There’s no reasoning with her. Her distrust has always been one of her greatest weaknesses, but to insult Max?No.
The partnership is done.
“Kaden, wait,” she calls out, stopping me from exiting.
“Aoife—” Turning, dust blows into my face.
The sickening smell of roses slaps me in the face and my body starts to droop. Angrily, I reach out, blinking to clear my vision, but she jumps away.Pollen. She used pollen on me.
The last black rose wasn’t to help Max.It was to trap me.
“What are you doing?”
My body succumbs to the pollen, my knees giving out first. Then I fall to the side, body locking up as if turning to stone. Nothing moves. I can barely feel my lips.
“What I should have done centuries ago,” she whispers. Holding the water, she slowly tips it into my mouth. It’s bitter—not water. A potion of some sort.
“All you had to do was stay,” she mutters. “All you had to do was choose me. But no worries, my dear sweet Kaden. You will now.”
“If it’s,” my words are labored, the pollen making speech difficult, “a love potion, it won’t work. Nothing can overcome a soul-bond.”
“This can,” she assures. “I’ve spent years waiting for the right time. Many years researching and crafting the perfect love potion. But I could never get the ingredients right. When yourpreciousqueen brought me my spell book, I finally figured it out.” Aoife taps my nose affectionately. I want to break every finger on her hand for daring to do so. “Not a love potion, but a binding. The Noire Rose is very handy for such things.”
“She didn’t need to?—”
“To do all that?” She laughs, rolling her eyes. “OnSola’sRays, no. She just had to kiss you with her blood and you’d be free. True love.” She scoffs. “But she used the rose in the mix and that binds you to me.” She brushes my hair from my face. “You will choose me, because the bond will make you do so.”
She sighs, sitting on her knees. “I never expected her to survive, you know? Let alone get pass my father’s barrier. I figured if she died, then I would start over. But then shesurvived. Quite handy, it gave me a chance to try this.”
She shrugs as she stands, dusting off her skirts.Her father?“Maybe she is special. But that doesn’t matter. You’ll be mine. She’ll die of a broken heart and I’ll finally have what I’ve always wanted.”
I blink once. It takes too long to open my eyes. When I do, she’s across the space, letting guards inside. “What have you always wanted?”
She grins, face bright and deranged. “My happy ending, of course. And when Griffin destroys everything, I’ll destroy him. Then with you, I’ll create a new world. Just for us.”
My eyes close again, and this time, they don’t reopen.
“Take him to his rooms. He has to get ready. We have a ball to attend and we need the time for it to solidify,” she directs, though she sounds far away. My body is lifted high and I try likeSeti’sHell to fight them off. But my body doesn’t move.
It would seem only the cursed beast could fight off this pollen quickly. As a simple Fae, I’m stuck until it wears off. It’s the first time I regret ever letting Max end it.
As I slowly slip away, I memorize everything. When I awaken, I make the Gods a promise: I will tear this palace apart, set it on fire, and walk out with my mate on my arm.
And Aoife? She will die a gruesome death for even thinking to betray me.
