“You never gave me a chance to tell you,” I say flatly. “You were never here.”
“Ravennatold me,” he says, loudly enough for everyone to hear that he’s on first name basis with the queen. “But if you hadn’t gotten in Sapphire’s head, you know she would have said yes to my proposal, right? We would have gotten married, had a couple of kids, and lived in that little house near the shop.” He rubs his jaw, not hiding the bitterness creeping in. “But I’m glad it didn’t turn out that way. Because then I wouldn’t have met Ravenna.”
My stomach churns. “You’re kidding, right? She’s literally draining you.”
“That’s how I know she loves me,” he says, that eerie look he gets when he talks about her passing over his eyes. “We have a bond. A real connection. She’s my soulmate.”
I can’t hold back a scoff. “She’s playing with your mind, Matt. You’re infatuated because she’s manipulating your emotions.”
“You don’t know anything,” he says, glaring at me. “Do you even see yourself? You’re walking around like you own the place because you’re Prince Aerix’s new favorite. You’re no different than I am.”
“Yes, Iam,”I snap, and he actually flinches. “Aerix cares about me. He’s not slowly killing me. He never would.”
“Come on, Zo.” Matt’s smile is brittle and mocking. “You’re in love with him. Just like I am with Ravenna”
“I amnotin love with Aerix.” I tighten my hands around the edge of my chair, needing to ground myself.
Needing to think aboutanythingother than those midnight eyes and mesmerizing wings.
“You were always the adventurous one, right?” Matt continues, his voice raising even more. “The one who wanted to explore. Now, you’re exploringhim.Giving him exactly what he wants.”
That’s it.
“This conversation is over,” I say, pushing myself up from my chair. Because no matter if he’s the queen’s favorite toy in the Night Court or the arrogant quarterback on the football field, Matt’s as much of a conceited jerk as always.
I should have known better to think that this realm might have changed him.
“No. This conversation isnotover,” he says, and then his hand’s moving to my wrist, his fingers tightening around it, stopping me from leaving.
“Yes. It is.” I yank my wrist free from Matt’s grip, ignoring the sharp twinge as his nails scrape my skin.
Isowish I had a rake right now.
Better yet—the dagger Aerix took from me while we were in the bunker.
But Matt’s no longer looking at me. Instead, he’s focused on Aurora, who’s perched elegantly at her usual table.
She lifts her gaze from her book just long enough to observe our confrontation.
It doesn’t take a genius to put together Matt’s sudden interest in her. Because Aurora belongs to the king. The queen’s been spending more time with the king. And Matt’s clearly jealous of the king.
I let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “Good luck with that,” I tell him, stepping aside to let him pass.
“I don’t need luck.” He gives me that overly confident smile of his, and then he’s strolling toward Aurora with the kind of cocky arrogance that might have worked in high school, but that just makes him look like a human who still hasn’t realized his place in the Night Court.
I make myself comfortable at the table, curious about how this is going to play out.
“Aurora.” Matt’s voice shifts into that smooth, self-assured tone he used on girls at parties back home. “Mind if I join you?”
She stands without looking at him. “Actually, I was just leaving.”
“Come on. Stay a minute.” He steps into her path, close enough that she has to either pause or walk straight into him. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something. Because you spend a lot of time with the king,” he says, leaning in slightly. “I bet you hear all sorts of interesting things.”
His hand drifts to her sleeve, brushing away an invisible piece of lint—yet another “trick” I’ve seen him use multiple times while flirting with girls at parties when he didn’t think Sapphire was watching him.
Aurora remains still, like a statue carved from ice.
Then, slowly, she tilts her head and offers him the faintest of smiles. “Matthew,” she says, her voice carrying an eerily calm quality that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on edge. “A little advice? I’d worry less about the king and more about yourself.”
