“We don’t want to hurt you, Zoey,” she finally says, quiet and desperate. “We just don’t want to be sent to the barns.”
“I wouldn’t let that happen to either of you,” I say, although it’s mostly directed at Sophia—not Victoria.
Victoria’s face contorts with renewed fury.
“You wouldn’tletit happen?” she hisses. “Do you hear yourself? Do you think you control him now? That you can make decisions about our fates?”
I blink, taken aback. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Then whatdidyou mean?” she demands.
“I meant that I can talk to him,” I say, impressing myself with how calm I sound. “I can make sure you’re both protected.”
Victoria shoots me a glare that could burn me to ashes if she had any magic.
“We don’t want your protection,” she says, stepping in front of Sophia, as if trying to keep the younger girl safe. “We don’t want your pity, your favors, or whatever you think you can bestow upon us from your exalted position as the prince’s favorite plaything.”
I meet her glare straight on, amused that she thinks she can actually intimidate me.
“In case you missed it, Jake and Matt werekilledbecause Aerix didn’t like how they were touching me,” I say, since even though Aerix didn’t kill them, no one here knows it. And in the Night Court, perception is everything. “If that doesn’t show you how much he cares about me, then I don’t know what will.”
Victoria balls her hands into fists so tight that I’m surprised she isn’t drawing blood.
“And what happens when he grows tired of you?” she asks, her voice suddenly quiet.
The question stings, but I refuse to show it.
Because Aerix loves me. He carved his name into my skin. He returned my dagger. He whispered promises against my lips that I believe with every fiber of my being.
And he’sfae.Which means he can’t lie—not about any of it.
“That won’t happen,” I say firmly.
Victoria’s smile is cold and knowing.
“We’ll see,” she says, and she turns to leave, pausing at the door to her bedroom. “Just remember that no matter how special you think you are—no matter what promises he made—you’re still human. And in this court, that’s all that ever matters.”
With those final words, she disappears into her room, the door closing firmly behind her.
Sophia lingers, her chin quivering.
“She’s just scared,” she says after a moment. “We all are.”
“I know,” I reply softly. “But she doesn’t have to be. Not of me.”
“It’s not you she’s afraid of,” Sophia says, although her eyes say otherwise. “It’s what your relationship with Aerix means for the rest of us. The uncertainty. The possibility that he’ll send us to the barns if he decides he never wants us again, because all he wants isyou.”
I nod, taking in her words, understanding where they’re coming from.
“I meant what I said,” I assure her. “And I’ll protect you both. I promise.”
After all, Aerix can’t feed only on me without eventually killing me, like the queen almost did to Matt. He needs Sophia and Victoria. And I don’t particularly want him taking other pets. Because at least with Sophia and Victoria, I know what I’m dealing with. I know how to keep them in line. I know how to keep themcontrolled.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she says sadly, and then she makes her way out of the suite, leaving me alone in the common area.
I sink onto the couch and run my fingers over the place on my dress where Aerix’s name is engraved underneath it, on my skin.
Victoria’s wrong.
Because I love Aerix. And he loves me.
The two of us belong to each other.
And nothing in this world will ever take me away from him.
