Page 109 of A Cruel Kindness

Necessary, really.

♣

I threw back two glasses of whiskey the second we walked into the bar in Pax.

Elijah wasn’t here yet, which meant more delaying the inevitable.

I tried to practice the words over and over on the way over.

I accept the Prince’s offer.

I never got more than halfway through without my throat closing up.

There wasn’t any option for me. I needed to do this.

If I didn’t, the scene earlier would only happen on repeat, except we might not be as lucky. We might not have a chance to find soldiers alive and well, saved by some mystery plan on Muli’s side.

Next time, it might be their bodies we were finding. The same way that so many had been found before.

On both sides, I reminded myself, as I watched Muli soldiers trickle into the bar, smiles on their face the same as the soldiers from Vir.

Soren was talking to someone at the far end of the bar, nursing his own glass. I didn't like that. He should be talking to me.

My nerves were so frazzled that when I tried to pour myself a third glass, my hand shook and spilled liquor all over my hand and the bar.

Feeling like my emotions were going to spill over into a flooding mess, I tried to close my eyes to compose myself.

It worked, my body spilling with a rapid rush of warmth and comfort. Until I opened my eyes and realized that Soren had walked over, crowding me to the bar while he wiped up my mess.

Wordlessly, he swiped a bar towel through the spill, then picked up a fresh one to pat my hand dry. Shamelessly, I stepped a little further into his warmth, needing to soak up every second of him before he was cruelly stripped away again.

“Bell,” Soren warned, his voice a rough scrape against my ear, when my back touched his chest. I tried to work up the strength to step away from him, but I didn’t think my body would cooperate.

It seemed that his wouldn't either, because I felt the ghost of his hand over my abdomen right as the doors crashed open, revealing Elijah and his entire calvary in the doorway.

“Ah, look, my friends,” he said with open arms, relishing in his power over us. No one else was amused, even Carson over his shoulder.

A small whimper left my throat as I realized that there were no mere minutes until I was officially betrothed.

Elijah, meanwhile, looked annoyingly happy. The Prince was probably going to give him a raise for this. “Let’s sit, shall we?”

He walked over to an open table with the gait of someone who knew that he was the most powerful person in the room. His normal crew split off to the bar, but Carson stayed with him.

It took several seconds for me to get my feet to move. When they did, Soren was quick behind me.

Esme and Ford joined too, both still looking slightly out of it. Even then, we needed them to hold up a united front.

Elijah sat down in his chair with a flourish, a move more befitted of someone unbuttoning a suit rather than donned in utilitarian clothing. He watched with a bemused look, relishing in the tension as Soren and I sat down.

“How was your trip back home, lovebirds?” he asked, clearly thinking this whole thing was fucking hilarious. Even Carson had the sense to drop his eyes to the table.

“You know how it went,” I snapped, full of venom.

Elijah just laughed, leaning back lazily in his char. “I assume you have something for me?”

The envelope burned a fucking hole in my pants. When my fingers touched the soft paper, pain shot up my arm as if it had been covered in poison. My limbs were jerky, the Bond fighting me, as I pulled it from my pocket and set it down on the table.

My father’s blood red seal shone in the soft lights of the bar. Proof that it was coming from him, a fact which bloomed a smile on Elijah’s face.