‘Help me leave then,’ she pleaded.
I didn’t understand her. ‘You think you’ll be safe out there after what our mother has done? Powerless?’
Willow whined softly, like an entitled princess. ‘I’m not powerless; I can feel them returning… it’s just slow. You seem awfully fine living in this cloudy, weirdly lit place.’
There she was. The bitch was back. ‘I like it here.’
Up and down, she looked me over before laughing. ‘There was always something wrong with you.’
I looked away while she kept her gaze on me. There was no easy way to ask what I needed to know. ‘I don’t want the Ortensian throne, Willow. What will you do if I let you take it?’
A sharp breath. ‘Lilian was trained to take over. I don’t know what I will be doing, but I’m sure I will do it hell of a lot better than our mother has.’
My heart thrashed in my chest. ‘Would you end the war?’ My voice didn’t waver, even if everything inside me did.
She nodded. ‘I don’t even know why we are at war.’
That made two of us.
And somehow it seemed worse.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Miriam
Darkness lashed within me; I could barely contain it. It couldn’t wait any longer. I shouldn’t have let Michael dictate our next steps. I had as much say in what happened after what we’d found as he did. Shadows spilled from me, swallowing the room until I knew I could no longer postpone it.
I jumped.
‘I want to see her,’ my voice echoed in the spacious corridor outside Michael’s bedroom door.
It must have been his. The smell that lingered was far too strong for an occasional presence. The distinct wood and cinnamon scent only fuelled my anger.
My fist slammed into the carved mahogany, making it creak in protest and groan beneath the force of the blow.
He wasn’t there.
Shadows tore out as I jumped outside Ava’s mate’s office. It was only when I pounded on his door that I realised I was technically trespassing on a foreign king’s land. And court.
Perhaps I should have restrained myself, but would he really do anything? It’s not like Ava would take lightly to her treacherous mate hurting me.
The door opened, and the confused King of Fogoya stood in the passage. As I looked past him, of course his brother was there, his eyes widened as he took me in, and he rushed to the door.
‘I’m assuming it’s about the girl,’ the king said, stepping away and making room for his overbearing younger brother.
‘It’s a child. I want a say in what happens to her before you traumatise the kid,’ I said firmly, repeating what I already tried to explain to Michael on the way back from the search.
‘We don’t know who she is, so she will be treated as a spy—,’ Michael started.
The bastard wouldn’t relent, but I could see doubt in his older brother’s eyes.
My vision darkened. ‘You think Ava would stand for this?’
‘We agreed not to involve her yet. She has enough going on,’ her mate seethed.
‘No.’ I shook my head. ‘You decided she didn’t need to know because of what your sadistic brother is planning.’
Michael’s posture stiffened. ‘I’m not fucking sadistic! I’m the only one here thinking straight.’
