing there.Can’t say I don’t enjoy that.
I’m out in the open, and without protection. Not the best plan, but worth it for her face.
“You.” She seethes. Her wings unfurl, beautiful things that make me think of butterflies in the height of summer. My father’s wings are dark and tragic, whereas Aoife’s wings are bright with bold slashes of orange, yellows, and strips of black. “How did you get in here?”
She advances but the Hadeon blocks her with a hard growl that seems to shake the room. Aoife jerks back, glaring at the beast.
“Filthy mutt.”
The smoke he blows tells me he didn’t appreciate the insult.
“Where’s Kaden?”
She sneers, turning away, walking to a cart full of various liquids. The different glass containers are bright—red, greens, purples. She pours some of the purple into a glass, ignoring me.
“Aoife.”
“Around.” She rolls her eyes. “You’ll see him soon enough.”
Pulling my daggers, I point one in her direction. “I know what you did to him.” She scoffs and I keep pushing. “You couldn’t use a love spell on him. Not when he’s bonded to me. So, you forced a bond on him. You tried to get rid of ours in order to have him, didn’t you?”
“My, aren’t you a clever one?” She toasts me. “I know why Kaden was attracted to you. Sure, with those lips and legs you’re a tasty piece of meat. But that brain? That’s what he fell for.” She slams the cup down, the glass shattering in her small hand. It cuts her but she ignores the blood. “I let him have his fun. Let him play with all thoseother courtesans, those servants, and peasants. Let him court whoever he wanted. I knew in the end he’d be mine.”
“Then Sose came into the picture.”
She stalks over to me and I back up, the Hadeon still a protective shield. “Fenrir told us. You sent him to sway her away.”
Aoife snorts. “She was too gentle for my Kaden.”
“MyKaden,” I correct, glaring. “Mine.”
Running her tongue over her teeth, she paces to the left. “She would’ve never loved him. Not all of him. And if she had?” She shrugs, crossing her arms. “He’d marry her. Just because she loved him—no matter if he felt the same. That Fae has always been looking for someone to love him unconditionally, he’d marry just about anyone.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. Kaden only wanted someone to love him—all of him. Darkness and all.
I do. All of him. I refuse to let him feel alone.
“She wouldn’t have been able to break the curse,” I remind her. “She was innocent.”
“No,” she snaps, tilting her head. Her wings flap angrily. “But you did. Tell me, blood summoner, how you did that?”
I don’t answer. The silence gets louder with each heartbeat and she break, shouting, “Who are you?!”
