Page 19 of The Fallen Fae King

“Courtesy of your ma’s Night Sky Blade, which almost slit my throat tonight. I only managed to kill her because she was crouched over me, gloating that she’d slaughtered the filthy fae child king. Don’t tell anyone. It’d ruin my reputation. Wouldn’t that be the turning of the wheel? She tried to kill me then, and finally, her shade would have completed her vengeance.”

Lanlin hisses out a breath, stumbling back. His foot kicks the crescent moon blade. His shadows whip out, slamming the blade away with a clank, as if revolted by it.

“I hated her,” Lanlin whispers like the words have been torn from him. “She hated me.”

“She was a bitch,” I say, flatly. “And I’m not sorry that I killed her. But I am sorry that I hurt you.”

“It’s not that she died. It’s the deaths of my family at the funeral after.”

“That was Maximinus. He poisoned them, aye? Sort of like he poisoned my entire Winter Court. Here’s the thing, are you a murderer to every fae and dragon kid who you have orphaned? How many are there? You don’t know. Maybe one will come back one day to stab you in the back. I know neither of us are good. But we’re loyal where it matters.”

“To our Omega.” Lanlin glances sideways through his long hair at me.

“It wasn’t Freya or my plan to come to the Blood Kingdom.” I need Lanlin to understand this. Why can’t he accept that Aurelius isn’t his friend any longer? “Aurelius threw me in as a bonus to this peace treaty against my will. I changed my appearance to save my life and not because I’m a coward but because my soulmate needs me. She’d just been sent to an entirely new kingdom to bond with a stranger.”

“Has everything been an act?” Lanlin ducks his head.

“My eyes are lavender now. My wings are black. My name is Daire, rather than Dove. But everything else is the same. Look, I don’t know how you feel, but in my soul and bones, we’re not enemies anymore. We’re pack.”

Lanlin leans over me; his piercing red eyes study me. “We shall see, Little Raven.”

Then the swirling abyss around us fades, and marching footfalls approach my head. I blink at the fuzzy outline of a tiny female Beta, Isis, the ex-consort of Queen KalaKant.

Isis holds herself with a regal fury. “Why in the name of the Shadow Devils is the fae not dead yet? His blood should be bathing this altar on the Night of the Shades to honor your mother. The spirits of your ancestors scream for justice.”

“It sounds more like it is you who are screaming at your King,” Lanlin replies, dryly.

“Oh, always so hurtful toward me. Is it because your own mother loved me and my sons so much more than you? Is that why you are unfilial now? But at least I know the proper way to honor our ancestors.”

Isis’ fangs extend, and she lunges for my throat.

Adrenaline rushes through me.

I struggle against the chains that are holding me down, but I can’t escape.

Lanlin dissolves into a swirl of black fog. A heartbeat later, the mist gathers behind Isis, and he reappears as a deadly predator. He sinks his claws into her upper arm, wrenching her away from me, before her fangs can graze my throat.

He hurls Isis to the floor.

She stares up at him in shock.

Has he ever fought back against her before?

Lanlin told me that he is the outcast at court, while the House of Crocodile are nobles and the most powerful faction.

“What are you doing?” Isis hisses.

“Nobody touches my Blood Lover but me.” When Lanlin’s shadows flap behind him in giant bat wings, I realize that I can hear Freya’s growling again, and the sound soothes me. She’s okay. “His blood and throat are mine to savage alone. On my heart, Mother hated me. She exiled me from court. She would have had to feel anything for me in order to hate me. In fact, my twin and I were nothing to her but useful pawns to be sacrificed or forged into monsters.”

“You never needed to be forged into a monster.” Isis stiffly pushes herself to her feet. “You were born one.”

Lanlin gives a fanged smile. “Maybe. But we were banished from her mind like we were mayflies. She did love your sons and you. So, you care for her spirit, while I shall care for my living nestmates. What duty do I have to a dead stranger?”

“You are her son.” Isis’ gray eyes blaze.

“By birth. By action…?” Lanlin cocks his head. “I am her enemy. If her death hadn’t led to the loss of the rest of my family…” When he glances at me, I hope that I am not imagining that his gaze gentles. “…maybe I would even be thanking the fae.”

“You condemn yourself in front of the Shadow Devils with your words.” Isis’ voice is cold and dangerous. “You will burn for eternity.”