Page 12 of Veil of Night & Flames

Which meant that once again, Adric was wielding that blade. Different cut. Same hand.

He kept walking because she’d asked him to do this. Because this was the path they both had to travel.

Because in order to keep her—even a little—he had to first give her away.

When they reached the dais, Adric stepped down to meet them. His gaze moved from Cora to Chase and back, and Chase braced himself for the edge of triumph. The flicker of victory his brother had every right to wear.

He didn’t see it.

What he saw instead was something almost like gratitude.

Somehow, that made everything worse.

Chase lifted Cora’s hand from his arm.

The loss of her touch hit harder than he’d been prepared for, and he drew a steadying breath, then another, fighting the urge to take her hand and run. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. This was the deal she had struck. This was the price she’d paid for his life.

She was still his—she’d promised him that. But she was Adric’s, too.

So he did as expected and passed the woman he loved to his brother.

Chapter

Five

The moment Chase steps back, Adric’s hand closes around mine.

That’s it. That’s the whole transfer. One man’s fingers letting go, another man’s fingers holding on, and me standing between them in a stunning gown of ironically virginal white, feeling the weight of both their gazes like gravity pulling in two directions at once.

I don’t look back, but as Adric leads me forward, it’s as if I can feel Chase’s presence like a wall of warmth at my back—and yet that warmth is already starting to cool.

Adric’s eyes meet mine, and whatever I expected to find there—triumph, possession, the smugness of a king getting what he demanded—isn’t what I see. Instead, I see gratitude, as if the only reason I’m standing beside him now is to set him free of the curse that has him bound to this castle and its grounds. As if he can’t fathom that I’m standing here because our marriage was the price for Chase’s life.

All he sees is freedom, and while I’m truly happy to be able to give it to him, I can’t help but wonder if this king who made love to me so sweetly just a few hours ago truly cares for me at all.

Then again, why would he? I’m a nineteen-year-old girl in a strange new world. It makes zero sense that I’m about to become the queen of some exotic realm that exists in an alternate dimension.

I mean, come on…

But then I glance at him, and his head cocks in question.

I flash a quick smile. I’m okay.

And I guess I really am. True, I don’t fully know where I stand, but lately that’s become the story of my life. Once upon a time, I thought I was just a college freshman. I’m getting used to adjusting my expectations.

And now I’m standing in a throne room about to be officially engaged to a man who wants me—and who I want right back.

Want. Not love. But right now, that doesn’t matter. I’m here to pay a price. And so I walk at Adric’s side back up the steps to the empty dais where the simple chair that acts as a throne has been removed for the occasion.

In front of us, a man in a blood-red robe begins to speak in a language I don’t understand. This is the pomp and circumstance that accompanies a royal marriage, so I try to keep my expression neutral as I look out over the room, so different from the last time I saw it.

Dozens of figures line the walls. Some wear armor like Kali’s. Others stand in robes of deep, iridescent colors. Most look human. Several look like the monsters that live in nightmares—probably because they are.

Some don’t look monstrous at all. One, in fact, is quite beautiful, with skin that glows a lovely pale blue. Another’s hair seems to be styling and re-styling itself. The man beside her stands with his arms crossed, waves of heat coming off of him, and hair that seems to move like flames. His eyes catch mine, and a chill races up my spine as his lips curve into a slow, dangerous sneer. I shudder.

“Dignitaries,” Adric says. Representatives of the other Realms.”

“Oh,” I say, realizing that I should have expected it. This is a royal betrothal, after all, and from what I’ve seen at home, being royal pretty much means being seen.