“Don’t do that,” I fired back. “Don’t blame him for your own shortcomings. He did nothing but serve you faithfully until?—”
“Faithfully?!” Rhazien erupted and I shrank at the overwhelming volume. “You think I didn’t see he wanted you from the second he delivered you to me? You thought I didn’t know? Couldn’t tell? You think I’m some naïve fool, Reyva?”
I thought I had an argument. That Dommik had fought his feelings. Had done his best to create distance. But this changed things.
“You assigned him to me.”
Rhazien nodded.
“Asked him to train me, to hone my gift.”
“Correct.” The regent dropped his hands gripping the side of his desk.
“All to what? Test him?” My features twisted into a disgusted snarl. Rhazien knew Dommik’s past, what he’d been through with Kaia. Why would he manufacture the exact same scenario sixty years later in his own Hive?
Rhazien tapped his head when he said, “And you.”
“And me,” I repeated.
Rhazien knew of Dommik's past. And he’d mentioned doing his research on me as well, which meant…
My eyes narrowed. “You know about Beau.”
“I know everything there is to know about you, Reyva.” My skin crawled as I wondered if that was true. Because if it was, he didn’t just know about Beau and my infidelity. He knew about Lydia too.
I glowered as Rhazien retrieved a new crystal glass and filled it withpotent brown liquor. The room became darker, heavier. After a long, silent minute, Rhazien swirled the liquor in his glass and sighed. “So, can we come back from this? Or have I lost you completely?”
I sniffled and dropped my gaze to the floor.
“I see.” His gaze turned stone cold. He threw back the entirety of his glass and hissed before he spit out the words, “The Solstice Offering will just be for show then.”
My heart sank. He still wanted to go through with it. He wanted me to still go through with the ceremony. Become shadowbound to him.
“What?” I’d heard him, but my mind needed him to clarify. Meanwhile, my body wanted to disintegrate to dust.
“This is my life’s work. I’ve waited centuries for this. Foryou.” His eyes darkened. “This is more important than either of us. It’s bigger than any one person. Bigger than any one Hive. And now is the time. Vampires and humans have never been more ready for it.”
He moved to his dresser and pulled out a black tunic to replace the blood stained one.
“But—isn’t it my choice?”
“Yes. And you’ll choose to accept the offer.” Dressed again, he turned to face me.
I could feel my face heating with anger. “What if I refuse?”
Rhazien moved toward me. My muscles recoiled as he gently lifted my chin and calmly said, “You won’t refuse.”
I jerked from his grip. The man in front of me was not the same charming suitor I’d known. Now, he had the hardened façade of the building we stood within. Was he hurt? Donning his emotional armor against the woman who had betrayed him? Or was he simply peeling back the layers of niceties and showing the ruler he’d always been?
Just as he’d transformed into the frenzied blood fiend at the Northern Hive, had the likable gentleman been a different character? Or was he a social chameleon mutating to meet the needs of his everchanging audience? Charisma and charm were traits of Lorana’s descendants after all.
“You cannot force me to accept your shadow.”
“You’re right. I cannot force you. But I won’t have to. You’ll choose it all on your own, just as you chose to relinquish yourself to the Hive rather than going to the axe.” He tipped his head slightly, waiting for me to put it together.
My family. Cova and Lydia.
“You wouldn’t,” I rasped through gritted teeth.
